Stop Hiring for Tactics. Start Hiring for Leverage.
Many companies think they’re scaling their growth team. What they’re actually doing is filling seats with tactical executors—without designing for the leverage those roles should create.
There’s a moment in most growing businesses where leadership says: “We need more people.” Marketing’s overwhelmed. Sales is stretched. Product is behind. So the instinct is to hire fast—often junior, often cheap, often with very narrow job specs.
I get the impulse. But more people doesn’t equal more output. Not if they aren’t set up to scale thinking, not just tasks.
“If your hires can only do what you tell them to do, they’re not helping you scale. They’re helping you stay busy.”
Tactical vs. Strategic Hires
Hiring for tactics means bringing in someone to execute known tasks: write ads, build decks, update the CRM. There’s a place for that. But if everyone on your growth team is tactical, you’re constantly managing workflows—not creating compounding output.
Hiring for leverage means something else entirely. It means hiring people who:
- Spot patterns before they become problems
- Propose better ways to execute the plan, not just follow it
- Connect dots across teams, tools, and timelines
- Teach others, reduce dependencies, and create durable assets
“A leveraged hire doesn’t ask what to do next. They ask what’s not being done—and why.”
What This Looks Like in Practice
I once worked with a scaleup that had 12 people in marketing, all running around executing campaigns. But there was no one thinking about long-term messaging, channel mix, or lead quality. They didn’t need more hands. They needed one strategic thinker who could recalibrate the whole engine.
Hiring for leverage often means hiring fewer—but more senior—people. Or giving mid-level talent the room and trust to step into a more strategic mindset.
The mistake isn’t hiring junior. It’s hiring junior and expecting them to solve senior problems without support.
How to Change the Pattern
Ask yourself:
- Are we hiring to solve symptoms or redesign systems?
- What outcomes are we expecting from this hire—and can they realistically deliver that?
- Who on the team is currently underutilized—and why?
Before your next hire, write down what success in that role looks like in 12 months. Then ask: does the job description, onboarding plan, and team structure make that success possible?
“Hiring for leverage is an exercise in clarity. If you can’t define what good looks like, you’ll never recognize it in an interview.”
What You Can Do Today
- Audit your last 3 hires: were they hired to execute or to elevate?
- Look at your org chart and ask: where is no one thinking long-term?
- Identify one person who’s ready to take on more—but hasn’t been asked
- Update one job description to reflect ownership, not just output
The companies that scale well don’t just hire faster. They hire smarter—and design teams that create leverage, not dependency.
I write about strategic growth, org design, and what it takes to build teams that scale. Follow along here or on LinkedIn or X @rlivain_builds.
