To hire for traits over background, Mark Kosaglo suggests testing for coachability directly. Run a skill-based roleplay (e.g., discovery), provide specific feedback, and then run the exact same roleplay again. The key is to see if the candidate can actually implement the coaching, not just if they are open to receiving it.

Prioritize hiring generalist "athletes"—people who are intelligent, driven, and coachable—over candidates with deep domain expertise. Core traits like Persistence, Heart, and Desire (a "PhD") cannot be taught, but a smart athlete can always learn the product.

Companies often hire growth leaders in a panic when growth stalls. A better approach is to hire when you have early signs of channel fit. This allows the new hire to scale what's working and build a team around that proven channel, rather than desperately searching for any that might work.

In a collaborative sales environment, a candidate's ability to be a good teammate is more valuable than their contact list. A difficult personality with a great rolodex can harm team productivity, whereas a collaborative person can be supported in building their own network.

To build a culture of continuous improvement, prioritize hiring for coachability. Individuals with backgrounds in competitive athletics or music are often ideal because they have been heavily coached their whole lives. They view direct feedback not as criticism, but as an essential tool for getting better.

Before being involved in interviews, you can learn to hire by observing which coworkers you collaborate with best. This trains you to value traits like coachability and desire to improve over raw skill, honing your ability to evaluate candidates before you're responsible for building a team.

Instead of centralizing partner qualification, provide Channel Account Managers (CAMs) with a clear framework like "Scale, Skill, Will." This empowers them to proactively decide where to invest their time, preventing them from spreading themselves too thin and ensuring focus on high-potential partners.

A sales leader's success is determined less by personal sales ability and more by their capacity to attract a core team of proven performers who trust them. Failing to ask a leadership candidate 'who are you going to bring?' is a major oversight that leads to slow ramps, high recruiting costs, and organizational inefficiency.

A channel leader's primary hiring filter should be personality and likability, asking "Would I genuinely want to have dinner with this person?" Technical skills can be taught and should be vetted by the team, but the innate ability to build relationships is paramount and cannot be trained.