The Surprising Reason Great Salespeople Fail At Hiring

Just because someone excels in their role doesn’t mean they should interview new hires—especially if they’re a salesperson. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller reveal why great salespeople often make the worst hiring decisions, how to spot the right evaluators for your team, and the mindset shift that separates a persuasive seller from a discerning buyer. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:The role of a job seeker in an interview.The role that an interviewer should be playing.Why Dan isn’t involved in the hiring process at Strategic Coach®.A secret ingredient in the Strategic Coach hiring process.The powerful question you should ask every prospective customer and team member. Show Notes: Salespeople shouldn’t conduct interviews because they’ll treat every interaction like a sale—focused on overcoming objections rather than evaluating fit. Great salespeople are wired to close deals, which means they’ll prioritize getting a "yes" over finding the right candidate. A sales-driven interviewer risks hiring the wrong person simply because they couldn’t resist "winning" the interaction. As the person doing the hiring, you’re the buyer, not the seller. It’s the job of the applicant to convince you they’re the right fit. It’s not the interviewer’s job to get the applicant excited about the position. Your hiring team should be dispassionate evaluators—think poker players, not persuaders. The best hires are those who sell you on their ability to contribute to your company’s future. Confidence in hiring comes from being decisive, not from convincing someone to join. Trust your instincts—if a candidate feels off early on, that feeling rarely improves over time. Resources: Unique Ability® Free Zone Frontier by Dan Sullivan How To Improve Business By Asking Good Questions Always Be The Buyer by Dan Sullivan Your Business Is A Theater Production: Your Back Stage Shouldn’t Show On The Front Stage

Are you holding back, waiting for the “right” decision? In this episode, Shannon Waller and Dan Sullivan reveal why taking action—even imperfect action—is the key to entrepreneurial momentum. Discover how making any decision unlocks feedback, reduces anxiety, and activates your best thinking, while indecision keeps you stuck. Plus, learn practical strategies to overcome perfectionism and move forward. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:The importance of making a decision that requires that you take action.How indecision leads to more indecision.What you sacrifice when you refuse to choose.How to get a clear picture of the situation you’re in. Show Notes: Taking action, even with imperfect information, is better than staying stuck in indecision. The problem with making no decision is that you’re not changing the situation that’s paralyzing you. When you can’t make a decision, the pressure builds on you exponentially, as does the feeling of isolation and disconnection from your team and your goals. As soon as you start taking action, you get an enormous amount of information about whether it was a right action or a wrong action.Perfectionism is the enemy of progress. Humans are best when they’re in motion. People become unproductive when they’re not making decisions. You don’t have to make the right decision. You can make a decision, and then make it right. Clarity and confidence come after you commit, not before. Decisive entrepreneurs make mistakes, but they also learn and adapt much faster than indecisive ones. When you’re indecisive, you lose access to your wisdom, experience, and problem-solving abilities. The act of deciding eliminates alternative options and allows your mind to focus on what matters most. Protecting your role and saying no to distractions is a by-product of being decisive about your commitments. The word “decide” literally means to “kill off” alternatives, freeing you from mental clutter and overwhelm. Resources: The 4 C’s Formula by Dan Sullivan The Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy The Impact Filter™

