Show Notes:

The three types of leaders. “There are doubters, delayers, and deciders. Doubters are skeptical of everything. Delayers put off decisions and wait too long. And then there are the deciders — they make choices, take action, and learn from the outcome. Of the three, only one moves the business forward.”

Hiring proven talent vs. betting on potential. “If someone costs more, you better know exactly what you’re paying for. Do they bring proven results? Do they give you confidence? Potential is great, but if you’re paying a premium, it should be for someone who’s already delivered.”

When ambition isn’t a red flag. “Years ago, I would’ve seen a candidate asking about future growth as a flight risk. Today, I see it as a strength. It shows vision. The key question is: if all things were equal, where do they actually want to work? That tells you everything.”

Retaining great people without playing defense. “If you’re known for talent development, other firms will try to poach your team. That’s not a reason to stop training — it’s a reason to build a vision and growth path they won’t want to leave.”

The true cost of not developing your team. “What if you train your people and they leave? That’s a risk. But what if you don’t — and they stay? That’s worse. The real danger is holding back out of fear, instead of building a firm your best people want to grow with.”

Evaluating cost vs. value in hiring decisions. “If you have somebody who is, let’s say, more expensive, but gives you a ton of confidence, and you’ve got somebody who’s less expensive but, you know, they’re going to require a lot of work — it’s really an equation of you considering, well, what is the value of your time and the opportunity cost of how much time that you’re going to have to invest in the person who’s less expensive? And if you know the amount of time that that requires pulls you away from other revenue-generating activities within the firm, that outweighs the difference in pay, then you’re really not saving any money.”

Why investing in people still matters — even when they leave. “It’s shortsighted to stop investing in people just because others are trying to poach them. You’ve been successful probably by building a great team — because you invest in your people. The way to approach it is not to say, ‘How do we stop investing so they don’t get poached?’ It’s, ‘How do we ensure there’s a long-term path for them here?’ When they get reached out to by other organizations, they won’t jump ship — because they’re already somewhere they’re excited to be.”