When it comes to the business world, Steve Jobs is the Man. Period.

This guy creates value in just about everything he touches - Is every new product Apple launches a blockbuster? . . . No, but his track record is a laundry list of immense successes. If you owned Apple stock just 12 months ago, I'm sure you'd agree. 12 months ago to the day, you could have bought AAPL at $95/share on the high. If you sold off on New Year's Eve (at a price of $200/share), you more than doubled your money. Now that's value creation, my Friend.

In fact, I'd recommend that Internal Recruiters and 3rd-Party Recruiters take a moment to read the following interview with Fortune Magazine. Yes, we have great recruiting trainers in our industry, and there's always an industry-specific consultant that will offer new ideas . . . but what if we went outside our normal confines and really found out what Steve Jobs thinks about talent? Would that be of value? Sure, it would! So here's what Steve says:

"When I hire somebody really senior, competence is the ante. They have to be really smart. But the real issue for me is, Are they going to fall in love with Apple? Because if they fall in love with Apple, everything else will take care of itself. They'll want to do what's best for Apple, not what's best for them, what's best for Steve, or anybody else.

Recruiting is hard. It's just finding the needles in the haystack. We do it ourselves and we spend a lot of time at it. I've participated in the hiring of maybe 5,000-plus people in my life. So I take it very seriously. You can't know enough in a one-hour interview. So, in the end, it's ultimately based on your gut. How do I feel about this person? What are they like when they're challenged? Why are they here? I ask everybody that: 'Why are you here?' The answers themselves are not what you're looking for. It's the meta-data."

So the next time you're interviewing a candidate, don't focus on track record and track record alone . . . look for passion and whether you see that twinkle in a candidate's eye that says, "I can fall in love with this company."

Joshua Letourneau
Mg Director
LG & Associates Search / Talent Strategy
BLOG: www.lgexec.com