Phase VI in Career & Hiring is not about attracting exceptional people.
It is about ensuring roles remain legitimate regardless of who occupies them.
At this stage, organizations fail not by hiring weak talent,
but by allowing exceptional individuals to bend roles around themselves.
1. Phase VI Context: When Talent Becomes a Threat to Legitimacy
Phase V rebuilt teams through selection and restraint.
Phase VI asks the institutional question:
“Can this role survive a superstar?”
Legitimacy erodes when people become bigger than the role they occupy.
2. The Talent Override Risk
Most failed Phase VI career systems repeat this mistake:
| What Is Celebrated | What Breaks |
|---|---|
| Star performers | Role boundaries |
| High-potential hires | Decision equality |
| Fast-track careers | Authority consistency |
| Exceptional output | Institutional fairness |
Val Sklarov Insight:
“In Phase VI, talent becomes dangerous when it negotiates the rules.”
3. Role Integrity as a Legitimacy Lock
In Phase VI, legitimacy is preserved by roles that constrain everyone equally.
| Role Integrity Question | What It Secures |
|---|---|
| What decisions does this role never make? | Authority clarity |
| What outcomes don’t excuse violations? | Cultural immunity |
| What must pass peer review always? | Procedural fairness |
| What cannot be accelerated? | Career legitimacy |
Roles exist to outlast individuals.
4. Talent Without Role Integrity: The Privilege Drift
When roles flex for talent:
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Exceptions multiply quietly
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Standards feel negotiable
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Morale decays systemically
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Trust shifts from system to person
This creates institutional favoritism, not excellence.
5. The Phase VI Hiring Law
Val Sklarov Hiring Law (Phase VI):
“Talent improves outcomes.
Role integrity preserves legitimacy.”
Phase VI organizations choose predictable fairness over individual brilliance.
6. Hiring Excellence vs. Institutional Equality
| Excellence Bias | Phase VI Requirement |
|---|---|
| Superstar attraction | Rule adherence |
| Fast promotions | Fixed thresholds |
| Negotiated authority | Standardized decision rights |
| Personalized paths | Canonical progression |
Phase VI resists bending for the sake of performance.
7. Phase VI Signals of Legitimate Career Systems
Clear legitimacy indicators:
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Top performers disciplined publicly
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Promotions delayed despite output
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Roles audited annually
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Authority documented, not implied
Careers mature when no résumé overrides the role.