An entrepreneur for over 35 years, Gary Mottershead is the founder and president of GCP Industrial Products, the largest U.S. importer of industrial sheet rubber, serving customers across North America. In this episode, he shares the highs and lows of his career, as well as his goals as a Program Coach for The Strategic Coach® Program. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:What Gary considers to be his most important responsibility.How Gary’s entrepreneurial career started with an actual tire fire.How he and his team built up their “crisis muscle.” Why reinterpreting your past and protecting your present is crucial to entrepreneurial success. How Strategic Coach® helps entrepreneurs sharpen their vision. Why Gary chose to write a book—and what he learned from the process.How entrepreneurs can overcome FOMO.  Show Notes:If you’re going to bring children into the world, you should look after them.Having a support system at home is vital to the success of any entrepreneurial family.Stability in some areas of your life can give you the energy to handle changes in others.Sometimes, not making a decision is the greater risk.There are things entrepreneurs feel compelled to do without knowing why.Trying to be significant before you’re successful is doing things backwards.The time isn’t up unless you decide it’s up.The mark of an entrepreneur is not how often you get knocked down, but how many times you get back up.You’ll handle a situation more calmly if you’ve experienced something similar before.Being nimble is a mindset.Forgiveness means letting go of the hope for a better past.You can rewrite your own story, keeping only what’s important.The future isn’t written yet—which means you can still shape it.Entrepreneurship is a lifestyle, not just a job.Without intention and direction, too much information can paralyze you.The hardest thing for an entrepreneur is being honest with themselves.You can only help those who want to be helped. Resources: Kolbe A™ IndexAntifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb Nimble Future: Reinterpret Your Past, Protect Your Present, Engage In Your Future by Gary Mottershead Unique Ability® Time Management Strategies For Entrepreneurs (Effective Strategies Only) The 4 Freedoms That Motivate Successful Entrepreneurs The Self-Managing Company by Dan Sullivan

Many entrepreneurs use negatives to make a sale. But why sell fear when you can sell opportunity, and why sell pain when you can sell growth? Dan Sullivan reveals why positive messaging attracts the best clients, how ambition fueled by principles keeps you young, and why your community determines your growth. Learn why the most successful entrepreneurs never retire—they just keep reinventing themselves. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:How selling is both an intellectual and emotional activity.Why fear isn’t something to avoid—but a sign you’re growing.The mindset shift that keeps successful entrepreneurs innovating.How Strategic Coach® accelerates growth for already successful entrepreneurs.The surprising link between ambition, aging, and fulfillment (and how to stay "young" at any stage).  Show Notes: Most sales pitches use fear—but fear attracts the wrong clients and limits your growth. Selling has two parts to it: intellectually connecting people to a desirable future result, andthen emotionally engaging them to take action to achieve that future result. To be effective, a sales pitch has to be both convincing and compelling. Instead of pitching that you can remove a negative, focus your pitch on amplifying something positive. You're ambitious because of your passion. You'd like to see your passion have an impact out in the world. Who you surround yourself with determines your trajectory: growth-oriented people keep you young, while stagnant people age you. Status entrepreneurs, as opposed to growth entrepreneurs, eventually run out of ambition. Ambition is driven by strategy. Growth is driven by principles. Your principles are your way of being. The moment you retire from fear, you also retire from excitement. Fear and pain go together, as do opportunity and growth. The biggest thing you're putting at risk when you're growing is your own past. In the Strategic Coach community, you're not the exception—you're the norm.  Resources: 10xTalk Podcast with Dan Sullivan and Joe Polish Anything And Everything Podcast with Dan Sullivan and Jeffrey Madoff The Mindset Scorecard by Dan Sullivan The 4 C’s Formula by Dan Sullivan Growing Great Leadership by Dan Sullivan

What if the solutions you’ve already created could generate value for decades—without more of your time? In this episode, Dan Sullivan reveals how packaging, naming, and protecting your ideas transforms them into scalable intellectual property. Learn why your “second company” (your multiplier) could soon be worth more than your entire business—and how to make it happen. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:How to make your solutions valuable by protecting them through intellectual property law.The thinking tool that lets you find the right person for the right role.How you can easily turn your ideas into intellectual property.The importance of sticking to your business model.How you can franchise your ideas.The future of Strategic Coach® over the next 20 years. Show Notes: Your first company, your R&D company, creates solutions for people. Your second company, your multiplier company, packages your solutions as your intellectual property. If you record, package, and name a solution you’ve created, it will have massive ongoing value. Before you put your ideas out into the world, you must protect them. Boredom with your own solutions is a hidden risk—document them before you move on to the next idea. The value of Strategic Coach’s patents will soon surpass 55 years of coaching revenue—proof that IP compounds value. Protecting your creativity isn’t just a multiplier; it’s an accelerator of long-term wealth. A two-company structure makes you immune to market chaos because you control the value of your ideas. Your biggest breakthroughs will come from technology multiplied by teamwork, not from grinding harder. The same business model that built your success can scale infinitely—if you focus on IP, not just execution. Resources: Unique Process Advisors by Dan Sullivan Instant IP Casting Not Hiring by Dan Sullivan and Jeffrey Madoff Unique Ability® Perplexity This Tool Will Help You Make Sense Of The Past AND Take Charge Of Your Future Everything Is Created Backward by Dan Sullivan Extraordinary Impact Filter by Dan Sullivan Growing Great Leadership by Dan Sullivan The 4 C’s Formula by Dan Sullivan

