Are Extroverts Better at Sales? What the Raptors Looked For Instead
What's this episode about?
Are extroverts better at sales? Not by as much as you'd think. This episode looks at the personality traits the Toronto Raptors said they valued, like toughness, maturity, work ethic and a hunger to win, then compares Kawhi Leonard and Draymond Green and walks through the research on conscientiousness and the ambivert advantage.
Key takeaways
Personality matters in sales hiring, but being outgoing isn't the trait that predicts performance.
The Raptors described valuing toughness, maturity, work ethic, leadership in any role and a hunger to win. Those traits came straight from their strategy.
Conscientiousness predicted performance across every occupational group Barrick and Mount studied.
In Adam Grant's research, ambiverts brought in about 32% more revenue than strong extroverts.
Pick the traits your strategy needs, write them as behaviours, and assess them with validated tools and structured questions.
Full transcript
This is Hiring Without Regret. I'm Ashley Wesley.
Raptors, 2019 champions. Some things never get old.
Last episode I promised the personality question. Here it is. Are extroverts actually better at sales?
Here's my call for today. "He's outgoing, he'll be great" can be one of the costliest sentences in sales hiring. Personality matters. It's just not the part you're looking at.
Start with what the Raptors looked for.
When Dan Tolzman from the Raptors front office scouted Fred VanVleet through four years at Wichita State, what hooked him was winning pedigree, maturity, and toughness. When the Raptors re-signed him, Masai Ujiri described him as hardworking, dedicated, and smart. A couple of years later, Ujiri said the constant with Fred was his leadership, no matter his role.
And here's my favourite. In 2022, Ujiri said that when they interviewed Scottie Barnes before the draft, Scottie mentioned winning about a hundred times. In the same breath, Ujiri said... that's the kind of players we want to bring.
Now look at what's on that list. Toughness. Maturity. Work ethic. Leading from whatever role you're given. A hunger to win.
And look at what isn't. Outgoing. Charming. Good in the room.
That's not an accident. Remember the strategy from the last two episodes. Switch everything. Effort every possession. No ego about guarding the other team's best player. Those personality traits are the strategy, showing up in a person.
Now, the extrovert question. Picture Kawhi Leonard at his first Toronto press conference. A reporter asks him to describe himself, and in a flat, dead-even voice he says... "I'm a fun guy." Then that rusty laugh.
Nobody calls Kawhi outgoing. Now picture Draymond Green. Loud. Emotional. Talks the entire game, and some of the next one.
Kawhi won Defensive Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016, with Draymond second both times. Then Draymond won it in 2017. Opposite personalities. Same award. Same job, done at an elite level.
So what does the research say? Psychologists describe personality with the Big Five... how open you are, how conscientious, how outgoing, how agreeable, how steady under pressure.
Murray Barrick and Michael Mount found that conscientiousness predicted performance across every occupational group they studied. Showing up, following through, doing the boring stuff. Being outgoing did help in sales and management... just less than you'd think.
And more isn't always better. Adam Grant at Wharton studied 340 call centre reps. The ones in the middle of the introvert-extrovert scale, he calls them ambiverts, brought in about 32 percent more revenue than the strong extroverts. They talked enough to close, and listened enough to understand what the customer actually wanted.
So here's your version. Decide which traits your strategy needs. If you win on service, it might be patience and follow-through. If you win on new accounts, maybe resilience after the fifth no, and a real hunger to win. Then write each one as a behaviour you'd actually see. "Follows up when a deal goes quiet." Not "driven."
So what do you do on Monday?
First, pick the three traits your strategy needs, and write each as a behaviour.
Second, if you use a personality assessment, use a validated one, treat it as one input, and never as a pass or fail on its own.
Third, in the interview, ask about real moments. "Tell me about the last deal you lost. What did you do next?" And listen like Masai did. Count how many times they talk about winning... and how many times they talk about themselves.
Next episode, the question nobody asks about their hiring tests. Do they actually work? Reliability, validity, and why some Combine numbers barely predict anything.
Hire the behaviour, not the charm.
Quick note. This is general information, not legal advice. Before you change how you hire, run it past an employment lawyer. I'm Ashley Wesley. See you next time.
Frequently asked questions
Are extroverts better at sales?
Extraversion has a modest link to sales performance, but the strongest extroverts aren't usually the top sellers. In Grant's 2013 study, reps in the middle of the scale outsold strong extroverts by about 32%, likely because they listened as well as they talked.
What personality traits matter in a salesperson?
Conscientiousness, meaning follow-through and reliability, is the steadiest predictor across jobs. Beyond that, the right traits depend on your strategy: resilience and drive for new-account selling, patience and follow-through for service-led selling.
Should I use a personality test to hire salespeople?
A validated personality assessment can add useful information. Use it as one input alongside structured interviews and work samples, never as a pass or fail on its own, and confirm your process with an employment lawyer.
Work with Ashley
Ashley Wesley is a Fractional Sales and HR Executive and retained-search partner based in Guelph, Ontario. He helps owners define the traits their sales strategy needs and assess candidates against them. Learn more at ashleywesley.com.
References
Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The Big Five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44(1), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1991.tb00688.x
CBC Sports. (2022). Teams coveting Raptors head coach Nurse can keep dreaming, Masai Ujiri says. https://www.cbc.ca/sports/basketball/nba/masai-ujiri-nick-nurse-reporters-1.6439632
CBS News San Francisco. (2015, April 23). Steals specialist Kawhi Leonard robs Draymond Green of Defensive Player of the Year award. https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/steals-specialist-kawhi-leonard-robs-draymond-green-of-defensive-player-of-the-year-award
Grant, A. M. (2013). Rethinking the extraverted sales ideal: The ambivert advantage. Psychological Science, 24(6), 1024-1030. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612463706
NBA.com. (2020, November). Raptors re-sign VanVleet. https://www.nba.com/raptors/raptors-re-sign-vanvleet
NBC Sports. (2016, April). Kawhi Leonard repeats as Defensive Player of the Year. https://nbcsports.com/nba/news/kawhi-leonard-repeats-as-defensive-player-of-the-year
NBC Sports. (2017, June 26). Draymond Green wins 2017 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. https://nbcsports.com/nba/news/draymond-green-wins-2017-nba-defensive-player-of-the-year
Sports Illustrated. (2018, September 24). Kawhi Leonard speaks at Raptors media day, talks about future in Toronto, claims he's "a fun guy". https://www.si.com/nba/2018/09/24/kawhi-leonard-raptors-press-conference-fun-guy-video
theScore. (2018, July). Raptors officially re-sign VanVleet to reported 2-year, $18M deal. https://www.thescore.com/news/1566844
TSN. (2018, July). Newly re-signed Raptor VanVleet cashes in his bet, places another. https://www.tsn.ca/newly-re-signed-raptor-vanvleet-cashes-in-his-bet-places-another-1.1133178
Disclaimer: This episode and page provide general HR and business information, not legal advice. Employment law turns on the specific facts and changes over time. Before acting on anything here, confirm it with an Ontario employment lawyer.
