The Real "A Players" Your Small Business Needs

Let's be honest about something that most business advice completely misses:

Most businesses shouldn’t hire traditional “A players."

You know, the ones with the perfect resumes and 15 years of industry experience who want six-figure base salaries and equity packages.

But here's the thing: You don't want them anyway.

I learned this lesson the hard way running my garage upgrade company.

When I started, I did what I thought was fastest/easiest:

I tried to hire experienced in home sales reps with impressive track records.

The "A players" who could “hit the ground running” because I “need this role filled yesterday”.

Sound familiar?

….guess what happened?

They failed.

These experienced sales reps were stuck in their ways.

They wouldn't use our new tech systems.

They insisted on doing things "how they've always been done."

They had too many bad habits to unlearn.

And most importantly?

They didn't have the hunger.

I can teach anyone anything if they are smart, HUNGRY, and coachable.

Know who ended up being my actual A players?

Bartenders.

a former social worker.

Former athletes.

People with zero “industry sales” experience but LOADED with the right attributes.

Why?

Because they brought something more valuable than industry experience:

- (ATTRIBUTE) They were competitive (try finding an athlete who isn't)

- (ATTRIBUTE) They were coachable (no bad habits to unlearn)

- (ATTRIBUTE) They were hungry to prove themselves

This isn't just a nice story.

It's what actually happened in my business, and it's a blueprint for how businesses should think about most hiring.

The real A players for your business aren't the ones with the perfect resumes.

They're the ones with perfect attributes.

Think about it this way:

Would you rather have someone who's done it all before and thinks they know everything, or someone who's ready to learn how to do it your way?

Why?

Because they're learning your way of doing things, not trying to force their way on you.

Here’s a chart from Graham Weaver founder of Alpine Investors (flagged from Christian Ruff) that summarizes exactly how I feel.

I know what you're thinking:

"But I need someone who can hit the ground running! We're growing fast. We don't have time to train people!!!"

I hear this all the time.

And it's exactly backwards.

There's an old saying that fits perfectly here: "If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"

You're "too busy" to train someone with great attributes, so instead you hire an experienced person who:

- Needs to unlearn their bad habits

- Resists your systems

- Thinks they know better than you

And then you're right back where you started, but now you're three months behind and out a bunch of money.

How's that for "hitting the ground running"?

Meanwhile, that bartender with great attributes?

Sure, they might take a bit to get up to speed.

But they'll be outperforming your "experienced" hire lickidty split.

And they'll stick around for years, becoming the kind of truly skilled employee you wanted in the first place.

So the next time someone tells you that you need to hire A players, ask them:

"What kind of A players? The ones with the perfect resumes? Or the ones with the perfect attributes?"

Because I know which ones I'm betting on.

Yallah Habibi,

Jon

Passage of the Week