Why Great Leaders Hire People Unlike Themselves
Leadership today is being reshaped by a simple lesson many leaders learn the hard way: a team full of people who think the same way won’t get you very far. Research shows that teams with deeper diversity—meaning differences in perspectives, values, and cognitive frameworks—consistently outperform more uniform teams in creativity, innovation, and complex decision-making. Today, as organizations demand adaptability and deeper human-centered leadership, understanding why great leaders “hire their opposite” is proving to be a powerful differentiator.
What makes leaders more effective when they surround themselves with people who don’t think, act, or work like they do? And more importantly, how can emerging leaders adopt this mindset early enough to transform both their teams and their own growth trajectory?
These central questions anchor this episode of Beyond the Ledger. To answer them, host Troy Ashby sits down with James Lunday, CPA, CGMA, Vice President and Controller at Tenaska Power Services Co., to unpack this philosophy through the lens of lived experience. Their conversation spans early-career leadership challenges, the power of CliftonStrengths, what failure teaches us, and how serving in the nonprofit space has deepened James’ understanding of influence, humility, and purpose.
What You’ll Learn…
- Why Leaders Shouldn’t Hire People Like Themselves
- From Small Town to Corporate Finance
- Early Career Failures & Communication Struggles
- Earning Trust When Your Team Didn’t Choose You
- Building a Team That Doesn’t Think Like You
- The 3-Year Leadership Maturation Process
- Using CliftonStrengths to Maximize Team Potential
- Habits, Weaknesses & Complementary Hiring
- The Farm Life Lessons That Built His Discipline
- Moving from Success to Significance
- Leading the ARC of DFW & Supporting Families with Disabilities
- Leadership Through Influence (Not Authority)
- Expectations & How They Shape Outcomes
- Final Leadership Lesson: Always Stay Coachable
