It's true. She's driven me crazy for years and keeps me up at night. I've stayed out late with her and have woken up beside her in more hotels than I can count. I've even had talks with leadership and peers alike where I adamantly denied that she was as important to me as I realize now that she is. I've been in denial for months about how much she's on my mind when I'm away from the office.

So after a lengthy conversation with my wife and my friends and a few that I trust... I've decided to just finally come clean and admit it. Publicly. And part of being completely honest about this love affair includes talking a little bit about how it got so embedded into my lifestyle... how it became such a part of my life that while I wasn't losing focus on my family per say, I was moving personal things around to keep my mistress happy. And most of all... why I won't be breaking it off.

First, some history...
I fell into the Recruiting industry through necessity. Right out of the Army I found a retail job where I was quickly moved into management and expected to be responsible for staffing my own store. Over the next few years one store turned into several stores - each staffed with sales teams that were blowing previous year's sales out of the sky. When leadership approached me and asked how it was done I was a bit naive (or full of pre-mature and snarky wisdom) in my response: "I enjoy finding people that love this stuff."
So I started training people to find potential employees while at the same time teaching basic sales principles and techniques. And anyone that's done either knows that Recruiting and Sales go hand-in-hand more often than they don't. Fast forward through the discovery of internet newsgroups, email lists and several years - and I was suddenly a certified PHR working consulting gigs with a focus on sourcing, recruiting and (gasp!) process improvement. Every bit of which had a unique signature of "internet" and "collaborative tech" as my signature.

I exited consulting in 2000 for a change - I went corporate... and in a big way by jumping on board with a FORTUNE 9 company. In starting as a Recruiter responsible for just a single city I worked with peers and leadership (while not always as patiently as I should have) to help evolve recruiting strategies to incorporate more technology and collaboration. And with the support of amazing teams and colleagues my responsibilities evolved from a single city to a state. To a Region. To multiple Regions. To the US. And ultimately where I am today - Leading interactive strategies and initiatives for Talent Attraction with my current employer - and the most amazing teams I've had the pleasure to ever meet.

My mistress? Change.
And I'm passionate about her - but not for the simple sake of her existence. What I mean to say is that I'm in love her because I stay up late at night listening to how she thinks she can help Recruiters be more effective; how she speculates that job seekers might find postings more quickly; how she thinks hiring managers could better track ROI. And while all of her thoughts don't always seem logical or likely at first... she's patient with me. Often more than I am with her, to be honest.

When I...
...attend a conference I'm not looking for vendors tell me how great their product is - I'm looking for them to tell me why it's different.
...talk with peers or meet at events I'm not looking to boast about great accomplishments - I'm hoping to share work that's been done that will spark new ideas or conversation.
...push an idea to my team I'm not telling them this is the solution - I'm showing them this is "a" solution, and hoping they'll improve on it.

She goes with me everywhere. And yes, I do wake up some mornings holding my iPhone because I fell asleep taking notes or reading the blogs of friends and articles within my industry. And while my family and friends know that she's my love affair - they're okay with it.

Do you have a love affair? Are you passionate? What's driving you?

Originally posted on RecruiterGuy.net.