The story told of Icarus was his attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that his father constructed from feathers and wax. He ignored instructions not to fly too close to the sun, and the melting wax caused him to fall to his death.

What in the world does this have to do with making better hiring decisions?

Simple: in order for Icarus's wings to melt there had to be a sun. And in hiring, the sun means a lot more than you can possibly imagine.

I grew up in the Northeast (AuSable Chasm to be specific).  Summers were exceptional!  We had long days where the weather hovered around 80 degrees and the sun wouldn't set until about 9pm.  My sisters and I would play for hours in the river behind our house.  I'd compete in baseball games that would start at 6 and end at 8:30 but there was never any need for the fields to be lit because the sun hadn't set yet.  The way I'm describing it you're probably thinking to yourself, "that sounds like paradise."  For those couple of months a year, it was.

But with every ray of light there's usually a dark tunnel.

For us, that was winter.  It was dark when we woke up, dark when we got on the school bus and then dark again when we got out of school around 5pm.  We'd literally never see the sun except through some windows as we walked from classroom to classroom.  Add to that it was often so cold and overcast that you couldn't go outside anyway.  This kind of environment became oppressive to a lot of people (my Dad, for one).  It wasn't until just 25 years ago that people started recognizing what was happening.  Wikipedia has this to say:

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression, winter blues, summer depression or summer blues, is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter or summer, spring or autumn, repeatedly, year after year.

Once regarded skeptically by the experts, seasonal affective disorder is now well established. Epidemiological studies estimate that its prevalence in the adult population of the US ranges from 1.4 percent (Florida) to 9.7 percent (New Hampshire).

The US National Library of Medicine notes that "some people experience a serious mood change when the seasons change. They may sleep too much, have little energy, and may also feel depressed. Though symptoms can be severe, they usually clear up."  The condition in the summer is often referred to as reverse seasonal affective disorder, and can also include heightened anxiety.

How can this knowledge help you as a Leader and Hiring Manager?  Simple: Behavioral-based interviewing, when conducted properly, means you should avoid questions that allow someone to answer with their opinions.  Whether or not someone has lived and thrived in "the North" or "the South" before should absolutely be part of your interviewing process.  Just because someone says they've "Always dreamed of living in Seattle because they've heard great things" doesn't mean they'll be able to survive the lack of sun.  The same goes for Austin - the summers are brutal and we don't go outside much at all from late June until early September.

SAD is real.  Accept that and use the knowledge to your advantage when making a critical hiring decision that will involve moving someone from one latitude to another.