A passion flower in winter is an anomaly. It’s not supposed to thrive in the cold, yet sometimes, against all odds, it does. Maybe the soil retained just enough warmth, or a…
Leadership
When You Come Across A Rising Star
The frost soon will take the flowers from my garden. Every year there are surprises….what has bloomed and what has struggled? What has been knocked down by a fierce wind after having…
Leadership Lessons from Lyle Lovett
I made my first trip to Carnegie Hall to see Lyle Lovett and His Large Band. It’s the first time I’ve seen him play since the pandemic and of course, he did…
What’s Next? (For Q2 2023)
“What’s next?” seems to be the question on everyone’s mind. What will the economy do? Will our numbers for Q1 hold steady? Will that deal close? Will that critical hire brought in…
Why People Leave “Good” Jobs
“I have a good job. I make a lot of money. I am unhappy most of the time.” The last two years have been a time of almost constant uncertainty which has…
Hiring and Job Loss: Spring Eventually Comes
Every year I look forward to the week that the magnolias come into bloom. This year a late freeze hit and the full bloom was not to be. It reminds me of…
A Gardener’s Guide To Recruiting: All Trees Must Fall
I spent an inordinate amount of time over the last 18 months wandering my garden and talking with people on the phone… both clients and candidates. Zoom fatigue set in long ago…
A Gardener’s Guide to Difficult Decisions: Spring Pruning
My garden has been one of the few solaces during this time… A reminder that life goes on and there is still beauty and hope. I’ve always equated gardening with hiring. I…
What To Do When The Unthinkable Happens
Starting a business is always an act of optimism. I opened Searchlight in May 2001 which was in the middle of the dot-com bust. I reminded myself that summer is a slow…
The Gardener’s Guide to Recruiting: How to know if you’ve made the wrong hire, and what to do about it.
Making a new hire is a bit like adding a plant to your garden—you have an opening, maybe it’s a new space, or maybe you’re replacing a plant that you moved because…