Whether it's hiring or parenting, I think my job is to 'let them choose.'

After my daughter fell asleep, I found myself reflecting on work.

I spoke with several students again today.

It's not just about the company's appeal.

I told them as honestly as I could about the challenges we're facing and the difficulties they might encounter after joining.

At the end, I always say the same thing.

"In the end, please decide for yourself."

Of course, I would be happy if they joined the company.

But more than that, I want them to make a choice they are truly convinced of.

Hiring is often thought of as a job of 'recruiting.'

But for me, it's a little different.

Rather than guiding them into the company, it's about creating a situation where they can make a choice they are convinced of themselves.

I believe that is the most important role in this job.

—

That night.

My daughter squatted in front of her toy box and picked up some building blocks.

After playing for a bit, she moved on to crayons.

Just as I thought she was drawing lines all over the paper, she brought me a picture book saying, "I'll read this."

Her interests jump from one thing to another.

Every time she does, her eyes sparkle,

"I want to try this!"

she says with a smile.

Watching her, what I had been thinking about at work crossed my mind.

"Wait, maybe what I value at work is something I also want to value at home."

—

Before I became a parent, I thought parenting meant 'raising' a child.

Teaching them the right things.

Guiding them so they don't fail.

Doing everything possible to ensure they lead a good life.

But now, my thinking has changed a little.

Of course, I stop her from doing dangerous things.

I have to teach her about things that involve her safety.

Even so, I've started to wonder if just teaching her the 'correct' answers to avoid failure is truly for her own good.

There are things you only realize because you fell.

There are views you only see because you took a detour.

Such experiences might also broaden her world.

The time a parent can decide a child's life for them is truly short.

What will she come to love?

What kind of friends will she meet?

What kind of job will she choose?

I cannot decide those answers for her.

—

That's why, lately, rather than teaching her 'this is the right answer,' I've come to want to show her many different worlds.

Some days we go to the park.

Some days we go to the aquarium.

Sometimes we get on a plane and go on a trip.

Some days we cook together at home.

I don't know what those experiences will lead to in the future.

Perhaps they might not lead to anything at all.

Even so, seeing various sights, meeting various people, and knowing that 'there are worlds like this too' will surely not be in vain.

As experiences increase, the paths one can choose for oneself also increase.

Hiring, and parenting.

What I am truly doing might be surprisingly the same.

—

Forcing someone to choose a company won't lead to their happiness.

Even if a parent decides a child's life, it won't become the child's own life.

Because in the end, it is the person themselves who chooses.

Today, I told the students again,

"In the end, please decide for yourself."

When I got home, my daughter was again smiling with sparkling eyes,

"I want to try this!"

I think both are steps toward choosing for oneself.

What I can do is not to decide my daughter's life.

It is to help her be able to choose her own life for herself.

It is to add just a few more views she can choose from when that time comes.

While doing my work in hiring, it might actually be my home life that is teaching me that the most.

—

Thank you for reading until the end.

In this note, I put into words the things I feel through my life as a single father and my work in human resources.

If you think you'd like to read more, I would be happy if you followed me.

▼Related articles