Can you believe this?

After 22 months in my recruitment career, I felt ready to manage people. However, my current employer didn’t agree. Determined to pursue my goal, I found another company that would give me the chance.

A recruitment leader decided to take a chance on me. The deal was simple: first, build your desk, then you can build a team. Six months later, a new guy with ten years of experience was hired and loosely assigned to me. The process was terrible, to say the least.

It felt wrong to be his manager when he had significantly more experience. Instead of having an open discussion about how I could support him despite my lesser experience, I took a different approach. For two and a half months, I never even told him I was his boss.

I’d check in with him and see how he was doing. During our weekly forecast meetings, I’d ask him about his progress and offer to provide our numbers to help him out.

Then, during a company night out, a colleague asked him, “So, what’s it like reporting to Adrian?” He replied, “I don’t work for Adrian.” Everyone laughed.

He came over to me and asked, “Why did you never tell me that you were my boss?”

I’m not sure I’ve ever been so embarrassed.

On a positive note, we remain friends.