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Published by Ashley Wesley MA, CHRL, CIM
Finding salespeople is easy. Knowing who to hire is hard. Hiring Without Regret is a practical show for owners, CEOs, and sales leaders who have made a bad hire... and would rather not make another one. Each episode takes a real hiring, compensation, or leadership problem, looks at what the research actually says, and turns it into something you can use on Monday. I'm Ashley Wesley (MA, CHRL, CIM), a Fractional VP of Sales and HR and retained-search partner based in Guelph, Ontario. I've made most of these mistakes myself, so expect honest stories, some dry humour, and no HR jargon. More at ashleywesley.com.
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Is the 10,000-hour rule real? Not the way it's usually told. This episode looks at what the research says about practice and years of experience, and what that means when you hire salespeople. In this episode: - What Anders Ericsson actually found, and why he pushed back on the rule - How Pascal Siakam went from starting at 17 or 18 to an NBA title in 2019 - Why years of experience barely predict performance in a new job Sources include Macnamara et al. (2014), Van Iddekinge et al. (2019), Ericsson and Pool (2016) and Andscape (2019). Full references on the episode page at ashleywesley.com . ashleywesley.com
A hiring test can give you the same answer every time and still not predict the job. This episode explains reliability and validity in plain language, using the NBA Draft Combine. In this episode: - What Kawhi Leonard's 2011 Combine says about which measures actually predict - Why a free online personality quiz isn't a hiring tool - What the Meiorin case means for any test that screens people out Sources include Teramoto et al. (2018), Sackett et al. (2022), the Myers & Briggs Foundation and the Supreme Court of Canada (1999). Full references on the episode page at ashleywesley.com . ashleywesley.com
The Raptors scouted Fred VanVleet for winning pedigree, maturity and toughness, and Scottie Barnes mentioned winning a hundred times in his interview. Nobody mentioned "outgoing." In this episode: What the Raptors looked for, and why Kawhi vs. Draymond: opposite personalities, same award What the research says about conscientiousness and ambiverts Sources include Barrick and Mount (1991), Grant (2013), TSN and CBC. Full transcript and references at ashleywesley.com . General information, not legal advice.
The Raptors found Fred VanVleet undrafted and Pascal Siakam at pick 27, then tested both inside the job with the 905. This episode is about building a hiring process where every competency has a test. In this episode: The full chain from strategy to knowledge, skills, abilities and personality How NBA teams test: film, the Combine, interviews and workouts Your version: track record, assessments, structured interviews, work samples and the first 90 days Sources include Sackett et al. (2022), Cleaning the Glass, CBC and RaptorsHQ. Full transcript and references at ashleywesley.com . General information, not legal advice.
The Raptors built a roster that could switch on every screen, and it changed who they drafted. This episode is about the step owners skip: deciding how you win before you decide who you need. In this episode: The Raptors' switch-everything strategy, and its trade-off The 2018 Kawhi Leonard trade as a strategy call Three value disciplines, and the salesperson each one needs Sources include Treacy and Wiersema (1993) and reporting from CBS Sports, CBC and TSN. Full transcript and references at ashleywesley.com . General information, not legal advice.
Do company values matter? Ashley Wesley answers three objections to hiring for values using Kyrie Irving and USA Basketball.
Steve Kerr cut the Warriors' values from ten to four, then wrote them on a whiteboard the day his team made NBA history. That's culture you can hire against. A ping pong table isn't. In this episode: Why values come before competencies Schein's three layers of culture, and where "culture fit" usually goes wrong Three steps to define values you can actually interview for Sources include Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman and Johnson (2005) and Schein (2010). Full transcript and references at ashleywesley.com .
Kawhi Leonard is back in Toronto, and he's the perfect way into the question hiring managers skip: what are you actually looking for in a salesperson? In this episode: Why height predicts who makes the NBA, and why the tallest players are often the weaker athletes The GM exercise: breaking one role into traits, behaviour, skill and knowledge Three things to do Monday before you post your next sales job Sources include Hunter, Schmidt and Judiesch (1990) and Seth Stephens-Davidowitz's NBA research. Full transcript and references at ashleywesley.com . General information, not legal advice.
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Observed November 4, 2026.
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