Sounds like you are confident that this is REALLY what he wants to pursue for the foreseeable future, so applause for finding a way to keep good talent. But ma

Sounds like you are confident that this is REALLY what he wants to pursue for the foreseeable future, so applause for finding a way to keep good talent. But maybe it boils down to this, was it an honest mistake? It happens to all of us, we start a new gig it doesn't turn out the way we want, we change what we want or move on. The sooner this comes out in a relationship the better. What you have done is create a new burden for yourself - managing a transitional employee. Now it's on you to make the "transitional role" work which always proves difficult. Many an employee has been brought in under the guise of temporarily filling a need and then moving towards their true desire only to find the organization can't pull it off. a side note: I've always had a hard time believing that talented people only want to do one thing. To limit them to it is likely to bight you in the long term if not sooner. You just don't want to end up in a "Bo knows ..." situation where the desire is constantly changing. Of course, if come two weeks priorities change again...