The One That Got Away — And Aubrey McClendon Is Why

If you spent any time in the oil and gas industry, you have an Aubrey McClendon story.

Mine cost me $75,000.

It was 2013, maybe 2014. Aubrey had just left Chesapeake Energy and launched American Energy Partners almost overnight. He was building something fast and he was pulling talent from everywhere to do it.

I had spent weeks finding and placing one of the finest directional drillers I had ever come across in my career. Sharp, experienced, the kind of candidate that makes you look like a genius. My client was one of the larger producers in the United States. They wanted him. They offered him the role. He accepted.

$75,000 placement fee. Done. Monday start.

Aubrey called him on Friday.

I don't know exactly what was said on that call. I can imagine. When Aubrey McClendon calls you personally and tells you he's building something and he wants you to be part of it — that's a hard conversation to walk away from.

My candidate called me on Sunday.

He was out.

I couldn't even be that mad. I understood it. That doesn't mean it didn't sting. Seventy five thousand dollars walked out the door on a Sunday phone call and there wasn't a thing I could do about it.

And here's the kicker — this guy was a professional fisherman on the side. One of the best directional drillers in the business and he spent his weekends on the water competing. The kind of person you just don't forget.

He was absolutely the one that got away.

Aubrey McClendon passed away in 2016. A complicated legacy in the energy world, but nobody ever questioned his ability to build something or attract talent. He proved that on a Friday afternoon phone call at my expense.

In recruiting, you win some and you lose some. Sometimes you lose them to a legend.

That one still stings a little.

Philip Lamb is Managing Partner of PRL International — a retained executive search firm with 30+ years of experience placing leadership talent in manufacturing, energy, aerospace, technology, and financial services.