I’ve hired over 200 people. What finally clicked is that hiring works just like lead gen. Getting candidates is easy.
Sorting is where all the leverage is.
Most people still hire backward:
read resumes
ask about the past
listen to polished stories
guess if someone will be good
That approach doesn’t work.
Hire for traits, not history
Resumes don’t predict performance.
They predict who’s good at writing resumes.
We start by deciding what traits the role actually requires.
For a land acquisitions manager, the job isn’t persuasion.
It’s judgment under uncertainty.
You’re dealing with incomplete info, emotional sellers, and pressure to move fast, without making mistakes.
So instead of asking for stories, we put people in realistic situations and see how they react.
The traits that matter (and how we test them)
These four traits consistently predict who performs well.
1. Clarity under pressure
Can they slow things down instead of escalating the situation?
Question
“A seller answers and immediately sounds annoyed.
‘I’ve already talked to three people about this. Everyone keeps calling me. I don’t have time for this.’
What do you say next?”
You’re looking for calm control. Not pitching, defending, or talking faster.
2. Structured judgment (downside thinking)
Can they protect the business when pressured to move too fast?
Question
“The seller says:
‘Just give me a number right now or I’m hanging up.’
You don’t know anything about the property yet.
What’s the risk of giving a number here and what do you say instead?”
Good acquisitions managers can name the risk and set a clean boundary without apologizing.
3. Practical communication
Can they turn chaos into a clear summary?
Question
“Explain a complex situation to me in three sentences so I understand:
1. what’s happening
2. what matters
3. what happens next
and pretend I’m busy.
If they ramble here, they’ll ramble everywhere.
4. Coachability without ego
Can they adjust in real time?
After any answer, say:
“I wouldn’t handle it that way.”
Then stop talking.
Their response tells you everything.
Why we hire two acquisitions managers
If you want one acquisitions manager, you should usually hire two at part-time.
Same role.
Same expectations.
Then let performance sort it out.
This gives you:
redundancy
built-in competition
real benchmarks
protection if someone quits
Very quickly, one person outperforms the other.
Sometimes one leaves.
Sometimes you let one go.
Sometimes you keep both.
Either way, you’re no longer guessing. You’re measuring.
That’s how you learn what “good” actually looks like in your operation.
Bottom line
Hiring isn’t about intuition or stories.
It’s about observing behavior under pressure.
Define the traits.
Ask questions that expose them.
Let performance do the sorting.
— Brandon