Hiring for Growth

In the last two months, two different clients of mine had to let people go for underperformance. In both cases, these people had the right resumes, the right experience, and said all the right things in interviews. And yet, once they were actually in the job, it often seemed like they were mostly focused on giving excuses. Across several companies I've grown and sold, I’ve noticed that holding skills, experience, and track record constant, one factor makes an outsized impact on an employee's contribution to company growth: 👉🏼 Whether the person is generally a happy, positive human being. People who approach the world with optimism interpret pressure differently. A hard problem feels like a puzzle. A setback feels temporary. Work feels like something they’ve chosen, not something happening to them. People who aren’t wired that way experience the same environment as draining. Every challenge feels personal. Every stretch feels unfair. Sound familiar? Over time, that mindset quietly pulls energy out of the business. What’s tricky is that this rarely shows up in interviews unless you deliberately look for it. Many leaders assume underperformance means they need to adjust compensation, expectations, or management style. Sometimes that’s true. Often, it’s not. So over time, I’ve learned to put real effort into testing for happiness before I hire. Here are three ways I’ve found that actually surface happy, effective people: 😊 Ask what they do for fun I’m listening for genuine enthusiasm. Something they enjoy enough to talk about naturally, without trying to impress. 🔥 Introduce light, intentional pressure Challenge an assumption. Change the scenario. See how they respond when the ground shifts slightly beneath them. 🕵️ Do backdoor references early I ALWAYS talk to people they didn’t provide and I specifically ask how they show up when things don’t go smoothly. In fact, yesterday I actually cold called a candidate's old manager from a decade ago. We had a great chat and he gave the candidate 2 thumbs up. In my experience, hiring well isn’t about finding people with all the right skills. It’s about finding people with the right skills, who increase the energy in the room.