Almost every painful story I carry from twenty years of building organisations involves a person. Not a strategy that failed. Not a market that moved against us. Not a product that underperformed. A person I hired too quickly, held on to too long, or placed in the wrong role. This is not unique to me — talk honestly with any leader who has built teams, and you will hear the same pattern.
The good news is that bad hiring is not mostly bad luck. It is mostly a discipline problem — hiring without enough rigour, or letting the urgency of the moment override the standard of the hire. Most bad hires were predictable. The signals were there. We moved past them because we needed someone in the role.
Character, Capacity, Chemistry
These are the three things I look for when I am hiring — in that exact order.
Character is who someone is when it is inconvenient. When the deadline slips. When the client is unreasonable. When taking the honest path costs something. Character is not what people tell you they have. It is what their references describe without prompting, and what the second conversation reveals that the first one concealed.
Capacity is not just current ability — it is the ability to grow. I want to hire people who will become more in the role, not just fill it. A person with strong character and real growth capacity will develop the skills they need. A person with weak character will use their skills in ways you did not expect.
Chemistry is about the team, not just the role. The brilliant person who leaves every conversation slightly worse — who drains energy rather than contributing it — is not a fit, regardless of their resumé.
Skill comes after all three. I can train skill. I cannot train character.
Hire Slowly
The cost of a bad hire is enormous and it compounds. You pay it immediately in the time spent managing the situation, and you keep paying it in team morale, customer experience, and the opportunity cost of the right person you did not hire because this person was in the role.
Take your time. Do the second interview — the first one is rehearsed; the second one is real. Ask the same question twice, differently. Take them to lunch. Involve a team member who will work alongside them. Check the reference nobody puts first on their list.
The One Reference Question
When I call a reference, I ask: "Would you rehire this person?" Then I wait. The pause before the answer is often more informative than the answer itself. "Absolutely" with no hesitation means something. "Well, it depends on the role" means something else. "I'd have to think about that" tells you almost everything you need to know.
Letting People Go With Dignity
When a person is genuinely in the wrong role — or is not who you thought they were — keeping them there is not kindness. It is cowardice. They know. You know. The team knows. Everyone is paying the cost of a conversation that has not been had.
Honest conversations, done with proper process and genuine dignity, are a form of service. The person who is let go honestly has the freedom to find where they actually belong. The team that is protected from the wrong fit has the environment to do their best work.
Your business will only ever be as healthy as the people inside it. Building slowly and carefully here is not caution — it is wisdom.
Continue the conversation.
If you are building a team and want to think through your hiring process — or work through a specific people challenge — I am happy to talk.
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