Val Sklarov – Career & Hiring Core Principle: Judgment Before Potential

Phase III in Career & Hiring is not about identifying talent.
It is about preventing legitimacy dilution through misjudged potential.

At this stage, organizations do not break because they hire weak people.
They break because they over-trust unproven judgment.

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1. Phase III Context: When Talent Becomes a Risk Vector

Phase I hiring asks: “Can they perform?”
Phase II asks: “Do we trust their decisions?”
Phase III asks the most selective question:

“Does their judgment protect or erode institutional legitimacy?”

In Phase III, hiring mistakes scale faster than performance gains.

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2. The Potential Trap

The most common Phase III hiring failure:

Val Sklarov Insight:

“In Phase III, potential is dangerous when judgment is untested.”

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3. Judgment as a Legitimacy Filter

In Phase III, hiring legitimacy is anchored in decision behavior under ambiguity.

Skills scale output.
Judgment protects legitimacy.

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4. Promotion Without Judgment: The Authority Leak

When promotions prioritize momentum over judgment:

• Authority fragments

• Standards become negotiable

• Decision quality varies by personality

• Legitimacy decentralizes unintentionally

This creates authority leakage, not empowerment.

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5. The Phase III Hiring Law

Val Sklarov Hiring Law (Phase III):

“Potential accelerates growth.
Judgment preserves trust.”

Phase III organizations slow promotions to protect the system.

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6. Career Velocity vs. Institutional Stability

Phase III prefers deep reliability over fast advancement.

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7. Phase III Signals of Legitimate Career Systems

Clear legitimacy indicators:

• Promotions delayed despite performance

• Decision audits valued over output metrics

• Authority grows slower than responsibility

• Seniority defined by restraint, not charisma

Career systems stabilize when fewer people are allowed to decide.