In “The View From Dave’s Barstool,” Principal and Managing Director, Dave Paule, discusses…well…whatever happens to be on his mind.

Why the barstool? Barstools can certainly be social. They’re frequently the center point of great conversation. There is no pretension, no corner office or head-of-table amongst a row of barstools. So, every month, Dave invites you to pull up a barstool and explore a topic he’s found particularly important (or amusing) recently. Because some leadership lessons show up in boardrooms. Others show up at the bar.

Dave’s Thoughts This Month: Hiring As A Mirror

OFS’ most recent blog post focused on hiring and, well, I have a few lingering thoughts…so pull up a barstool.

If you haven’t already read “Attracting, Assessing & Advancing Talent (Or, What Nonprofits Get Wrong About Talent Recruitment)” pause here and read it. (Don’t worry – I’ll wait).

After a few decades of running organizations and watching hundreds of hiring decisions unfold, I’ve come to believe something simple: hiring is a mirror. Organizations like to think recruiting reveals the candidate. In reality, it often reveals the organization. Its culture. What it rewards. What it fears.

In hiring, nonprofits frequently talk about “culture fit.” What they often mean is familiarity. People who sound like us. Think like us. Move through the world the way we do.

It feels safe.
It also narrows the future.

The strongest organizations understand that hiring is not just about filling a role. It’s about expanding the organization’s capacity to think and act. Which brings us to this month’s drink: The Vesper. (Stick with me!)

Popularized by James Bond in Casino Royale, the Vesper is a slight deviation from the classic martini formula. Gin. Vodka. Lillet Blanc. A lemon twist. Simple enough on paper. But simple drinks are unforgiving. Ratios matter. Ingredients matter. And the bartender must make it with intention. Done well, a Vesper is elegant, crisp, and just a little bold. Done poorly, it’s flat, harsh, or confused. The Vesper carries a faint whiff of swagger. Not arrogance exactly, but confidence. It’s the drink of someone comfortable ordering something slightly off the standard menu.

Which is why it reminds me of certain candidates.

Every hiring process eventually produces one person who doesn’t quite fit the mold. Their résumé zigged when others zagged. Their experience crosses sectors. Their thinking feels a little different from the rest of the pool. These candidates make some hiring committees nervous. They are the professional equivalent of ordering a Vesper in a room full of standard martinis. (Or, in some organizations, a room full of Chardonnays.)

Hiring, like cocktail making, rewards clarity and intention. If you know what you are trying to build, you can recognize the ingredients that will strengthen it. If you don’t, you fall back on comfort.

So the question from the barstool is this: “When your organization recruits, what is it really revealing?”

Fear?
Comfort?
Bias?
Or imagination?

Because the difference between organizations that stagnate and organizations that evolve often comes down to a simple choice: whether they order the house martini…Or the Vesper.