How do I stay consistent with recruiting activity when frustrated with growth or team alignment?

So the big question is this, how do recruiting leaders like us who have 12 to 15 other job responsibilities win at this game of recruiting? How do we build a system that allows us to recruit effectively in a minimal amount of time while motivating recruits towards meaningful change? That is the question, and this podcast will give you the answers. My name is Richard Mulligan, and welcome to Recruiting Conversations. Hey everybody. Welcome back to Recruiting Conversations.

I'm Richard Milligan, and today we're going to talk about something that doesn't get talked about enough when it comes to building teams and staying consistent with recruiting, and that's this question right here. How do I keep recruiting when I'm frustrated with growth or when I'm just not feeling aligned with my current team? Now, I know some of you listening are in this exact moment.

You've been putting in the work, you've had the conversations, you've built the systems, but the results, they're not showing up like you expected.

Maybe you've brought a few people on board who didn't turn out the way you hoped. Maybe your current team isn't buying in. Maybe you're having one of those weeks where you look at your goals and think, is this even worth it? And I wanna start by telling you that is normal. Is part of the process. If you're leading at a high level, you're going to hit seasons where the fire feels dimmer, where progress feels slower, where your own energy and belief are tested.

So today's episode is about how to lead yourself well in those moments. Consistency is not built on motivation. It's built on clarity, discipline, and belief. Let's start with this. Growth rarely moves in straight lines. It moves in cycles. It moves in seasons, and sometimes it moves underground long before it shows up above the surface. I coach leaders all the time who feel like they're in a dry season, but when we zoom out and look at the past 12 months, we see a pattern.

They were building trust, they were having conversations, they were laying the foundation, and then all of a sudden it hits the calls, start turning into meetings, and the meetings start turning into hires. Why? Because they stayed consistent in the middle. They didn't let frustration interrupt their rhythm. So how do you do that? The first piece is this. You've gotta detach your recruiting activity from your emotional state. Let's, let me say that again.

You've gotta learn to separate how you feel from what you do, because

if you only make calls when you're motivated or you, or you only follow up when you're confident, your recruiting will always be inconsistent. This is why I coach to having a daily recruiting rhythm. It's not about volume, it's about showing up. It's about being committed to the process, whether or not the results are immediate. I tell people this all the time. Your recruiting system has to be strong enough to carry you when your emotions can't.

And here's a tip, one of the best things you can do when motivation dips is to go back to your why. Why are you building this team?

Why does it matter? What would the vision look like if it were real? Sometimes I'll have leaders go back and write that vision again, not the bullet points, but the vivid picture. Where are you sitting? What kind of conversations are you having? What does the energy on your team feel like? You have to give yourself something worth fighting through the frustration. For now, let's address the second part of the question. What do I do when team alignment is off?

This is a tough one because nothing drains your recruiting energy faster

than looking around and realizing the people you've already brought in aren't rowing in the same direction. Maybe someone's creating culture drag. Maybe there's a lack of buy-in. Maybe you've got some quiet quitting happening behind the scenes. And that's discouraging. But here's what I want you to hear. Don't let the past shape your posture. Let the future shape your focus. Just because someone on your team isn't aligned, doesn't mean your next recruit won't be.

And just because your culture isn't what you want today doesn't mean it can't be what you build tomorrow. One of the best things you can do when team alignment is off is to use it as fuel to raise your standard. Ask yourself, what kind of leader do I need to be to attract the right people? What kind of language do I need to use more intentionally? Where have I been tolerating misalignment that I need to address head on?

Because when you get clear on what you're building, you stop chasing warm bodies and start filtering for the right fit. This is why I coach leaders to document their vision, values and standards. When you put those on paper and start sharing them in recruiting convos, you don't just attract, you filter. And here's the shift. When you start filtering for alignment upfront, recruiting actually becomes more energizing because now you're not just building a bigger team, you're building a better one.

Let me give you a real world coaching moment here.

One of the leaders I work with hit a point last year where she said, Richard, I'm exhausted. I feel like I'm dragging my team uphill, and I don't even want to recruit right now. So we paused everything. We rebuilt her vision, her ideal culture, the traits she wanted, what her dream team actually looked like, and then we created a personal scorecard, something she used in every recruiting conversation to evaluate alignment, not just ability.

The result, she didn't make more hires that month, but three months later, she'd hired two people who were perfectly aligned. She said, uh, I'm more excited to build than I've been in years. That's the power of getting clear on who you want and committing to the process, even when growth feels slow. So here's your challenge for this week. If you're in a dip, if you're in a dry season, if your team isn't quite aligned, don't shut recruiting down. Slow it if you need to.

Reset if you need to, but don't disappear from the process.

'cause your dream team is still out there and they're looking for a leader who's willing to keep showing up. Let that be you. If that's all for today's episode, keep showing up. Keep planting seeds, and I'll catch you back here soon on recruiting conversations.