Every leader has experienced this moment:
A candidate interviews beautifully.
They’re polished, enthusiastic, articulate, and confident.
You walk out thinking, “Finally — this is the one.”
But weeks or months later, you realize the person you hired…
is not the same person you interviewed.
Their follow-through is inconsistent.
Their communication style is different than you expected.
Their learning curve is steeper than promised.
Their priorities don’t match your firm’s needs.
And you find yourself quietly wondering:
“How did I miss this?”
It’s simple.
You hired the person they presented, not the person they are.
Most interviews reward performance instead of authenticity.
Candidates come prepared with practiced stories, rehearsed strengths, and polished answers.
And leaders — especially those under pressure — hire based on temporary impressions rather than permanent behavior.
The truth is this:
Skills matter, but behavior determines the outcome.
And values determine whether the behavior will last.
When hiring goes wrong, it rarely fails because the person couldn’t do the job.
It fails because who they are doesn’t match the environment they’re entering.
- A high Dominant leader hires a quiet, compliant assistant — then expects them to take initiative.
- A values-driven firm hires someone motivated by speed and transactions — then wonders why the team dynamic suffers.
- A founder who thrives on urgency hires someone who needs stability — and tension builds immediately.
It’s not personal.
It’s behavioral.
And the misalignment shows up long before the résumé does.
If you want a team that grows with you — not against you — you must start hiring for behavioral fit, values fit, and motivational fit, long before you evaluate experience.
Because when those align, the skill can always be trained.
When they don’t, no amount of training will fix the wrong hire.
What makes this especially challenging for advisory firm owners is that most leaders hire reactively, not intentionally.
- The team is overloaded.
- A key person leaves.
- A new initiative needs support.
- Growth is happening faster than capacity.
And in that urgency, leaders choose the “best available” rather than the “right long-term fit.”
I’ve seen firms lose years — and thousands of dollars — because of one crucial mistake:
They hire for the role instead of the future of the business.
Great hiring is not about filling a seat.
It’s about protecting culture.
It’s about supporting the team.
It’s about reducing your emotional load as the leader.
It’s about creating stability, not adding volatility.
The right hire doesn’t just relieve pressure — they amplify progress.
They bring clarity instead of confusion.
They elevate standards instead of needing supervision.
They create flow instead of friction.
And most of all:
They allow you to lead, instead of forcing you to manage.
If you’ve ever hired someone who looked perfect on paper but struggled in practice, you’re not alone. It’s one of the most common challenges in growing advisory firms.
But it’s also one of the most fixable.
Behavior and values leave clues.
Patterns can be identified.
Motivators can be understood.
Fit can be measured — and predicted.
Once leaders learn to see beneath the interview performance, hiring becomes less about intuition… and more about clarity.
And clarity is what builds great teams.
The Invitation
If this Insight resonates, I invite you to explore a resource that will help you hire the right people — not just the people who interview well:
👉 The Values-Based Hiring Framework
Your step-by-step guide to identifying behavioral fit, values alignment, and long-term potential before you ever make an offer.
And when you’re ready to reduce hiring guesswork and build a team that genuinely supports your leadership:
👉 Click here to schedule a complimentary conversation with me.
Let’s talk through your next hire — and ensure it strengthens your culture, your structure, and your future.