Do you feel torn between the company you have and the one you wish you had? In this episode, Dan Sullivan reveals The Second Company Secret—how successful entrepreneurs leverage their first (real) company to fuel a second (multiplier) company built on intellectual property. Discover how to eliminate tension between the two, protect your creativity, and unlock exponential growth. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:Why your real company frustrates you.Why your imaginary company seems perfect.What you can do with the new Second Company Secret thinking tool.What you’ll come to realize if you closely examine your two companies. Show Notes: Entrepreneurs often undervalue their real company while idolizing an imagined “perfect” version. Your real company isn’t the problem—your thinking about it is. Your most creative breakthroughs feel tied to this unrealized vision, but it lacks traction. Your second company allows you to see the value of your first company. You could be making money at one company while still resenting how much of your time it takes up. Your second company thrives through collaboration, not through your time and effort. Structure and partners are non-negotiable—they’re the multipliers of your vision. You bring the vision and capabilities, and your partners bring the reach.                  When your second company succeeds, it fuels even greater creativity and innovation in your first. The solutions you create are your intellectual property. Take steps to protect them.  Resources: Unique Ability® The V.C.R. Formula Your Business Is A Theater Production: Your Back Stage Shouldn’t Show On The Front Stage What Is An Impact Filter?

Are you prepared for the biggest economic shift in 80 years? In this episode, Dan Sullivan reveals how the new global tariff landscape creates unprecedented opportunities for agile entrepreneurs. Learn why the post-WWII economic order is over, how to adapt your business model, and why being alert, curious, and resourceful is the secret to success in this emerging era. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode: The real history behind today’s tariffs—and why it matters for your business.How WWII transformed the U.S. economy into a global powerhouse.Why the U.S. dollar leads world trade (and why that’s changing).Why the U.S. Navy started protecting trade routes around the world.Five critical strategies every entrepreneur must adopt now.A simple framework to help clients regain confidence in uncertain times.Why China faces unprecedented challenges in this new era. Show Notes: On April 3, the U.S. announced tariffs of 10% for most countries, with higher rates for nations with significant trade imbalances. Post-WWII, the U.S. economy was self-sufficient, yet other countries charged tariffs on U.S. goods while enjoying tariff-free access to American markets. One-sided tariffs led American corporations to offshore factories, costing U.S. jobs and prosperity. Trump’s tariffs are a negotiation tactic to reset unfair trade terms and bring manufacturing back to the U.S. China’s current trade practices make it the primary target of aggressive tariffs (now 125%). U.S. companies abroad face tariffs unless they relocate production home—creating a surge in domestic opportunities for entrepreneurs. You want to be the buyer in every negotiation. The buyer is the one who can walk away from the table. The United States is the best place to sell a product created anywhere in the world because it has the most customers. Tariffs aren’t about fairness. They’re about trade. Entrepreneurs are skilled at responding very quickly to new dangers and new opportunities and developing new strengths in the process. Global supply chains are fracturing, forcing businesses to source locally and regionally. During uncertain times, people feel as though they’ve lost their future. You can help clients and customers rebuild confidence in their future by focusing on their dangers, opportunities, and strengths (D.O.S.®). The 1945–1992 economic order was a historical anomaly, and we won’t see anything like it again. AI reduces labor costs (and creates new opportunities for entrepreneurs as a result).  Resources: Perplexity Trump: The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump and Tony Schwartz The D.O.S. Conversation® by Dan Sullivan The Great Meltdown by Dan Sullivan Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz

