Today I met with a person who I really, really want to hire for my business. He would be the first real employee, so this is a big deal, and a big leap for me. (I’ve been thinking about expanding for over three years!)
The problem is, I can’t hire him right now. I need to change the structure of the business, figure out where he’d work, think about equipment, benefits, etc., and a plethora of other decisions. Oh yeah, and then there’d be the salary discussion, which is — frankly — probably what I fear most.
So I asked Agent M for advice before I met with him. I’m very direct… and I thought going in with the line “Hey, I want to hire you at any cost, but I can’t right now…” would be a little weird and probably un-productive. After me bumbling through an explanation of the situation, here’s what Agent M asked:
“So this is still in the courtship stage?”
Um… I never thought about it that way, but yeah, I guess you could call it courtship.
Here’s what Agent M suggested:
- Ask questions
- Listen
- Be curious
- Have him do most of the talking
- Remember what’s important to him and how you can provide that
Here’s what I did:
- All of the above
- Probably talked a little too much about myself
- Left the door open (probably a bit too open)
Someone told me recently that my success as a facilitator was because of my “vulnerability without weakness.” I’m feeling a little vulnerable right now. A, if you’re reading this, please go easy on the future salary negotiations. 🙂
Comments are closed.