I did something a little different when hiring this time.

Instead of putting a job notice out to a general purpose remote jobs board, this time I got smart and actually put it out to the CoachAccountable community itself.  I started with the CA User’s Group, figuring I’d give those folks a head start and then soon put the notice out to the whole of CA customers.

And my, what a difference!  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had some nice wins posting CA openings to the wider internet.  But out there, the median applicant doesn’t give a lick about coaching, let alone CoachAccountable.  So there would be a LOT of sifting and winnowing to be done.

Here?  Signal-to-noise ratio was WAY higher.  Refreshingly higher.  Delightfully higher!  The applications I got for the roles were overwhelmingly high-caliber and promising.

And this was even before I put the notice out to all CA customers.

Turns out I didn’t bother.
Because I didn’t need to.
Because Noah.

You can feel the engineer/caring coach vibes. 🤩

Noah immediately impressed.  Yes, his credentials were rock-solid for the support job.  He’d been in charge of rolling out a workforce management software system to a 130+ locations.  He’s completed a coach training certification.  He’d already been helping a team of coaches set up their own CoachAccountable accounts.  He even did a thorough job answering the sample support questions as part of the application.

And I won’t deny, I felt a definite “game recognizes game” energy when he could relate to a tale of my studying for a Differential Equations exam.  For he, too, has taken Differential Equations.

But what really sold me on Noah was his drive and (credible!) vision to rise up and really make a difference playing the CoachAccountable game.  When he was my presumptive candidate for the support role, I was sharing with him the overall landscape for the several roles I had in mind to hire for.  About that he said to me the following, roughly verbatim: “Well John, how about this.  You’re able to handle support in a few hours a day, so I bet I can get there, too.  So what if you hired just me for now, let me get up to speed with support, then grow into the outreach and the sales roles.  That way you and I could really figure it out, and get our way of doing it well established before we bring more people into the mix.”

That’s some serious moxie, and I love it.  I let him know that yes, customer support does tend to bleed into customer success (consultative teaching and hands-on guidance), and that tends to bleed into sales.  And I let him know that I love the idea of being able to hammer out what we’ve been calling “the CoachAccountable way” of doing things with him, he having already proven himself as a delightful co-creator of culture and vision.  Heck, I couldn’t even deny the allure of growing the team just one at a time, rather than hire several at once and hope that we all actually gel (which is tough enough in general, and doubly so as an all-remote team).

Though I often espouse in these parts “We’re playing for mastery”, Noah’s counter to that is “Let’s see what we’re capable of.”  YES.  Let’s.

After an unhurried period of winding down his role at his previous employer while learning the CA staffer ropes in the margins, Noah started full-time early last month.  Not even two months in, he’s able to field most of what comes his way and is already doing outreach and getting on customer calls solo to show folks around.  AND he and Jaclyn got along swimmingly when I was off for two weeks.  Gelling for the win, and I am delighted.

All told, Noah is a fine addition to the troupe CoachAccountablers who Know How to CoachAccountable™.

Please help me in welcoming Noah!