Admittedly I’m not a bird watcher. A spotter at best, usually hawks, owls, and occasionally a bald eagle. As for everyday birds in the yard, unless it’s a hummingbird (we have a feeder), I rarely pay attention.
But last spring something changed. Outside the office window on the deck rail was a bird I can’t recall ever seeing in my 50 years in Indiana. Only for a second, then gone. Bright orange and black, it was an oriole. My wife said she hadn’t ever seen one either. I wondered if this was some rare sighting. For months we paid a little more attention, plenty of songbirds and a few hummingbirds, but no orioles.
Then we did some research. And what transpired next was both exciting and a little fanatical. We discovered that they are not at all rare in our area, but they are shy and solitary. They particularly like sweets. Jellies and oranges are their favorites. We ordered a special oriole feeder. We decided to put off repainting the house and opted for planting trees to provide cover. We sliced oranges and filled the feeder every day with jelly. Turns out a lot of birds like that stuff, but six months later and winter coming, still no oriole. Google told us, don’t be discouraged, give it time. So put the food out again in early March and waited. Then over Memorial Day weekend, our diligence paid off. We were on the deck, having coffee, and there he was. It was crazy, I felt like I’d won the lottery and I got to thinking.
I repeatedly hear organizational leaders express their desire to be “slower to hire and faster to fire”, but they end up doing just the opposite. They feel pressured, get impatient and fill positions with candidates that aren’t exactly who they’re looking for and aren’t a perfect fit for the job.
The third key to attracting and hiring top talent is having patience. High performers can have a huge impact on your organization, and so too can low performers. When you are looking for a unique bird, one that can brighten your mood and transform a team, you shouldn’t settle for anything less.
They are hard to find and like orioles, they won’t flock to you. They are picky and they can be. But when you commit to following the process and sticking with it long enough, they will come.
