The strict requirements list is how you hire the past. Checklist hiring optimizes for people who've already done your exact job in your exact industry. Comfortable, and frequently wrong: you're hiring for a market that's already moved. What keeps predicting success in our placements instead: transferable judgment, adaptability, and evidence that the person levels up every environment they enter. The VP who's navigated three business models often outperforms the one who's repeated the same playbook five times. The practical shift: for your next senior role, separate the must-haves (rarely more than three) from the nice-to-haves (everything else), and interview for trajectory, not repetition. Hire someone finishing their growth curve and you get their past. Hire someone mid-curve and you get their future. #Hiring #Leadership #ExecutiveSearch