I never expected to see his name on the calendar when the team was preparing for my two-day marathon test of a new concept we called Open Interviews. Our initial post announcing that anyone could book time with me to discuss a potential job at the company as part of our “building the bench” groundwork was incredibly successful.

The post read:

We are looking for stunning colleagues to join our award-winning team! Click below to book a 20-minute conversation to discuss your future with our company. Spots are limited.

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Even though there was no job description and little explanation, every one of the twenty-six open time slots was reserved quickly. The candidates also submitted their resumes and a brief explanation of their respective areas of interest and expertise.

As we reviewed the candidate pool, my excitement grew over their diverse backgrounds and wide range of career experiences. These twenty-six potential teammates included friends, strangers, and people we vaguely knew in the industry. Some sought senior-level roles, while others hoped for an entry-level sales job. Most had college degrees with some MBAs, but nothing prevented the young mother with a high school education and six years of administrative experience. The Open Interviews event was shaping up to be an exciting experiment and a test of my mental stamina.

Open Interviews - - A Huge Success

Twenty-six people were each given a 20-minute virtual interview, and the interactions blew me away. Within the first six minutes of a conversation, I was usually able to establish rapport and get a baseline grasp of the candidate’s career desires. If that person’s skills, experiences, and aspirations aligned with our current and future needs, we would continue exploring what they could do with our company. Most of the candidates in our Building the Bench test were eager, open, and courageous, which made this speed-dating approach bear great fruit (more on that later).

On the other hand, if it was clear that this person was likely not a fit for our team anytime soon and just needed career help, brainstorming, or even a confidence boost, I would shift gears and spend our remaining time together in coaching mode. We would work together to identify what types of work they enjoy and what type of teams or industry would be a good fit. I even facilitated some intros for a few of these cases.

Of the candidates I met during Open Interviews, four ended up with positions on the team, and two more became referral partners. One candidate even relocated from another state to join the team. Several others who were not a great fit at the time stayed in touch with regular check-ins over the past four years to receive ongoing coaching and additional introductions.

The one man I was astonished to see on my calendar was brought into the office for a series of interviews to possibly join our senior leadership team. While his resume was among the most impressive I’ve ever seen, it was his leadership outside of work, his reputation as a man of virtue, and his presence with everyone he meets that made him one of the top candidates for our team over the eleven years I worked there. I had been friends with him for years, but we only interacted when we ended up at the same events together.

And I’m happy to report that we were never able to hire him.

That’s right, Cody Slape, one of the best candidates we could have ever recruited, landed in our lap during Open Interviews, and we were not able to put the pieces together for the right role at that time.

If that were the end of the story, I’d still call the entire Open Interviews event a smashing success. Like many of the other candidates from our experiment, Cody and I continued to stay in touch, sharing our views of work and how we both liked to view Business as a Blessing.

Fast-forward to September 2023. Our new strategy and culture consulting business, Undivided Life, was not yet one year old when I received a perfectly timed message from Cody. He was ready, and so were we. Weeks later, Cody Slape joined Undivided Life as our first employee and became the Chief Optimizer. His impact on everyone he meets is unparalleled, and our clients are the primary beneficiaries of his leadership on the team.

Isn’t it crazy to think that an experiment like Open Interviews not only blessed the people and the company four years ago when it occurred, but those interactions continue to bear fruit today?

An atypical approach led to atypical results. It always seems to work out that way.