How to be a Talent Magnet: Radical Clarity and Relentless Commitment
In J. Scott’s recent article, Unleashing the Irreplaceable: How Multipliers Elevate Teams, he introduced the foundation of a Multiplier: autonomy, collaboration, and empowerment, along with the five behaviors that bring it to life: the Talent Magnet, the Liberator, the Challenger, the Debate Maker, and the Investor. This series is about making those behaviors real. You can read the full article on J Scott Leadership here.
In this article we will tell you how to be the Talent Magnet.
Most people think being a Talent Magnet means offering perks, flex schedules, free snacks, or selling a “fun” culture. They pitch. They accommodate. They hope A-players will be seduced into joining.
And it doesn’t work. Because top talent isn’t looking for comfort, they’re looking for opportunities to grow. In capability, in experience, in their career, and in their lives.
A-players don’t want to be sold. They want to be elevated. They want to join teams where expectations are crystal clear, accountability is non-negotiable, and growth is the standard.
Because A-players are going somewhere, stagnation isn’t an option. They will only hitch their horse to a wagon if they believe that the team will give them at least as much as they are bringing to the table.
They want to know, before they even sit down for an interview, exactly what it takes to thrive. And they want proof the people around them are fiercely committed to the same bar. That everyone is driven to do whatever it takes to elevate the business and each other.
That’s what a Talent Magnet is. And here’s how you lead it.
Align on Expectations Before the Interview
At 120VC, every candidate first has a conversation with a talent specialist. But no one goes in front of a hiring manager without first reading our How to Thrive document. This isn’t a glossy brochure. It’s a fierce statement of who we are, how we work, and the standards required to thrive on our team.
We don’t pitch jobs. We ask candidates if what we expect of each other inspires them, and if they believe they would thrive in an environment like ours. We ask people if they are motivated by the idea of becoming “One of the 120”.
Candidates read it and decide: “Am I excited by this opportunity”? If they opt in, they’ve taken the first step toward being part of something extraordinary. If they opt out, good. We’ve just saved everyone’s time.
That’s the first filter of a Talent Magnet: They create radical clarity & alignment before the first interview.
Make Responsibilities Clear and Measurable
At 120VC, roles aren’t jobs. They’re investments in the company and in the people who sit in them.
We only commit to work that will measurably improve customer satisfaction, team member satisfaction, and profitability, none at the expense of the others. That’s the guardrail. It keeps us from making short-sighted decisions, choosing speed over trust, or growth over culture. It’s how we lead, how we prioritize, and how we hold the line.
Every role in our Job Architecture has a clear purpose, measurable responsibilities, and specific requirements for promotion. Each has been intentionally designed to describe how it measurably improves the three pillars.
We review the Job Architecture with candidates in the same meeting where we review their employment agreement. The opportunity to grow is laid bare. They either opt in or they don’t.
Advancement doesn’t come from tenure or effort. It comes from 5/5 mastery of today’s role and proven readiness for the next. No fog. No guesswork. No relying on a manager’s mood.
Once onboard, clarity becomes operational. Every responsibility is tied to an objective on the 2x2 Prioritization Matrix, our one-page alignment tool where priorities are vetted with managers, teammates, and clients.
Each week, in their Weekly Focusing Exercise, team members define the specific steps they will take to advance those objectives and block time on their calendars to get the work done. Then they bring it to the Weekly Account Team Meeting, share it, ask for help, and align with the team.
This isn’t bureaucracy. This is how we crush burnout-busy, make sure top priorities are scheduled, aligned with the individual, the team, and the client, and advanced with visible clarity every single week. If it isn’t written down and scheduled, it doesn’t exist.
Define and Support the Development Path
At 120VC, the path to promotion is clear before day one. We review the Job Architecture alongside the employment contract so every new team member knows exactly what mastery looks like in their role and what it takes to earn the next one.
Every responsibility, requirement for promotion, TQM mastery point, and tool in our 16-week Transformation Leadership Program, once mastered, drives measurable value for our clients. Every rep mastered pushes a consultant closer to irreplaceable status.
Within the first 14 days, every new hire sits down with their Execution Leader for a development meeting. Together, they lock in what to focus on in the first quarter: which current responsibilities they will master, and more specifically, which TQM mastery points from the 120VC Execution Standard they will practice.
These commitments are captured in the Professional Development Plan and made operational by putting them directly into the Work-In section of the 2x2.
That makes professional development visible and a priority every single week. In their Weekly Focusing Exercise, team members review their 2x2, identify the next step to advance each objective, and crisply document that as a planned accomplishment for the coming week. They block time on their calendars to make it happen, and in the Weekly Account Team Meeting, share it, get support, and align with the team.
