06/01/2026
One thing we consistently notice among hiring managers who make exceptional hires:
They treat hiring as a leadership skill, not a transactional task.
Average hiring managers approach a search as a process to manage. They evaluate candidates against the brief, weigh tradeoffs, make a decision, and move on.
The strongest hiring managers do something different.
They use the search itself to sharpen their thinking. They challenge their assumptions about the role. They engage candidates as future colleagues, not just evaluations. They pay attention to what the candidate market is revealing.
What usually emerges is a clearer understanding of the role, the team, and what the business actually needs.
The outcome is better not because the process changed.
It’s better because the thinking behind it was deeper.
Hiring is one of the highest-leverage skills a leader can develop.
The leaders who treat it that way tend to compound faster.
