Who the a Method for Hiring
A four-step, evidence-based hiring method (Scorecard, Source, Select, Sell) for consistently identifying and landing 'A Players' who deliver the outcomes a role requires.
Who argues that the most important decisions managers make are not 'what' decisions but 'who' decisions—who they put in place to run sales, build products, and lead. Drawing on ghSMART's work on over 12,000 hiring decisions, interviews with more than 80 billionaires and CEOs, and the largest-ever statistical study pairing CEO assessments with financial performance, Geoff Smart and Randy Street expose the failure of intuitive 'voodoo hiring' methods and replace them with the A Method for Hiring. The book walks readers through building a Scorecard that defines the mission, outcomes, and competencies of a role; systematically Sourcing candidates through referrals; Selecting them through four structured interviews (screening, Who, focused, and reference); and Selling the right person on joining using the five F's (fit, family, freedom, fortune, fun). Practical, story-rich, and research-backed, it shows any manager how to raise their hiring success rate to 90 percent and, in doing so, make more money, enjoy more time, and build a winning team.
The model it argues
A causal model in which disciplined hiring design levers (scorecard clarity, systematic sourcing, structured selection, and effective selling) produce psychological/behavioral states (candidate-role fit, evaluator confidence, truthful disclosure) that drive hiring success, A Player team composition, and ultimately financial and personal outcomes.
Key ideas
- Scorecard Clarity
- The extent to which a role is explicitly defined by a plain-language mission, ranked measurable outcomes, and required job and cultural competencies aligned to organizational strategy before candidate evaluation begins.
- Systematic Sourcing
- The disciplined, ongoing generation of a high-quality candidate flow through referrals and networks in advance of hiring needs.
- Structured Selection
- The use of a consistent, fact-based interview sequence to gather career track-record data and rate candidates against a scorecard.
- Effective Selling
- The sincere, persistent effort to attract and close a chosen candidate by addressing their motivations across the hiring process.
- Candidate Truthful Disclosure
- The degree to which candidates and references provide accurate, complete information about performance, weaknesses, failures, and job transitions.
- Evaluator Predictive Confidence
- The hiring manager's fact-based confidence that a candidate can and will deliver scorecard outcomes, operationalized as the 90% skill-will threshold.
- Candidate-Role and Culture Fit
- The alignment of a candidate's skill and will with the scorecard's outcomes, competencies, and the organization's culture and values.
- Cheetah Leadership Style
- An executive disposition marked by speed, aggressiveness, hard work, persistence, and high standards with accountability, contrasted with feedback-seeking Lamb behavior.