What if leadership isn’t about titles, but about creating new capabilities others can observe? In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller break down the shift from bureaucratic management to self-leadership in the networked economy. Learn the four-step process to transform uncertainty into confidence—and why focusing on problems is the death of innovation. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:The four-step process that always makes you an inspiring leader.Why a goal isn’t a destination.The big difference between a role and a job.Why there are no orders in the network economy.How Dan is finally revealing his process in a new book.Why unique skills are generally wasted in bureaucracies. Show Notes: Self-leadership starts with creating new capabilities—not waiting for permission. Anytime you’re doing something that creates a new capability, and other people observe you doing that, that's leadership. Your activity of creating a new capability gives others the confidence that they too can have the courage to create a new capability. The pandemic created a network economy. Great technologies like Zoom have enabled people to work remotely. Many management activities within a company can now be handled by apps. Bureaucracies punish boundary-crossing, while networked teams reward it. When people get possessive about their territory, it shuts down creativity. Instead of trying to fix problems (or worse, just complaining about them), create solutions that make problems irrelevant. Confidence comes after courage—not the other way around. Resources: Growing Great Leadership by Dan Sullivan The Self-Managing Company by Dan Sullivan The Team Success Handbook by Shannon Waller Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy The 4 C’s Formula by Dan Sullivan

The Strategic Coach® Program has been helping entrepreneurs achieve accelerated growth and personal freedom for over 35 years. Now, Strategic Coach® is excited to welcome a new coach to the Program. In this episode, Associate Coach Erik Solbakken shares his unique journey from chartered accountant to successful entrepreneur, and what excites him about connecting with fellow entrepreneurs. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:How Erik responded after his professional dream was decimated.How Erik’s clients inspired him to become entrepreneurial.What led Erik to The Strategic Coach Program and how it changed his life.How Erik is helping accountants create better business models.What allows an entrepreneur to focus on their purpose. Show Notes: The way to create your future is by reflecting on your past. Entrepreneurship isn't always easy; it's a journey with ups and downs. Your ideal client wants the authentic you, not the pretend you. Self-discovery is a lifelong journey. Capabilities and confidence come from commitment and courage. Being part of the Strategic Coach community means being surrounded by entrepreneurs who can support you through tough times. Strategic Coach thinking tools help you clarify and simplify your thinking. Each time you use a Strategic Coach thinking tool, you gain deeper insights. Every coach at Strategic Coach is also a client, applying the tools and concepts to their own business. Our eyes only see and our ears only hear what our brain is looking for. Strategic Coach is one of the world's greatest philosophy programs wrapped in a business blanket. Resources: The 4 Freedoms That Motivate Successful Entrepreneurs How To Sell Transformation Using This One Question Unique Ability® What You Can Learn From Failure “Geometry” For Staying Cool & Calm by Dan Sullivan Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy The Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy 10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy What Is A Self-Managing Company®? Viking Academy™ The Accountant Success Formula™ Accountants Kelowna BC

Is complaining holding you back from your full potential? In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller discuss the surprisingly simple choice between complaining and creating when facing obstacles. Discover how shifting to a creative mindset, embracing courage, and taking full responsibility can unlock new capabilities and exponential growth. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:How complaining allows you to avoid responsibility by justifying why you can't move forward.The Strategic Coach® thinking tool for transforming obstacles into capability and confidence.Why you need commitment and courage before you can gain capability and confidence.The kinds of people that give creativity a bad name. Show Notes: An obstacle feels like something is blocking your progress. There are only two ways of dealing with obstacles: creating or complaining. When you’re in creativity mode, you’re fully engaged with transforming or bypassing the obstacle. To deal with an obstacle, you have to create something new. Taking 100% responsibility is essential for creative problem-solving. Complaining involves blaming external circumstances or people. Committing fully to complaining offers a sense of freedom because you’ve absolved yourself of any responsibility for improving your situation. Few people are entirely creative or entirely complainers. Most are a mix of both. Creativity requires courage; complaining does not. Creators are more likely to be honest with themselves. You attract what you are: complainers attract complainers, and creators attract creators. Resources: The 4 C’s Formula by Dan Sullivan