Self-Awareness: Strengths and Limits

#662: Most teams hire for skills. The best teams hire for wiring.

What if the reason someone accelerates your organization, or quietly derails it, has more to do with their response time, processing style, or sense of mission than their résumé?

This episode dives into the hidden patterns that shape how people work, make decisions, and handle pressure; the clues we often overlook, and the tiny tells that reveal who will thrive.

We’re joined by William Vanderbloemen, whose firm has completed nearly 4,000 executive searches.

After reviewing years of candidate data, he discovered why some people create momentum everywhere they go and others struggle, even when they look perfect on paper.

We explore what “fast thinkers” and “slow thinkers” bring to a team, how to spot agility before you hire someone, and why some workers need a mission while others need a measurable win.

Along the way, we reflect on our own tendencies and how understanding them can change the way we build teams, manage energy, and make long-term decisions.

Key Takeaways

Response speed can signal mental wiring, not politeness, which makes it a powerful hiring clue.

The real interview starts long before the formal meeting, which means every informal interaction counts.

Agility shows up when plans change, so micro-tests can reveal how someone handles shifting conditions.

Many high performers are driven either by purpose or measurable progress, and knowing which matters.

Understanding our own lane helps us hire better, delegate better, and build systems that reduce friction.

Resources and Links

Simon Sinek, Start With Why https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA

Vanderbloemen Group https://vanderbloemengroup.com/

Be the Unicorn by William Vanderbloemen https://www.amazon.com/Be-Unicorn-Data-Driven-Separate-Leaders/dp/1400247101

Chapters

Note: Timestamps are approximate and may vary greatly across listening platforms due to dynamically inserted ads.

(00:00) What thousands of executive searches revealed

(10:35) The nine markers of high performers

(22:01) Fast thinkers, slow thinkers, and finding your lane

(25:35) Why response time predicts performance

(25:48) Testing agility in real-world scenarios

(47:16) Why purpose matters more to younger workers

(55:13) Why curiosity is a career superpower

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