How Top Companies Are Using Language Psychology To Recruit Ace Teams

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Why do some companies enjoy accelerated and sustained growth in defiance of supply-chain glitches, rising inflation and political disruption? Are they just lucky? After analyzing 30,000 businesses and millions of leaders over a 15-year period, business model expert Christopher Skinner believes he has the answer.

It doesn’t involve capital, a stellar business plan or genius marketing. “It’s because of who they hire,” he says. In analyzing businesses and their employees, Skinner pondered how the most successful companies recruited ace teams with members akin to the “PayPal Mafia,” a dozen-plus entrepreneurs (Elon Musk, Reid Hoffman and Peter Thiel, among others) who once worked at PayPal and later launched major companies.

“It turns out that it’s not random,” says Skinner, founder and managing partner of New Orleans-based Stealth Dog Labs, which builds organizations using disruptive innovation technologies. “It takes purpose,” he says…