“It’s really tough to find good people these days,” Ethan said, exasperated. “You would think, with unemployment as high as it is, that the talent pool would be full.”

“What are you finding in the talent pool?” I asked.

“People who don’t really want to work in the first place, but their unemployment benefits ran out.”

“Oh, really,” I smiled. “You have been watching way too much television.”

“Yes,” Ethan replied, “But still, I need a really good supervisor, not just a mediocre somebody to fill a slot. We have a lot of shifting priorities and I need someone who can run a complicated schedule.”

“You know, I hear your complaint a lot, good times and bad times,” I chided. “If you are having trouble finding good people, it’s because you are not really focused on it.”

“What do you mean?” Ethan defended.

“You spend a lot of time on a bunch of different things, managing this, managing that. And you have not really focused on what it takes to successfully onboard talent.”