Stop me if you've heard this story: In the movie Armageddon, a group of oil drillers is trained to become astronauts to save the world from an asteroid. Early in production, Ben Affleck famously approached the director and questioned the logic behind this:

 “I asked Michael why it was easier to train oil drillers to become astronauts than it was to train astronauts to become oil drillers, “

Fair question, Ben. Why wouldn’t it be easier to teach astronauts—literal rocket scientists — to operate a drill instead of the way the script had it? The director’s response? 

“Shut the f--- up.”

That pleasantry aside, Ben’s right and teaches us an important lesson about successful hiring for our firms: It’s much easier and better business (sorry, Michael Bay) to teach specific technical skills to the right people than to try and force the wrong people into roles they aren’t naturally suited for. Instead of focusing only on technical skills, we must look at the core attributes and behaviors that align with success in our specific environments—traits that can’t be taught but can make or break a hire. This is where an Ideal Talent Profile (ITP) becomes essential.

What is an ITP?

You may have heard of an Ideal Client Profile (ICP)—a strategic tool that helps businesses pinpoint their most promising leads. An ICP outlines the characteristics of the perfect customer, including demographics, challenges, and needs, allowing companies to focus their sales and marketing efforts more effectively. By analyzing existing clients to identify common traits, businesses can tailor their messaging and strategies, ultimately increasing conversion rates and maximizing ROI. This targeted approach ensures that resources are directed toward prospects that align closely with their offerings.

Just as firms have Ideal Client Profiles (ICPs) to define their perfect clients, an Ideal Talent Profile (ITP) can help identify the perfect employees. The ITP isn’t just a list of technical skills or past experiences—it’s a blueprint for the behaviors, mindsets, and values that align with long-term success in your firm.

These are the traits that are often unteachable, such as adaptability, problem-solving ability, collaboration, and resilience under pressure. The idea behind an ITP is to shift the focus away from purely technical qualifications and instead prioritize the attributes that truly make someone a good fit for your firm. If you hire well, that person will someday be your partner…act accordingly.

A Process for Building Your ITP

To develop an Ideal Talent Profile, it’s critical to understand what makes your top performers excel and how those traits align with your firm’s values and culture. Here’s a structured process to help collect and map the right data to your firm’s needs.

1. Identify Top Performers

Start by identifying the top performers across all levels of your organization. This isn’t limited to senior leadership—look at individuals in a variety of roles who consistently excel, demonstrate leadership, act in the spirit of the firm, and are seen as “go-to” people. These individuals are your firm’s internal success stories, and understanding what makes them thrive can inform your ITP.

2. Define Key Behavioral Traits

Next, gather qualitative and quantitative data on these high performers. Behavioral assessments can help identify traits such as problem-solving abilities, emotional intelligence, or conflict-resolution skills. You can also conduct 360-degree feedback from peers, managers, and even clients to understand how these individuals interact within teams and how they contribute to the firm’s success.

Look for patterns in behaviors across your top performers. Do they consistently handle ambiguity with ease? Are they strong communicators? Do they show initiative in ways that drive progress for the firm? These are the types of unteachable behaviors that should form the core of your ITP.

3. Map Traits to Firm Culture and Values

Once you’ve collected the data, the next step is to map these behaviors to your firm’s core values and culture. This is where the ITP becomes tailored to your specific environment. For example, if one of your firm’s core values is collaboration, you’ll want to prioritize traits such as empathy, strong communication, and teamwork in your ITP.

Similarly, if your firm thrives on innovation and adaptability, look for traits that demonstrate an individual’s ability to think creatively and remain calm under pressure. The goal is to ensure that the traits you prioritize are aligned not only with individual success but also with your firm’s broader mission and values.

4. Create a Talent Matrix

Once you’ve identified the key behaviors and aligned them with your firm’s values, create a matrix that ties these attributes to different roles within the firm. Some traits may be universal (such as adaptability or communication), while others may be more role-specific. For example, resilience and stress management may be crucial for client-facing roles, while analytical thinking might be more critical for back-office staff.

This matrix becomes the foundation for your hiring and development processes. It allows you to evaluate candidates based on their alignment with the behaviors and values that predict long-term success, not just their technical skills or previous job titles.

5. Implement Behavioral Interviewing

With your ITP in place, adjust your interview process to focus on uncovering these core behaviors. Behavioral interviewing is a great tool here—asking candidates how they’ve handled specific challenges or demonstrated key traits in past roles can give you insight into how they might fit into your firm’s culture.

For example, instead of asking, “Do you work well under pressure?” ask, “Can you give me an example of a time when you had to solve a major problem with limited time or resources? How did you handle it?” This approach helps you uncover the unteachable behaviors that align with your ITP.

5. No Jerks

No amount of available technical ability should supersede your need to work with decent, thoughtful people.  You don’t have to be “friends” with everyone at your place of work, but you should avoid inviting unhealthy egos, acrimony, and bad attitudes into your shop at all costs. When you poison the well, everyone gets sick.  No jerks ever.  Period. 

7. Continual Refinement

Finally, your ITP isn’t static. As your firm grows and evolves, so should your understanding of what makes someone successful within it. Continue to gather feedback on your high performers and refine your ITP based on new insights. This ongoing process ensures that your talent strategy remains aligned with your firm’s long-term goals and challenges.

The Long-Term Benefits of an ITP

By building an ITP, you’re not just hiring for today’s needs—you’re laying the foundation for long-term success. When you hire based on behaviors and values, you create a team that’s adaptable, collaborative, and aligned with your firm’s culture. You reduce turnover, improve team dynamics, and build a talent pipeline poised to take on future challenges.

Just like it would have been, in fact, easier to teach astronauts to work a drill, it’s easier to teach technical skills to people who already have the unteachable qualities your firm needs. With an ITP in place, you’ll ensure you’re hiring the right people from the start—those who bring both the right mindset and the potential to grow with your firm.

In the end, your firm’s success hinges on the quality of its people. Building an ITP helps ensure you’re not just filling roles but cultivating a team built to thrive long into the future.

Want to discuss it further? As always, contact me at bruce@chiefseconds.com, and let’s get into it.

Talk soon,

Bruce & Lefty