One of the most critical things we’ll do as business leaders
is hire people to join our team.
If you’ve been in business long enough, you know that not
everyone you hire will work out.
Here are a few tips I learned over the years through my own
experience, from working with clients, and by interviewing great business
leaders:
- Hire slowly. That doesn’t mean procrastinate when hiring. Just make sure you explore beyond the resume data. Try to make sure the people who are joining your team have a fire in their belly and are not just looking for a paycheck. Assessments can help check for fit.
- Act quickly when the fit isn’t right: too many CEOs will hold on to a person who is clearly not a fit – or who has ethical challenges – for a number of reasons. If someone is not working out for competency reasons, you may be able to find another place for him/her. If the person has ethical challenges, though, or is causing harm to the team dynamic, you need to let him go. Now.
- The more senior a person is, the faster you need to let her go if it’s not working out.
- Be objective and watch your ego. The dumbest thing you can do is feel threatened by a subordinate’s great performance. Ride his success to the bank. I’ve seen it way too many times – a leader feels threatened because a new person has made massive improvements. That leader’s ego is hurt, thinking things like “the new person knew things that I didn’t,” and so he takes action to reduce his embarrassment. Not a good idea. You were smart for hiring that person and keeping her there.
Ingar Grev
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