Yesterday, I met too many reasons to say yes. The problem was, I could only say it a few times.
I spent the day in Jacksonville with a group of people interested in apprentice opportunities. Each person arrived with a different story, a different reason for being there, and a different hope for what the opportunity might become.
The difficult part was knowing we could only choose a few. An apprenticeship asks us to make a different kind of hiring decision. We are not searching for a finished product. We are choosing someone based partly on what they have already demonstrated and partly on what we believe they can become.
Potential would be much easier to hire if it came with references from the future. But it does not. We have to look for it in the present.
We listen to how someone talks about learning. We pay attention to whether they accept responsibility. We notice how they respond when they do not know an answer. We try to understand whether they are looking only for a job or whether they are ready to begin building something.
Even after all of that, the decision is rarely obvious.
Earlier this week, I handed several new hires a rubber band and asked them what it was good for. Holding things together. Bundling things. Keeping things organized. Every answer required the rubber band to stretch. Sitting untouched on the table, it was nothing more than untapped potential.
That idea stayed with me when I arrived in Jacksonville.
The people in that room were not supposed to know everything yet. If they already possessed every skill, had mastered the work, and needed no direction, they would not be applying for an apprenticeship.
The real question was whether they were ready to stretch. But potential does not develop merely because a hiring manager recognizes it. Someone must be willing to teach it, challenge it, correct it, support it, and hold it accountable.
Growth is not something we do to people. It is something we invite, expect, and help them pursue.
That rubber-band exercise was especially meaningful because the previous day, one of my own habits had required me to stretch. For 17 straight weeks, I had not missed a day of writing and sharing something.
Then Monday became a whirlwind.
Several new hires were in orientation, and they deserved every ounce of my attention. Conversations with potential candidates for high-level positions followed immediately afterward. Suddenly, it was 5:03 p.m., and I was mentally exhausted. I kept thinking that I did not have time to write. But the habit reminded me to stop and pay attention. It did not create more time. It reminded me that I had already decided the practice mattered. That is what good habits eventually do.
They carry a decision forward after the original motivation disappears.
An apprenticeship will require the same thing. The excitement of receiving an offer may help someone begin. It will not carry them through every early morning, correction, difficult assignment, or day when they feel like they are not progressing quickly enough.
Eventually, motivation must become the habit of showing up ready to learn.
Then Wednesday brought another perspective. I was asked to speak at my church for five minutes about how faithful God has been to me, regardless of how faithful I have or have not been to Him. Preparing for that message reminded me that faithfulness is not measured only by what is promised at the beginning.
It is revealed by what remains afterward.
I would never compare the faithfulness of a person or an organization to the faithfulness of God. But reflecting on His faithfulness caused me to examine the commitments we make to other people.
- When an organization says yes to an apprentice, we are making a commitment too.
- We are saying we see something worth developing.
- We are saying we will provide an opportunity to learn.
- We are saying the person will not be expected to become a superintendent overnight.
Our yes will be tested after the excitement of the first day has passed.
It will be tested when they make a mistake, ask a question we have already answered, need another demonstration, or require someone to slow down long enough to explain why the work matters.
The apprentice must keep saying yes by showing up, listening, accepting correction, and doing the work.
The leader must keep saying yes by teaching, challenging, communicating honestly, and refusing to give up on someone too quickly.
That does not mean everyone receives the initial yes.We still have limited opportunities, real standards, and a responsibility to choose carefully.
Better hiring conversations do not remove that responsibility. They help us make the decision with a clearer understanding of the person behind the application.
A no or not yet may still be necessary. But it should not be a verdict on someone’s value or the limit of what they might eventually become.
The first yes gets someone through the door.
The next hundred determine what the opportunity becomes.
If these conversations help you think differently about hiring, leadership, and understanding people, subscribe to Better Hiring Conversations and share this issue with someone who might join the conversation.
Before we offer the next person an opportunity, perhaps the question is not only, “Why should we say yes to them?”
Maybe we should also ask, “Are we prepared to keep saying yes to the responsibility that comes with developing them?”