142 | Why Your Hiring Sucks (And It’s Costing You Millions) with Jonathan Whistman

Show Information

Episode Number: 142

Date: April 13, 2026

Duration: 01:07:35

Host Contact Information

Host: Justin Deese

Website: JustinDeese.com

Contact: podcast@JustinDeese.com

Guest Contact Information

Guest: Jonathan Whistman

Company: WhoHire / The Sales Boss

Guest Website: https://thesalesboss.com

Gift to listeners: Free resources + hiring frameworks (via website)

🎯 Summary

In this episode of the Freedom Blueprint Podcast, Justin Deese sits down with Jonathan Whistman—author of The Sales Boss and co-author of Unrecruitable—to break down one of the biggest lies in business: “there are no good people.”

Jonathan shares why most companies don’t actually have a people problem—they have a system and leadership problem. From his unique background studying human behavior to building predictive hiring technology, he explains how top-performing companies consistently hire A-players while others stay stuck with churn, underperformance, and frustration.

You’ll learn how to think differently about hiring, leadership, and culture—and how to build a team your competitors can’t steal.

💡 Takeaways

• Most businesses don’t have a hiring problem—they have an environment problem
• The best companies don’t find great people… they build systems that create them
• Your business is always sending signals—whether you realize it or not
• Hiring mistakes can cost your business millions in lost revenue
• A-player teams aren’t luck—they’re the result of intentional hiring processes
• Identity drives performance more than motivation or training
• If your team isn’t performing, it’s time to look in the mirror—not blame the market

🧭 Chapters

00:00 – Introduction & how Justin met Jonathan

02:00 – The story behind The Sales Boss

04:00 – The 4 levers of performance (B.O.S.S. framework)

06:30 – Jonathan’s background & understanding human behavior

10:00 – The danger of unconscious beliefs in business

12:30 – Why “people problems” exist in every company

15:00 – Building a team that competitors can’t steal

19:00 – The Think, Feel, Act framework explained

23:00 – Why most businesses fail at culture and hiring

27:00 – Real-world example of fixing a broken hiring system

31:00 – The truth: “People don’t want to work for YOU”

33:00 – The hidden cost of bad hires (58% revenue gap)

39:00 – How WhoHire uses AI to predict top performers

45:00 – Data-driven hiring vs gut-based hiring

52:00 – Why hiring should always be happening

59:00 – Hiring in groups vs one-off hiring

1:03:00 – Treat every hire like a $500K decision

1:05:00 – Final thoughts & how to connect with Jonathan

🔑 Keywords

#Hiring #Leadership #HomeServiceBusiness #HVAC #PlumbingBusiness #Electricians #BusinessGrowth #TeamBuilding #APlayers #Recruiting #Entrepreneurship #SalesLeadership #CompanyCulture #FreedomBlueprint #JustinDeese #WhoHire #SalesBoss #Unrecruitable #BusinessCoaching #ScalingBusiness

Mentioned in this episode:

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