Do What's Right with Mawulom Nenonene
#24

Do What's Right with Mawulom Nenonene

Mawulom Nenonene spent nearly seven years building weapon systems for the US Department of Defense as a mechanical engineer before an unexpected pivot took him into technical sourcing at Google, and from there into a decade of building and leading talent functions at Thumbtack, BetterUp, the Long Term Stock Exchange, and Point. In this episode, he talks with Colleen about the real difference between a good recruiter and a great one, why he gives every new sourcing tool a strict four to six week trial, and how he's building a recruiting engine from scratch as Flux scales from 18 to 80 people. Mawulom also opens up about the personal loss that redirected his entire career, why he believes consistency matters more than kindness when it comes to earning trust, and why "culture add" has replaced "culture fit" in how he hires.


Takeaways:
  • Good recruiters know the job. Great ones know the why. Understanding an organization's disposition and gaps, not just filling a seat, is what separates a recruiter who hits targets from one who actually shapes the team. If you're not steeped in the "why" behind a role, you're optimizing for the wrong outcome.
  • No action can beat the wrong action. Moving fast with an untested process (like blasting thousands of automated messages to the wrong candidates) does more damage to your brand than simply pausing to figure out the right approach. If you don't know what to do yet, it's often better to do nothing than to guess loudly.
  • Give new tools, and new roles, a real runway before judging them. Mawulom tests every sourcing tool for four to six weeks minimum, watching not just results but responsiveness to feedback. The same patience applies to people: expect a real learning curve before writing off a new hire, a new process, or yourself in a new industry.
  • Consistency builds trust faster than charm does. Mawulom has learned to judge leaders less by how pleasant they are in the moment and more by whether they apply their principles the same way every time, good day or bad. A leader who is tough but fair, consistently, is more trustworthy than one who's warm but plays favorites.
  • Hire for culture add, not culture fit. When you're building a high-performance team, the goal isn't finding people who match the existing vibe, it's finding people who bring something the team doesn't have yet. Culture fit protects what already exists; culture add pushes it forward.



Quote of the Show:
  • "A good recruiter is an individual that knows the job. A great recruiter is someone that understands the why." - Mawulom Nenonene

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