In Hiring for Attitude, leadership and hiring expert Mark Murphy drops a bombshell on traditional hiring practices: most new hires fail not because they lack skills, but because they lack the right attitude. With this bold premise, Murphy builds a case for overhauling the way companies hire, train, and evaluate employees.
This book is not just about getting warm bodies in seats—it’s about building a high-performing culture by hiring people who not only can do the job but will thrive doing it.
Let’s dive deep into the key lessons, tools, and real-world insights Hiring for Attitude delivers.
🔍 The Core Idea: Skills Get You Hired, Attitude Gets You Fired
Murphy kicks off the book by presenting a startling research finding from his company, Leadership IQ:
46% of newly hired employees fail within 18 months—and 89% of the time, it’s due to attitude, not technical skill.
Attitude failures include:
- Low emotional intelligence
- Inability to accept feedback
- Lack of motivation
- Poor temperament or cultural fit
Skills, while important, are easier to teach than attitude. Yet most companies focus their hiring process on resume bullet points, technical know-how, and credentials—completely missing the mark.
🧠 The Mindset Shift: Hire for Culture, Train for Skills
Murphy’s argument is simple but revolutionary:
“You can teach a smart person how to code, but you can’t teach a coder how to be humble.”
He urges companies to identify the attitudinal DNA of their top performers—and then use that as a template to guide hiring decisions. This means moving beyond abstract concepts like “culture fit” and defining specific behaviors that predict success.
⚙️ The Hiring for Attitude Toolbox
Murphy arms readers with a practical set of tools to overhaul their hiring practices. Here are the biggest takeaways:
1. Define Your Organization’s “Brown Shorts”
This quirky phrase refers to a real story of Southwest Airlines’ success in hiring: they prioritized attitude over resume polish by testing for things like humor and team spirit.
🛠️ Action: Identify the unique attitudes and behaviors that define your best employees. Write them down. These are your “brown shorts.”
2. Create a “Coachability Quotient”
One of the top predictors of success is how well someone can take feedback. Murphy recommends probing this during interviews.
🧪 Interview Tip: Ask, “Tell me about a time you received difficult feedback.” Then listen for defensiveness, deflection, or growth-oriented responses.
3. Build an Attitude-Based Interview Guide
Ditch the generic interview questions. Instead, craft behavioral questions tied to the specific attitudes you’ve identified.
✅ Example: Instead of “What are your strengths?” ask,
“Tell me about a time when you had to work with someone difficult. What did you do?”
Look for evidence of humility, resilience, and problem-solving—not just a rehearsed answer.
4. Use the “Two Words” Technique
Murphy suggests summarizing your top performers with just two words (e.g., “humbly driven” or “positively relentless”). Then, shape your interview around finding those traits.
5. Evaluate Interview Answers Scientifically
Murphy introduces a scoring rubric based on A, B, C, or D levels of response:
- A = Attitude in action
- B = Tells, but doesn’t show
- C = Vague or hypothetical
- D = Negative attitude
Train your hiring managers to rate each response based on observable behavior, not gut feelings.
🚫 Common Hiring Mistakes to Avoid
Murphy also details hiring pitfalls that cost companies dearly:
- Over-relying on gut instinct – It’s often biased and inaccurate.
- Hiring for likeability, not performance – Friendly ≠ effective.
- Failing to screen for coachability – A brilliant jerk is still a jerk.
- Ignoring culture fit – Misalignment in values poisons morale.
- Rushing to fill a seat – Short-term speed creates long-term problems.
🚀 The ROI of Hiring for Attitude
When you build a culture of intentional hiring, you:
- Reduce turnover and bad hires
- Increase team cohesion
- Boost engagement and productivity
- Foster innovation and psychological safety
Most importantly, you stop wasting time trying to fix unfixable people—and start growing people who already align with your mission.
💡 Top 5 Takeaways for Leaders and Hiring Managers
- Attitude outweighs aptitude in long-term performance and fit.
- Culture is made, not found—define your values clearly.
- Don’t assume someone with experience will thrive—evaluate mindset and adaptability.
- Design interviews that reveal how people think, feel, and respond.
- Train your team to interview with clarity and consistency, using structured tools.
🎯 Final Thoughts: Hire with Purpose, Not Panic
Hiring for Attitude is more than a recruitment book—it’s a philosophy of building great teams by getting the human stuff right. Mark Murphy doesn’t deny that skills matter—but he argues convincingly that attitude is the silent killer (or driver) of success.
If you’re a founder, HR leader, or team manager frustrated by underperformance or cultural drift, this book will give you a new lens and a powerful toolkit for building the team your company deserves.
