Last week, we spent some time talking about the importance of developing and implementing a strategy for recruiting. More specifically, we zeroed in on the necessity for the first-level hiring managers to execute consistently.
Over the weekend, I was feeling under the weather. I’m not sure whether it was allergies or baseball fatigue (I have four sons playing baseball on four different teams this spring). Probably a little of both. The downtime allowed me to do something I don’t normally do—lay on the couch and watch a video. The video handy was an instructional video on that my 14-year old had borrowed from the library on salmon and steelhead fishing. I’m sure he picked up this video with the same anticipation that I had when I saw it laying next to the television. “I’m going to learn the secrets of catching the really big, tough-to-catch fish.” We were both quite surprised.
The video was produced by Eric Linde. He is a professional fishing guide on the Columbia River. The video was not disappointing from a visual perspective. The Columbia River Gorge is one of the most beautiful places in the United States. And, the results were quite remarkable. Linde knows how to catch these incredibly large fish as they make their way up the Columbia River to spawn.
What surprised me was the comment my son made after we finished watching: “Dad, that looks like the most boring type of fishing I could possibly imagine!”
It’s true. In this type of angling, the objective is to get your lure directly in front of a fish that really has very little interest in eating. At this stage in their development, the fish are primarily focused on spawning. So, unless you put something in front of their nose that is particularly annoying, the fish swim past without taking notice.
All this activity happens 18 inches off the bottom of a river that is 20 feet deep and moving very fast. You can’t see any of the activity with your eyes. You have to use your other senses to be successful, and a secret that was covered in the video. This secret not only applies to salmon fishing, but it also applies to recruiting top talent. More about this, tomorrow.
