EP 51 - Unlocking Performance Psychology in Recruitment w/Alex Elliott

What if performance psychology was the missing link in your recruitment business?
In this episode of The 1% Better Recruitment Podcast, I’m joined by Alex Elliott — recruitment investor, advisor, and former founder who exited his own agency after scaling it over 10 years.
Alex lifts the lid on what truly drives elite performance and sustainable leadership in recruitment — and why most businesses are still focused on the wrong things.

We unpack the psychology behind motivation, consistency, standards, and how the best managers act more like therapists than KPI enforcers.

We explore:
✅ Why performance psychology beats just teaching skills
✅ The real difference between A players and B players
✅ How to uncover someone’s true intrinsic motivators
✅ Hiring motivated people vs. trying to “fix” them later
✅ The leadership trap of treating people like you
✅ Emotional management, discipline & long-term success
✅ How to build and maintain high standards (without toxicity)
✅ Adapting values & culture as you scale
✅ Whether Gen Z can still thrive in high-performance recruitment
✅ Why work ethic still matters more than ever

Whether you’re leading a 5-person team or scaling to exit — this episode is packed with practical, psychological insight you can apply immediately.

⏱ Timestamps:
(00:00) – Intro & Alex’s recruitment background
(02:21) – Skill vs. will: why willpower drives outlier performance
(04:41) – Identifying motivation gaps & the importance of nature
(07:04) – Why hiring intrinsically motivated people matters
(09:23) – Coaching goal setting and pressing the right buttons
(11:09) – Aligning career plans to personal drivers
(13:19) – Treating B players like A players: common leadership mistake
(15:38) – Losing great people by pushing too hard
(17:51) – Sales floors as bell curves & moving performance to the right
(20:06) – Legacy as a motivator & understanding deep drivers
(22:23) – The 5 whys & digging into someone’s real motivation
(24:46) – Real-life motivators & emotional goal setting
(27:02) – Holding space for discomfort & rewiring thought patterns
(29:22) – Logical plans for emotional goals
(31:35) – Radical Candor & caring personally while challenging directly
(34:00) – Why performance psychology = emotional management
(36:24) – Reframing beliefs around sleep, recovery & routines
(38:48) – Managing energy as a trainer or coach
(41:01) – Leadership psychology vs performance psychology
(43:24) – Building a values-led culture & communicating it properly
(45:45) – What values actually are (and why you already have them)
(48:05) – How values evolve & changing toxic cultures
(50:23) – The dark side of "standards" and outdated environments
(52:47) – What it really means to hold standards
(55:08) – Social contracts & setting expectations in hiring
(57:29) – When flexibility is valid, and when it’s an excuse
(59:50) – Can you succeed in recruitment without hard work?
(01:02:06) – Hard work, perspective & the emotional reward loop
(01:04:28) – Will Gen Z still want to work hard in recruitment?
(01:06:47) – How to hire for culture without generational bias
(01:08:57) – Final thoughts & Alex’s 1% Better tip: gamify performance

🔗 Connect with Alex Elliott
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexelliott123/

🔗 Connect with Charles Kyriakou
LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskyriakou1/⁠
TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@charles.kyriakou⁠
Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1-better-recruitment-podcast/id1775201502⁠
YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@1PercentBetterRecPod⁠
LinkedIn Newsletter: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7244346543967731712/