There’s no forgetting. Development isn’t a side meeting with HR, or a once-a-quarter exercise with their manager that goes nowhere; it’s part of our operational cadence. If someone struggles to make time for growth, it’s visible, and the team or their EL can step in to support them. If they are doing the work, that contribution is visible to the team and to the client.
Growth here isn’t a side conversation. It’s the work. Written down, scheduled, practiced, and reviewed in the open every week until mastery is undeniable.
Fierce Commitment: Promote the Can and Will, Exit the Can’t and Won’t
Here’s where many leaders flinch. They put energy into recruiting and development, but when someone can’t or won’t meet the standard, they stall. They tolerate. They hope.
That’s a betrayal of the team.
At 120VC, my leadership purpose is simple: a fierce commitment to elevate those that can and will and quickly exit those that can’t or won’t.
And here’s the truth: if someone finds themselves in this situation, it comes down to attitude or aptitude. Attitude is clear; they won’t do the work. Aptitude is harder. Because they thought they could succeed when they were hired, and so did we. That’s on us. Leaders are the ones who are supposed to know if a candidate can succeed.
So when someone begins to struggle, we don’t walk away. We lean in. We coach, we train, we support. But they still have to carry their own bags. They have to be able to do the job. After a couple of weeks of real leadership, both the team member and their EL know the truth. Together, they’re still struggling to deliver the necessary outcomes. And that leaves a hole in the team or lets a client down.
The coaching and training have been compassionate the entire time. But when it’s clear it’s not working, it’s time for a compassionate conversation about what comes next. Humans crave success above all else, at home, with their families, with their friends, and in their careers. So we point that out. They can’t truly be happy here. And we make it clear: it’s time to start looking, and we’ll support them while they do. We keep them in the role, we keep paying them, we have their back until they land somewhere they can thrive.
Exiting someone always feels terrible. It guts the team member, and it’s the hardest job a manager has. I feel it every time, before, during, and after. But again, I do it for the people who can and will.
The same rigor we apply to recruiting, training, coaching, and promoting is applied to exiting. Not as punishment. Not as a threat. But as a commitment to the people who can and will.
Because one person who can’t or won’t becomes a drag on everyone who can and will. Keeping them slows growth, lowers the bar, and undermines the very clarity we promised to our team members and our clients.
Our system makes this black-and-white. PDPs measure whether growth commitments are being met. The 2x2 and Weekly Focusing Exercises make them visible to the team. Weekly Account Team Meetings bring them into the open. When someone is succeeding in the work, their growth is visible to the team and to the client. When they aren’t, that’s visible too.
We are The 120, an elite team capped at 120 consultants where every seat is earned, and every consultant multiplies. That’s the promise we make to future team members and clients.
A fierce commitment to exiting those that can’t and won’t isn’t cruelty. It’s compassionate. And it’s commitment. To the team. To the mission. To the legacy. And yes, to the individual, because no one wins by staying stuck in a role they cannot master.
Your Next Move
Stop pitching jobs. Publish standards. Write down what thriving looks like on your team and share it before the first interview. Download our Thrive document as an example here.
Document every role with a clear purpose, measurable responsibilities, and promotion requirements.
Create Professional Development Plans within 14 days. Score mastery every 90 days. Tie commitments to the 2x2 so growth is part of the work, not a side meeting. Check out our self led training on the 2x2, weekly and daily focusing exercise here.
Coach daily in the work. Review artifacts, sharpen clarity, and align as a team.
And above all, keep the promise: elevate those that can and will, and quickly, compassionately, exit those that can’t or won’t.
Shift Questions
When have you kept someone on the team who couldn’t or wouldn’t meet the standard, hoping they would eventually get it? How did it affect the people who could and would?
How clear are your role definitions today? Could a candidate read them before day one and know exactly what thriving looks like?
What’s one step you can take this week to apply the same rigor to exiting the can’t and won’t as you do to hiring and promoting the can and will?
Series Note
This article is part of our Multipliers series. In the anchor, Unleashing the Irreplaceable: How Multipliers Elevate Teams, we introduced the Multiplier foundation, autonomy, collaboration, and empowerment, and the five behaviors that bring it to life: the Talent Magnet, the Liberator, the Challenger, the Debate Maker, and the Investor. This first follow-on delivers the Talent Magnet. Upcoming articles will continue to break down each Multiplier behavior into actionable systems leaders can use to elevate their teams.