You're losing the hiring war. Not because there aren't good people out there—but because you're fighting the wrong battle.

48.3% of Canadian businesses say recruiting skilled employees is their top obstacle. You're competing with every other business in your market for "experienced" candidates, offering signing bonuses and competitive wages. And even when you land them, there's a coin flip chance they'll be gone within 18 months.

Here's the truth that changes everything: 90% of new hire failures happen because of attitude and personality issues—not technical incompetence. Only 11% fail due to lack of skills.

You're hiring for the wrong thing.

This episode breaks down the 80/20 Hiring Solution—a five-step system to hire for fit, train for skill, and build teams that actually stick around:

• 
  
• Identify your ONE non-negotiable character trait
• 
  
• 
  
• Stop competing for "experienced" candidates
• 
  
• 
  
• Build a 2-week onboarding system that creates competence fast
• 
  
• 
  
• Create retention through growth paths, not just pay raises
• 
  
• 
  
• Replace yourself in one role per quarter
• 
  

Southwest Airlines became an industry leader using this exact philosophy. Founder Herb Kelleher hired for humor and attitude first, skills second. You can do the same.

Your Golden Hour this week: Write down the ONE character trait your best employee has. That's your new hiring filter.

While your competitors wait for the perfect candidate to show up, you're building a system to create them.

Connect with Chris Cooper:

Website - https://businessisgood.com/

Two hundred years ago, jobs lasted generations. Your grandfather kept the same job for 40 years. Today? You'll change jobs at least 12 times in your working life—and you're unlikely to be doing what you're doing now in just five years.

The job cycle has collapsed from multi-generational stability to something almost unpredictable, and AI is accelerating this change beyond anything we've seen before. But here's the truth most people miss: AI isn't taking your job. Your outdated skills are.

In this episode, we break down what employees need to do to stay relevant and how employers can manage workforce transitions without destroying their teams. You'll hear real examples from companies getting it right—Citibank trained 175,000 employees, Amazon invested $1.2 billion, and PwC created gamified learning that attracts 9,000 participants monthly.

Workers now need new skills every decade, not every generation. Self-education isn't optional anymore. Companies that figure out how to retrain their people will dominate their industries. Those that don't will lose their best talent.

The pace of change isn't slowing down. This episode gives you the playbook for navigating it—one Golden Hour at a time.

Connect with Chris Cooper:

Website - https://businessisgood.com/

In this episode, Chris explores the "professional amateur" mindset - the key to sustaining peak performance without burning out. After a conversation at his local bike shop about retirement, Chris realizes that entrepreneurs need singular professional focus on their business while maintaining amateur curiosity in other pursuits. The episode breaks down why entrepreneurs are particularly vulnerable to addiction and unhealthy coping mechanisms (they're twice as likely to experience depression and three times more likely to struggle with substance abuse), and offers a practical framework: choose ONE thing to be professional at - your business - and maintain 2-4 other pursuits where you can be a curious student without the pressure to win or monetize. Chris explains the blessings and responsibilities of both professionals and amateurs, warns against the "amateur professional" trap where hobbies interfere with work, and uses examples like dual-sport athletes and multi-company founders to show why divided focus rarely works. The episode emphasizes that peace from mind - not just peace of mind - requires positive distractions that restore our ability to focus when it counts.

Connect with Chris Cooper:

Website - https://businessisgood.com/