What do Warren Buffett, Captain America, and that employee I hired because they had an incredible resume, w ho was gone six months later, have in common?
It’s not that all three prove skills don’t matter. They absolutely do matter.
But it’s that character beats experience every single time. Let me be very clear. I am not saying you should not hire people with experience.
I am saying you should value their fit at your firm first and hopefully they also have experience.
Last week, we talked about what to do after someone quits. Before that, we talked about why people quit in the first place.
Now let’s make sure we’re hiring someone you’ll actually want to keep.
Because here’s the truth. Most hiring mistakes aren’t made during the interview, they’re made months before you ever post the job.
The Lie We Tell Ourselves
Most law firm owners think they’re hiring for skills.
“I need someone with three years of experience in litigation, who has used Clio and is super organized!”
That’s all fine.
But if you’ve ever hired someone who looked amazing on paper and became a nightmare two months later, you already know experience isn’t the problem.
You didn’t hire the wrong skill set. You hired the wrong person.
It’s kind of like drafting Anakin Skywalker because he has unbelievable potential and then acting surprised when he becomes Darth Vader.
Talent without the right values rarely ends well.
What Actually Needs to Change
Instead of starting with a job description. Start with your core values.
Not the five words hanging on the conference room wall that nobody can remember.
Your real values.
The ones your best employees naturally demonstrate every day.
Ask yourself:
What makes someone successful here? What behaviors make us say, “I wish we could clone this person.” What behaviors drive us absolutely insane? What would someone have to believe to genuinely enjoy working here? If one of your values is ownership, your job posting should attract owners.
If one of your values is curiosity, your interview should uncover curious people.
If one of your values is kindness, your onboarding should reinforce kindness from Day One.
Your values shouldn’t be something employees discover after they’re hired.
They should be impossible to miss before they ever apply. Then work those values into the job posting, the interview questions, and the decisions about who to hire.