Most companies say trust matters, but when they run interviews, they only evaluate skills and polish. They focus on what candidates have rather than how they operate. And when you hire that way, you get predictably unpredictable results.
Lou Adler has spent over 50 years studying the difference between people who elevate an organization and the people leaders end up managing around. He's examined thousands of hires across roles, industries, and eras, and he keeps seeing the same 12 behavioral traits in every top performer. Those traits might also be the strongest predictors of trust on a team.
This is episode 100, and we're giving you a practical roadmap for hiring people who make the company better the moment they walk in the door.
What You'll Learn
Why recruiting feels broken:
The fundamental shift in how to hire:
Lou's performance-based hiring method:
The 12 universal traits of top performers:
The hiring formula for success:
Key Quotes
"A job is stuff that people do. What you've defined is a person doing a job. Let's forget the person and let's define the work."
"Doing the wrong thing faster is stupid. If you're producing bad widgets, stop producing bad widgets. But in HR, we say, do you have any more bad candidates I can interview?"
"HR should throw away the existing hiring process and build it from scratch. They wouldn't do anything they're doing now."
"The ability to do the work is actually the easiest part to measure. Understanding performance objectives is pretty easy. But putting all that together takes time."
"If your lawyer tells you not to do it, get another lawyer."
"Never make an offer before asking: Why do you want this job? Forget the money, why do you want it? And if you can't describe it clearly, you're rolling the dice."
"I don't care if someone's excited to come into the interview. They don't know the job. How can you be excited if you don't know the job? That's phony excitement."
"When you know people, you do that intuitively. When you don't know people, you're dealing with strangers."
"Volunteer for things that are over your head. If you screw it up, nobody's going to care because they wouldn't expect you to be successful anyway. But if you are successful, it gives you credit for being proactive."
"Treat salary as an investment, not as an expense."
The Three Plays CHROs Should Run Next Week
Play 1: Do not approve a requisition unless it's written with performance objectives
If this episode landed, the next move is yours.
Coaching is where it closes fastest — Jackson has developed CHROs from both sides of the table, as their leader and as their coach. The CHRO Ascent Academy, Private Coaching, Mandate Protocol, CHRO Chronicles, and the best-selling Substack are there too.
All at mytalentsherpa.com.
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In private equity: Propulsion AI surfaces workforce risk before the close and translates strategy into individual accountability after it. Before AI automation - drive outcome clarity with digital teammates to do the work fast and at scale.
All at getpropulsion.ai.
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CHRO podcast, CEO Podcast, Business, Management
CHRO strategy, HR strategy, talent management, leadership development, talent management podcast, human capital strategy, mandate clarity, peacetime wartime leadership, talent hat framework, leadership pipeline, senior leadership, people strategy
