If you want the TLDR:
I'm building out my team in the West. I want to bring on talented ICs that have been great when working for me in the past. Our CRO and CTO feel the need to be involved in the hiring process. Or CTO has said "he's not feeling it..." As a response to one of the over achievers I've had on my team in the past... I want to bring him on... They still don't... What do I do?
Ok here's the long story.
A good friend of mine who worked for me (and fuckin crushed it) a few years ago was looking for a new role. I know myself as a manager and him as an IC. We started in different verticals but I can for sure get him to to speed and crushing it. I know he'll do the work, grind it out and be over quota quickly. Mind you we don't sell anything hyper technical, but the CRO and CTO this our business is "special"
So my friend goes through the interview process and it's apparent to me he's not the most comfortable. Pretty nervous. But does ok. The feedback was that he seemed robotic, makes sense to me but they also don't know the guy and only have a small idea of the success we had previously. He also moved on to another SaaS company and has been crushing it for years.
Based on his track record and our relationship I felt like this was a no brainer, and ultimately my decision. But now I'm catching heat from the CTO because he didn't seem to get it "he's not feeling it... (God knows what that means)" and he doesn't think there's an indication he'll be successful with us. My long winded email basically boiled down to "trust me. I got this" and that seemed to be not good enough either. "Unilaterally sidestepping the collaborative process probably won't lead you to long term success" was the feedback...
I'm fuckin confused now. Do I have autonomy to actually bring on a team that is mine. Leadership says they trust but second and third guess my decisions even when I'm providing empirical data to justify the hire...
Could use some advice here. Am I fuckin crazy? What am I missing?
Ok end rant.
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