Finding Talent Others Miss

Companies fight for the same candidates.

They want the “Boy Scout.” They want the Project Manager with the perfect resume. They want the Superintendent who has never been fired. They want the safe bet.

Because everyone wants them, these candidates are expensive. And honestly? They are sometimes overrated.

The best leaders we know do not buy “retail.” They are Value Investors.

They look for the talent that the market has undervalued. They look for the rough diamond that everyone else threw away. They have leadership vision and have honed their ability to work with a wide range of people.

The Alchemy of Misfits

In World War II, the British Army was struggling in the North African desert. Their standard soldiers—disciplined, polite, rule-followers—were failing. The environment was too chaotic.

Enter David Stirling. He founded the SAS (Special Air Service).

Stirling did not look for the perfect soldier. He looked for the rebels. He recruited the men who were too loud, too aggressive, or had problems with authority.

Other officers saw “troublemakers.” Stirling saw “pirates.”

He knew that in the desert, you didn’t need someone to follow orders. You needed someone to improvise. He took the “dregs” and performed leadership alchemy. He turned a group of misfits into the most dangerous fighting force in the world.

He didn’t change the men. He changed their context. Want to know more about this story? Watch The Dirty Dozen.

Are You Buying Stocks at the Top?

In the stock market, you lose money if you only buy when the price is highest.

In hiring, you lose momentum if you only hire the “perfect” candidate.

Value Investing means finding an asset that is trading below its true worth. In construction, that looks like this:

• The “Job Hopper”: The market sees a lack of loyalty. A Value Investor sees someone who quit three jobs because he refused to build low-quality work. That is not a risk; that is integrity.
• The “Failed Founder”: The market sees a guy whose business went bust. A Value Investor sees someone who knows how to read a P&L and feels the weight of ownership.
• The “Bull in a China Shop”: The market sees a liability. A Value Investor sees the only person brave enough to push a stalled project across the finish line.

Your Personal Workout

This strategy is not for everyone.

You cannot just hire a “misfit” and hope for the best. That is gambling, not investing. To pull this off, you must be a specific kind of leader.

If you are insecure, a high-performer will crush you. If you are disorganized, they will quit.

To lead these people, you must work on three things:

1. Kill Your Ego High-value talent will challenge you. They will tell you when your plan is bad. They will not salute just because you are the boss. The Workout: You must learn to love being wrong. If you need to be the smartest person in the room, do not hire a game-changer. Hire a helper.

2. Master “Radical Truth” Misfits have a high radar for nonsense. They hate corporate speak. If you try to “manage” them with soft words, they will lose respect for you. The Workout: You must get comfortable with conflict. You need to be able to have hard, direct conversations without getting emotional. You need to be a rock, not a pillow.

3. Define the “Why,” Not the “How” A “Boy Scout” wants you to give him a map. A “Pirate” just wants to know where the treasure is. The Workout: Stop micromanaging. If you hire someone with high drive, your job is to set the destination and get out of the way. If you try to control their every move, you will break their spirit.

The Reward

When you hire the Boy Scout, you get exactly what you paid for. A steady 5% return.

When you practice Value Investing—when you hire the person others overlooked and lead them with confidence—you get the SAS. You get a 100x return.

Stop looking for the people who look good on paper. Start looking for the people who have the fire, even if they have a little soot on their face.

We can find you the fuel. But you have to be ready to build the engine.