Great Companies Never Compromise on Talent
The difference between good companies and great ones isn’t strategy or technology. It’s people.
Why Talent Matters
You’ll struggle to find a leadership book that doesn’t stress the need for exceptional hires.
Ray Dalio: “WHO is more important than WHAT.”
Bill Gates: “Take our 20 best people away and I tell you that Microsoft would become an unimportant company.”
Top talent rarely applies for jobs. They’re identified, approached, and convinced. Without a deliberate system, you risk missing the very people who could transform your business.
Three proven ways to secure A-players
1. Farming – Grow leaders internally. Identify high-potential employees, invest in their growth, and create fulfillment beyond compensation. This builds loyalty and prepares them to step up.
Ray Dalio, Principles: “If you don’t look at the patterns of people and understand what makes them succeed or fail, you’ll miss the key driver of results.”
2. Referrals – Tap trusted networks. Executives should actively maintain and expand their networks so that when a key role opens, they already know who to call—or who can connect them quickly.
Bill Gates: “The key for us, number one, has always been hiring very smart people.”
3. Search – Reach beyond your network. Some roles require a fresh perspective from outside your company. A thorough search reviews thousands of candidates, engages hundreds, and narrows to a handful truly worth hiring.
Ben Horowitz, The Hard Thing About Hard Things: “In the end, your ability to build a great company is determined by the people you hire, the people you keep, and the people you fire.”
How great companies apply this
Systematize development, referrals, and search
Use all three approaches in concert
Treat talent as a strategic priority
Final word
Finding A-players for your most critical roles is simple but not easy: continuously farm, network, and hunt.
👉 Click here to explore how well your current process is attracting A-players.