The Criteria We Use to Select and Discover Talent
- IWBFD Team
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Ten signals of talent AI can't replace — and the one foundation beneath them.
This is the working rubric IWBFD uses to identify the people we choose to build with. The items are ordinary words. What matters is what we look for inside each one.
0. Rooted Generosity — the foundation
You are the protagonist of your own life and a supporting character in everyone else's. You can genuinely celebrate another person's success. This requires a clear direction of your own — without it, you waver in reaction to others' achievements. The ten criteria below assume this one.
The Ten
1. Responsive Communication
Builds trust through communication.
What we look for: whether trust accumulates over time — including delivering hard news directly and on schedule — not response speed alone.
2. Curiosity & Questioning
Discovers new possibilities through questions.
What we look for: the depth of the questions asked, and the willingness to admit what you don't know and dig in.
3. Discipline & Daily Routine
Has repeatable daily habits and self-management.
What we look for: consistency sustained across years, not in bursts.
4. Creative Thinking
Offers new ideas and different perspectives.
What we look for: framing a problem in a way others hadn't.
5. Ownership & Accountability
Takes responsibility for choices and results.
What we look for: “I” rather than “we” or “they” when describing outcomes.
6. Resilience & Optimism
Learns and tries again through difficulty.
What we look for: how past failure is described — learning versus blame.
7. Proven Achievement
Has success and achievement you created yourself.
What we look for: AI has no track record; it resets. A track record is accountability that survived time. We look for what you built and finished yourself — not the prestigious résumé.
8. Energy & Endurance
Has the health, energy, and decision-stamina to sustain a long challenge — including continuing to make good decisions through adversity.
9. Empathy & Human Understanding
Understands people and sees possibility in others.
10. Deep Expertise & Intellectual Depth
Understands one domain deeply and keeps digging.
What we look for: both the depth itself and the judgment to select well with it.
IWBFD Studios — talent agency, project studio, and Forest 101, our entrepreneurship program for people entering a second act.
