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Hiring Secrets of the NFL: How Your Company Can Select Talent Like a Champion

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The process by which teams in the National Football League evaluate talent is broadly inclusive and intensely rigorous. In this book, Isaac Cheifetz identifies and discusses 40 "hiring secrets" in the NFL but they are really criteria that are usually taken into account when team staff members consider players to draft, players offered in a trade, or players that have become free agents. Here are seven "secrets" that caught my eye.

1. Identify "the true must of the position" to be filled. That is the critical success factor of the position, without which superior achievement is impossible.

2. Hire for the needs of the future, not for the past. First, identify future needs and then hire only those with high growth-potential to fill those needs.

3. When interviewing, determine "appreciation quotient." Gratitude for opportunities? For family members and friends who have provided assistance? For life's "blessings" such as good health, positive role models (e.g. teachers, coaches, clergy), loving parents, etc.?

4. Choose "game speed" over "practice speed." Hire people who seek continuous improvement (through deliberate practice) but who perform best when it really counts. "Beware of workout warriors."

5. "Don't confuse the map with the territory." Take metrics and credentials into full account but understand the importance of intangibles (i.e. what cannot be measured) such as hunger for knowledge, eagerness to help others, and personal accountability.

6. "Remember that all superstars are overachievers." Jerry Rice is generally considered to be the greatest wide receiver who ever played, both in college and in the NFL. There is unanimous agreement that he was the hardest-working and only one of countless examples of people whose performance over a period of many years far exceeded their presumed capabilities. When thinking about all the underachievers, I am reminded of Texas football coach Darrell Royal's astute observation, "potential" means "you ain't done it yet."

7. Implement "lean" interviewing. That is, simplify the process. Involve only your best people, preferably from different departments to provide applicants with different perspectives on the given position. Ensure that each interview is a shared and highly-valued learning experience. Focus on key issues. Ask direct questions and provide direct responses. All interviews should be cordial, of course, but also rigorous.

Here are five questions Cheifetz poses for implementing the "lean" interview process.

"1. Do you, the hiring manager, have buy-in on the position profile from your own superiors? Not having it will often result in them rejecting a candidate that the hiring manager and peers have already liked.

2. Have you defined the interviewing loop ahead of time? This includes aligning calendars of executives in the interview loop and quietly defining the input each interviewer gets in the hiring decision.

3. Are you managing recruiting with the dynamic energy of a line function? Granted, hiring is technically a staff function, but it can be managed proactively.

4. Are you filtering out the noise of excess candidates? A properly managed interview process should rarely have more than a half a dozen candidates in consideration at one time.

5. Are you checking references for "fit to scheme"? Checking references has become a rote exercise that precedes an offer; few references are likely to say anything negative. But if you position the conversation as being primarily to seek information to better manage individuals once they are hired, those providing a reference are much more likely to provide useful information. You are giving them a reason to be candid, which is helpful to the candidate."

Note: By "fit to scheme," Cheifetz means that the best hires are those who are most compatible with the given organization's structure, culture, values, goals and objectives, etc.

NFL teams and corporations often fall victim to the "winner's curse" in that they out-bid everyone else in a talent auction and then learn that they overpaid and would have been better off not "winning." Richard Thaler thoroughly examines this phenomenon in his book, The Winner's Curse, published by Penguin. He is also the author of the more recent Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness with Cass R. Sunstein.

This is one of those rare reads where one can apply its lessons to multiple areas of business life.
As a professional in executive search, and a consultant to operating business, Isaac offers eye-opening details on the whole world of hiring and how to make those decisions.
From another angle, that of the interviewee, this is a terrific guide for how to approach the company you want to join.
His 40 Secrets given in 'The End Zone' alone is worth buying the book. My favorite is "Beware Workout Warriors," but the other 39 detailed in the book are equalling revealing.
Exciting, informative, instructive, and fun . . . "Hiring Secrets of the NFL" is like the NFL's game itself.

Our startup is hiring across the board, and we've been implementing many of the principles found here. I feel we've been able to begin building a much stronger team as a result. Thanks, "Coach" Cheifetz!

When I first picked up this book, I was expecting it to use a bunch of sporting team metaphors to try to drive home key points about hiring. But the book really does describe how NFL teams go about selecting talent, and, surprisingly, the things they consider and the qualities they look for in leaders are the same in large corporations. The real insight, or lesson, is that hiring talent is pretty similar regardless of which industry you are in.

I feel this book is becoming more and more relevant each year for one key reason - corporations are becoming bigger and bigger, and to be successful and compete in the marketplace they need effective collaboration and shared resources across functional groups. In other words, large corporations need to operate like a team. So it makes a lot of sense to look at the team sports industry, which has very mature practices, and apply those lessons to other industries which are still largely silo-based organizations that need to learn how to become more collaborative and work together for interests of the overall brand.

Excellent resource for those hiring team members. Pleasant and fast read. Gives pointers on how to avoid hiring problematic employees. Good for understanding NFL draft techniques but best for those outside the NFL who want to have access to the knowledge of a very experienced hiring expert. Provides advice that will help you avoid having to fire a team member you should not of hired in the first place.