Curious questions change everything, especially when hiring and building teams. Dan Sullivan and Jeffrey Madoff swap stories about how great conversations reveal true fit and why creating space for engagement and originality beats chasing predictability every time. Discover why the best teams are cast for creativity and growth, not just to fill a role.

Show Notes:

What makes a good conversationalist is what makes a good salesperson—curiosity that invites a real exchange.

The best salespeople don’t pitch; they ask questions that spark new thinking.

If candidates show up knowing the company and armed with questions, they instantly set themselves apart.

When people engage with you and the moment, they tend to show up fully in everything they do.

Seeing an owner enjoying their work is the best advertisement for joining a team.

If you’re hiring for predictability, you’re going to structure things in such a way that unpredictability can’t happen.

The best test for any team member: Would you hire them again, knowing everything you know now?

Context matters—people shine brightest when the environment is right for their talents.

Leadership happens where new capabilities are created, not from job titles or louder voices.

Resources:

Learn about Strategic Coach®

Learn about Jeffrey Madoff

Casting Not Hiring by Dan Sullivan and Jeffrey Madoff

Always Be The Buyer by Dan Sullivan

The Talent Delusion by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

Growing Great Leadership by Dan Sullivan

The Impact Filter™

How much does your reputation influence your business outcomes? Jeffrey Madoff and Dan Sullivan explore why your reputation shapes every opportunity, why context matters most, and why the right feedback can uncover hidden talent. Discover essential strategies for building trust, setting your team up for success, and making every interaction count.

Show Notes:

Your reputation outlasts any project and shapes new opportunities across your entrepreneurial journey.

Being easy to deal with and having high standards are not mutually exclusive.

Your brand is not your logo or website; your brand is the reputation people share after working with you.

Context lets you know exactly how to perform in specific circumstances.

There's nothing more dangerous than winning with the wrong approach.

Positive word of mouth is the greatest conversion to scale.

We often confuse confidence with competence.

Talent is the right person placed in the right context where their unique skills can shine.

When people feel secure and informed, their best talents emerge and they perform at their highest level.

Transparent communication and clear plans make talented people feel valued and reduce the chance of problems down the line. People like to know what’s expected of them.

Life is a continuous negotiation, and progress is made by aligning your reasons with others.

Resources:

Casting Not Hiring by Dan Sullivan and Jeffrey Madoff

Learn about Dan Sullivan and Strategic Coach®

Learn about Jeffrey Madoff

Do you believe your business has an inherent value? Dan Sullivan and Jeffrey Madoff dismantle this common illusion to reveal the true nature of value. Learn why it’s determined solely by a buyer’s motivation and how building a Self-Managing Company® is your ultimate path to greater freedom, growth, and engagement.

Show Notes:

The concept of inherent value is a subjective belief, not an economic fact.

True value is determined solely by the agreement between a buyer and a seller at a specific moment.

A buyer’s perception of value is entirely dependent on their unique motivations and goals.

The ultimate purpose of your entrepreneurial journey is to achieve greater freedom of time, money, relationship, and purpose.

Selling your company often means sacrificing your freedom and becoming an employee.

Growing your business can create its own kind of prison, depending on how you build it and what you do.

Your personal engagement in the creative process is the core fuel for a fulfilling entrepreneurial life.

Money is not the game itself but merely the scoreboard tracking your progress and freedom.

Building a Self-Managing Company is the strategic vehicle that grants you the freedom to focus on what you love.

Life and business are a constant negotiation requiring you to understand the other party’s perspective above all else.

Resources:

What Is A Self-Managing Company®?

The 4 Freedoms That Motivate Successful Entrepreneurs

Casting Not Hiring by Dan Sullivan and Jeffrey Madoff

“Scary Times” Success Manual: How To Be A Leader When Times Get Tough

Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss

Freakonomics by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt

Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases by Daniel Kahneman, Paul Slovic, and Amos Tversky

The 4 C’s Formula by Dan Sullivan