The Good Advice Podcast: Do Business Better with Blake Binns

#532 - The Best Quality in a New Hire

·25 min·2 clips

Blake's boss gave him a three out of four because he only did tasks when asked, not on his own initiative.

In this solo episode of The Good Advice Podcast, host Blake Binns focuses on hiring and management, drawing from his experiences as a business owner. He begins by sharing background about his previous work at a leadership consulting company and his current role running a marketing business. Blake mentions buying a company last year and inheriting team members, leading to challenges with change management. He recounts a story where a customer expected on-call service, which he refused, resulting in her leaving—highlighting mismatched expectations. Blake transitions to hiring, emphasizing the need for fair pay and warning against lowball offers. He advises job seekers to get clear timelines on promised wage increases to avoid empty promises. The core of the episode revolves around the quality of initiative. Blake tells a formative story from his summer camp job, where his boss rated him a three out of four because he only completed tasks when directed, not proactively. This lesson stuck with him, and he connects it to a social media post about an employee whose job was to take out the trash without being told. Blake defines initiative as seeing a need and moving toward a solution without being asked. He contrasts employees who follow processes with those who take initiative, using an example from SEO work where a proactive employee might fix a slow website or add extra content. Blake argues that initiative often leads to promotion over mere competence. He concludes by encouraging listeners to value and cultivate initiative in their teams or careers, noting it sets businesses apart from competitors who do the bare minimum.

As heard by us

A grounded hiring episode about initiative, fair pay, and diagnosing weak process before judging people.

Hiring advice often comes packaged as a system. This episode keeps the focus simpler: initiative, and whether Blake Benz can spot it in real time.

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Why you'd press play

Want a hiring gut-check built around initiative, fair pay, and fixing the process before blaming the person?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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