Why Your Bad Hire Was Actually Your Fault

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I’m Igor Kheifets, and this is The List Building Lifestyle, the podcast for anyone who wants to build a wildly profitable email list working from home. If you’d like to make six figures, travel the world, and help people improve their lives in the process, this podcast is for you. I also invite you to claim a free copy of my best-selling book, The List Building Lifestyle Confessions of an Email Millionaire, at igorsbook.com. Get the free book plus $3,000 bonus package that includes my best capture page templates, email swipe files, and traffic blueprints. Visit www.igorsbook.com for details. And now, it’s time to claim your list building lifestyle.

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I’m not an expert at hiring superstars, if I’m honest. I feel like I’ve gotten quite lucky with the superstars I was able to bring to work with me. I also have a certain, I guess, leadership style that attracts certain type of people. But if we can strip that and strip all the luck element from it, what I’ll tell you is this.

There’s a few things that I guess I learned along the way that might be helpful to you. The first and foremost, you have to know what you’re hiring for. You have to have the protocol, the checklist, the assignment, whatever the procedure you would like to outsource to an assistant. You have to have that procedure in a form of a checklist. That’s non-negotiable. Because anything that isn’t a checklist, you can’t really delegate. Because that would require that person who comes in to basically figure it out on their own. And they’re never going to do it the way you want it done.

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So the only way for you to kind of convey to them how you want it done is by having a checklist or a process already figured out in a document that says, okay, step one, you go here. Step two, you fill out this information. Step three, you click there. Step four, you click here. So it has to be completely outlined. So if you get hit by a bus tomorrow, this person would be able to do at least 90% of that process on their own. It has to be that clear, okay? That’s the only way you can bring a virtual assistant.

Now, as far as hiring superstars specifically, that’s a little bit subjective, too. Because if your process isn’t perfect, even if you bring in a superstar, they’re still going to struggle a lot with that particular process. They still have to figure out so much that it might end up kind of burning them up, really, and make you feel like you didn’t hire a superstar. But oftentimes, it’s not that you don’t hire a superstar, it’s that your process isn’t optimized. Whatever you’re trying to get that person to follow, the procedure, the checklist, the protocol, it’s just not streamlined to a point where most people can follow it.

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I think for me, what defines a superstar is somebody who knows how to use their strong traits because different people have different talents. Somebody who then looks for work that fits their personality because it allows them to work in their element, and that’s a very important part of what makes a superstar in that particular position.

Because somebody can be a superstar in creative stuff, like creating content, but they can be an absolute, I don’t know what the opposite is of a superstar, of a civilian, right? In something else entirely. I have people on my team who are, for example, extremely good with numbers. So if I have them compile a report and then analyze the report, they’re going to do a good job of getting me all the numbers, lining up the numbers for me, massaging the numbers, making me aware of different things that numbers might tell me, right?

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They can read the numbers too, not just compile them. They can spend five hours tweaking the spreadsheet and they love it. But at the same time, that same person, if I put them in a creative spot and if I put them in a position where they have to write a headline, whether or not they can use AI to do it, they will be terrible at it because they’re not creative. They do not like to create. They like to count numbers. They don’t get a kick of coming up with a great headline or a great piece of copy.

So you can’t really judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree. It’s a quote by Einstein and he basically made an argument that everyone’s a genius at something. And that’s true. Everyone is a genius at something.

[6:58]

So besides having your process completely, completely outlined and completely optimized as a checklist, as something that they can follow, you also have to bring in the right personality type for that particular job. And that could be sometimes much more difficult to find than to optimize your process. But let’s say, you know, you now are aware of that and so you will look for the right person there.

And it’s actually very easy to test too. There’s like a bunch of tests out there like Colby tests and whatever else. So you can find what people are good at, what they’re not good at just by running them through some of these tests. And I would actually make it mandatory before anyone wants to work with me to go through that test.

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They only really need to go through that test once and just have that profile outlined. And for me to know, okay, are they good at starting projects or are they good at optimizing projects? Are they good with numbers or are they good with creative stuff? Or are they good with leadership? Can they lead a team and project manage? Or, you know, should they be, you know, working under somebody who will manage them? And thus, you know, get the most out of this person because this person needs for someone else to be managing them.

And so if you can find someone who is technically competent and cares so much that they are super diligent, they pay attention to detail, they show up on time, they meet all the deadlines, they think for themselves, they basically, you know, show up as if it’s their thing and not your business. That is going to be absolute dream. That is going to be absolutely just someone you have to grab hold of with both hands, cuff them, you know, by hands and feet, throw them in your basement. Do not let them go, okay? This is the person you do not let go by any means. They’re talented and they’re also, they care. It’s absolutely, I mean, just absolutely cannot, cannot let them go.

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Thank you for listening to The List Building Lifestyle. Get access to the previous episodes, transcript of today’s show, as well as other exclusive content at listbuildinglifestyleshow.com. Also remember to claim your free copy of my best-selling book at www.igorsbook.com. It explains how I made millions with list building, starting from scratch. Plus, I’ll give you $3,000 worth of free bonuses, including my best landing page templates, email swipe files, and traffic blueprints. Go to www.igorsbook.com now to claim your free package.