The Most Important Skill (...and My Mission)

From our academic years onward, each of us spends thousands of hours building our technical or functional skills—the "tools of our trade" as individual contributors (finance, sales, engineering, marketing, law, product development, etc). 

Over time, these personal/individual skills become less and less important. What really matters—what really drives our success—is our ability to assemble and lead teams of individuals who possess these skills in greater abundance than we do. 

If we continue to rely on our personal skills alone, we simply cannot scale our impact.

Most new leaders have a moment when this realization hits. Unfortunately it often comes in the form of a painful hiring mistake. In a moment, it becomes abundantly clear that the game has changed—career success is now a function of team quality, and (frankly) little else.

For most leaders facing this predicament, they seek a "fix" through better SOURCING, hence the $140B+ talent acquisition and staffing market. Their thinking: "Maybe I just need help FINDING people." 

But they continue to make mistakes because they have not built the skill of (1) knowing what they really need in the role and (2) knowing how to evaluate candidates against that standard. 

Unfortunately, when they look for help in those areas, they often come up empty handed. There’s simply very little in the way of tools, processes, or training/skill-building programs that deliver consistent results.

Filling this gap has been my mission for over 15 years. It’s what fuels my colleague Matt and I each and every day. Our work is focused on providing leaders with the tools and skills to become excellent at the skill that matters most—hiring the RIGHT people.