HIRE
The Resume Is Lying to You.
Candidates are using AI for resumes, interview prep, and in some cases getting coached through virtual interviews in real time. Strangely impressive. Also a problem.
Resumes were already a flawed signal. AI just finished them off.
The Problem:
- Polish isn't performance: Every resume looks great now.
- Generic questions get generic answers: Predictable process gets predictable results
- Your gut is less reliable than ever: In an AI-prepped world, "good energy" just means they prepared well
- Impact is missing: Titles are free. What matters is what actually changed because they were there. Revenue up? Turnover down? Team better? If they can't answer that specifically, the title means nothing.
The Fix:
- Go in person for round two: Virtual is fine to screen. Finals should be face to face. You'll learn more in 20 minutes across a table than an hour on Zoom.
- Ask for failure: "Tell me about a decision you'd do differently." Failures are specific and hard to fake.
- Dig for impact: Don't ask what their role was. Ask what changed because they were there.
- Try before you hire: A short working interview or trial project cuts through polish faster than anything.
The resume isn't dead yet. But the smart hiring managers stopped trusting it years ago. Start hiring the person, not the document.
LEAD
Clear Is Kind. You're Just Not Doing It.
No great leader thinks they're a great leader. The ones who do should worry you.
Everyone preaches clear feedback. Almost nobody delivers it. Not consistently, not in real time, and not without softening it into something unrecognizable.
Retention, engagement, performance. All three live or die on how clearly you communicate. It's not one piece of the puzzle. It's the whole thing.
How It Usually Goes:
- They deprioritize it: Too busy, too uncomfortable, too easy to wait until the next review
- They soften it: The feedback sandwich is confusing and disrespectful. Say the thing.
- They wait too long: No feedback for months then an explosion, a write-up, or a termination that blindsides everyone
- They wing it: Every conversation is different, nothing is documented, and nobody follows up. That's not leadership. That's hoping.
What Good Looks Like:
- Real-time: Don't save it. Say it when it happens.
- Non-emotional: This is about behavior and results, not personality
- Tangible: Specific situation, specific impact, specific ask. Nothing vague.
- Personal: Ask each team member how they receive feedback best. Then use it.
- Relentless: Coach until it's solved or until you've made the call to move on
Most leaders were never taught how to do this. That's not an excuse. It's just expensive.
Clear is kind. Vague is cruel. Pick one.
GROW
Unemployment Claims Are Costing You More Than You Think.
Unemployment insurance exists for good reasons. It protects workers who lose jobs through no fault of their own. That's fair.
What's not fair is when it gets abused. And it happens constantly, usually because the company made it easy.
Most small businesses don't fight claims because they don't know they can, don't have the documentation to win, or don't realize what losing actually costs them. A single claim can spike your rate for years.
Our team has managed over 1,500 claims and wins more than 98%. The reason isn't magic. It's documentation.
Why Companies Lose:
- No documentation: If it isn't written down it didn't happen
- Inconsistent coaching: Sporadic feedback with no paper trail looks like a surprise termination
- Soft separations: Vague termination reasons don't hold up in a hearing
- Never fighting back: Most companies just accept the claim and move on. That's a mistake.
How to Win:
- Start at the offer: Clear expectations from day one create the foundation for everything that follows
- Document training and onboarding: Every conversation, every acknowledgment, every sign-off
- Write down every coaching conversation: Date, topic, what was said, what was agreed to
- Be consistent: One documented conversation isn't enough. Show a pattern.
- Fight the ones you can win: If you've done the work above, you have a case. Use it.
Documented = protected.