“Sell yourself to me” is one of the worst ways to hire.

A perspective worth exploring

“Sell yourself to me” is one of the worst ways to hire.

The biggest trap when hiring for senior roles is asking to be convinced.

Structure the conversation this way and you are no longer seeking the best person for the job. You’re seeking the person best at convincing you.

You might get lucky.

Or you might hire someone who isn’t right for the role but is very good at convincing you the problem isn’t them.

It’s not even their fault. You asked them to convince you. That becomes the relationship dynamic. Saying what they think you want to hear.

Hiring is too high stakes to gamble on your ability to judge performance from words alone.

When I interview a potential client, I start doing the job right away.

They learn if I’m right for the job.

I learn if they are a good fit for my programme.

No guessing required.

That’s what a good hiring process actually does.

An idea worth sitting with

The size of your suffering is the size of your secrets.

All those things you tell yourself you should or must do to get where you wish to go point to internal resistance. A part of you doesn’t want to do it.

That’s the secret you’re keeping.

We tell ourselves that if only we had the discipline or the willpower to force ourselves through it, we would be free.

The reality is that you’ll be free when you reveal and let go of what you are telling yourself you should do.

Then find a path that you could do. That you would do.

The path of least resistance or even most joy.

Who knows, the progress might even turn you into the person who no longer has any resistance.

A question worth answering

A super-simple challenge most CEOs fail.

Most CEOs can clearly articulate the KPIs they are responsible for.

Something only the very best CEOs are able to do, that most can’t, is articulate their leadership philosophy in one simple sentence.

As a result, their leadership becomes inconsistent, unpredictable, and often fear-based when the pressure is highest.

And when leadership is inconsistent and unpredictable under pressure, people change how they behave.

They avoid you right when they need your support most.

They frame things in ways that hide the realities you most need to hear.

They divert attention elsewhere, spreading even more confusion.

The question is:

Do you have a clear leadership philosophy you can say in one sentence?

Each of these ideas asks something different of you: to look deeper, assume less, and see more.

If you had to choose one to explore more deeply this week, which would it be?