Anyone else thinking about Referral Debt?

Everyone glorifies referrals. "Referrals are the best hires" and what not.. right? Funny, nobody talks about the referral debt. The look on someone's face when you can’t push their CV through. The guilt when they text "Any updates?" or "Just checking if you have you heard anything back?" The shame of knowing they trusted your word more than the company they applied to.

Referrals sound like help.. but inside every referral… there is a silent fear - If this goes wrong, will I lose a friend, a contact, a reputation or all?

When you ignore a referral, you are not rejecting a CV. You are burning someone else’s social capital. You are forcing them to explain silence they didn’t create. You are making them apologize for a system they don’t control. That's why referrals are dying.

Last month I intro'd some 20 people - blind, no favors asked. Most didn't get a proper closure. No clarity. No dignity. No real feedback. I should logically be hesitating to refer again. Not because I don't believe in the people. But because I don't want to explain silence that isn't mine.

I still refer - cause hopeful idiots come in one size only - ultra super-pro max. And I upgraded for lifetime I guess.

Anyways.. thoughts?