What I Really Look For When Hiring

Most hiring “best practices” are just cover for not knowing what to look for.

We write bloated job descriptions no one reads, ask clever interview questions that reveal nothing, and split hairs over years of experience. Or we obsess over credentials and technical knowledge, confusing qualifications with effectiveness.

It feels rigorous, but it’s mostly noise.

After making countless hires across dozens of organizations and roles, I've learned that one characteristic predicts success more reliably than any credential or past achievement: a candidate's relationship with personal agency.

Not degrees. Not personality tests. Not whether someone nailed a take-home assignment. Just this—does the person take ownership of outcomes, or do they blame other people or external forces? Do they make things happen, or do they wait for permission?

Agency isn't about personality or "cultural fit". It’s the fundamental orientation toward taking responsibility that separates extraordinary performers from merely competent ones.

You can hear this difference in how candidates describe their experiences. High-agency individuals speak with ownership: "I realized," "I acted," "I failed and then I did X." Low-agency people use passive language like "They decided," "It was determined," or “X happened to me.” Their language reveals their detachment from personal responsibility.

High-agency people see themselves as the primary mechanism for resolution, owning every outcome regardless of circumstance. They don't just respond to problems—they anticipate and prevent them.

This high-agency mindset also correlates remarkably with other desirable attributes:

• People who own outcomes tend to develop faster, because they see skill gaps as their responsibility to close.

• They build stronger relationships because they instinctively manage expectations.

• They deliver higher quality work because they anticipate problems rather than waiting for feedback.

• They also tend to be more positive and enjoyable to be around (not a small thing!).

Take a hard look at your interview approach. Are your questions designed to reveal how candidates handle responsibility? Or are you simply verifying qualifications that countless others also possess?

Here’s my favorite interview question to get at someone’s degree of self-agency:

Tell me about a time something important completely fell apart. What happened, and how did you respond?

Listen closely to the response. Are they positioning themselves as the agent—or the observer?

Those with agency will describe what they did in response to difficulty, while those without it will explain why the difficulty wasn't their fault. It won't always be obvious—people are good at hiding their true nature. Listen for the subtle ways they dodge responsibility.

This single filter has transformed my hiring success rate more than any skills assessment or reference check. I used to hire for credentials and experience hoping to get good judgment; now I hire for agency knowing that good judgment naturally follows.

The downstream effects of getting this right are hard to overstate. High-agency people need less management. They don't wait for direction—they propose it. They don't escalate problems without solutions. They instantly improve whatever environment they join.

In your next interview, focus relentlessly on uncovering the candidate's relationship with agency.

Almost everything else is negotiable.