How This Fortune 500 SVP Spotted Top Performers Before They Had Results (1,400+ Sellers)

Most sales leaders wait for results to identify top performers. By then, it's too late.

Ryan Joswick, former SVP at Heartland who led 1,400+ sellers across North America, built his career on spotting elite talent before they had numbers to prove it.

The 3 Core Attributes You Can't Train

Most leaders focus on skills and knowledge. Ryan focuses on attributes—things you're born with or develop early in life.

The big three: Attitude, learning ability, and motivation.

Skills can be taught. Attributes? Those are innate.

When Ryan interviews candidates, he asks: "Tell me about the last time you learned something new. What was your process?"

Then he goes deeper: "Give me another example. Now tell me about something you tried to learn but couldn't and why."

This reveals their learning DNA and whether it matches how your company trains.

Executors vs. Information Collectors

The biggest hiring mistake? People who consume knowledge but never execute it.

Ryan's filter: "What was the actual result you produced?"

Not "I worked at Google." Not "I read 50 books."

What specific outcome did you create? How did you rank? In what timeframe?

The Thermostat Principle

Most reps have an internal thermostat that limits what they think they can achieve.

Ryan's job? Raise that thermostat.

One story: On a ride-along in a Costco parking lot, Ryan asked a rep: "What gets you up in the morning?"

Mediocre answers. Mediocre goals. No fire.

Ryan said: "Can I give you perspective? I feel like you're coasting through life. Am I wrong?"

A year later, the rep said that conversation changed his life. He bought a bigger home with cash. Started his own business. Crushed his goals.

All because someone challenged his internal thermostat.

Building Cultures People Don't Leave

Ryan led teams in industries known for brutal turnover. His approach: Train people well enough they could leave, treat them well enough they don't want to.

The foundation? Trust. Follow through. Recognize good work. Remove low performers.

Top performers notice when you let mediocrity slide. And they leave.

Ryan's retention strategy:

- Monthly business plans tied to their personal goals

- Daily check-ins to support execution

- Weekly recognition emails for top performers

Scaling 1,400+ Sellers Without Micromanaging

You can't micromanage 1,400 people. You need systems.

Ryan's approach: Reps set their own income goals in monthly plans and reverse-engineer the activity needed. Daily cadences: morning message (what they'll do), evening debrief (how it went).

The key? You're not holding them accountable to your goals. You're helping them hit their goals.

The Biggest Mistake When Scaling

New leaders bring bias from their previous company. "This worked there, so I'll implement it here."

Then everything crashes because they changed something that was already working.

Ryan's approach: Stop. Assess. Understand the current state before changing anything.

Where are you now? Where do you want to go? What are the real constraints?

Maybe it's tech. Maybe it's hiring. Maybe it's the leader themselves.

You can't solve the right problem until you identify the right problem.

Key Takeaways

Focus on attributes over skills. Ask "what result did you produce?" Raise people's internal thermostat. Build trust through recognition and high standards. Scale with systems tied to personal goals. Identify the real constraint before making changes.

Ryan Joswick spent 25+ years building elite sales teams. His lesson? The best leaders spot talent early, develop it intentionally, and create environments where people want to stay.