Today, we're going to talk about how to hire great people.
You know, not every member gets to see the process and thinking involved when they were
hired.
I've found that when everybody understands this process and this thinking, they know
what kind of people we're looking for.
It helps them become confident in their own job, firstly, and then look out for great
talent to help grow the team.
I think we've all had at some point that feeling about, am I up to the task?
That imposter syndrome.
Why did they hire me?
Can I do this job?
Well, what if we're able to put that aside?
Get our team to relax because they understand the process and thinking involved.
So, as we go through this, I'm hoping to have you accomplish three things.
Today, I'd love you to settle down as to why you were hired, two, help look out for great
talent, and three, know how to be involved in the hiring process yourself, whether you're
going to hire others or maybe one day you're applying to another job and you know exactly
how to go about it.
So, I found that this simple training helps build a trust culture.
It also sets very clear expectations for us about how we're meant to grow and what's expected
of us and what are we really committing to.
You know, I've made a lot of mistakes hiring people, but I've taken a lot of risks with
people that maybe on paper I should not have hired and have turned out to be some of the
best hires I've ever made.
So we're going to talk about this, so as we go through this, let me take a minute and
share with you some of the things I've learned.
I spent a lot of time looking at, you know, what is a great predictor of a quality hire?
What's the connection between doing a few hours of interviews and then suddenly hiring
somebody, you know, entrusting them as part of our business and suddenly they're in the
team?
You know, what's this predictor?
Here's three terrible predictors that I have found.
One is first impressions.
They are a terrible predictor of success.
And the reason is some people don't interview well, they may be nervous, it may just be
their personality.
And some of the best people that I've hired, I wasn't really sure of them after the very
first impressions, but as I got to know them, I really took a liking to them.
The second is rule of thumb.
Well, I got a good feeling about this, you know, we've always done it this way.
It's sort of a quick, haphazard way.
These are terrible predictors.
And gut decisions.
That I found, well, I just have a gut feel.
I want to get into what are the weak predictors.
So those were terrible predictors.
But what are predictors that sometimes are, but mostly are weak?
And that are skills, experience, how competent are they, and compensation.
Well, they'll take less money, they'll do it for less, or whatever it is.
You know, while skills and experience and so forth are some part of it, they are weak
predictors of success in that role.
But here are some strong predictors that I've learned.
Achiever patterns.
Do they show patterns of problem solving?
Do they have the ability to learn?
Can they pivot quickly?
Can they adapt to change?
Are they good at problem solving?
Are they good thinkers?
Are they good with people?
Can they work in a team?
Do they have, you know, at least a reasonable amount of emotional intelligence?
And mostly, are they committed to their own growth and development?
I can't tell you how many interviews or conversations I've had with team members where every time
I'm with them, I'm kind of, I have more vision for their lives than they do.
I'm more excited about the career than they are.
You know, I cannot be more committed to your growth than you are, I often tell them.
And so I ask the question, are you as committed to your own growth and development as I am?
I'm investing in you, in your leadership skills.
It's why you're here.
It's why you're doing this training.
Your organization is committing to your development.
And that is key, that you yourself are also committed to it.
And so what I've found is that for a lot of people, you know, we want to match the growth
curve.
We've talked a bit about this before.
If the team's growth curve is here and the individual's growth curve is slower, and that
gap is getting bigger and bigger and bigger, what's really happening is they're leaving
slowly.
So instead of doing that, it's better just to help them leave with grace because nobody
wants to constantly feel left behind.
Look, some people don't necessarily have the capacity or they have other things going on
in their personal lives.
There are other factors that could cause that.
But either way, it's good to recognize.
And some grow faster than the team.
So if the team's growing here and they're growing faster and faster, then it's our job
as leaders to make more and more space for them and keep the best people.
You know, as we're going through this process, we can't match everybody on the growth curve.
But everybody can be.
fully committed to their own growth and development.
And so here are the three essential predictors
that I have found that have really worked for me
hiring great people.
Number one is drive.
Do they have drive?
Do they get on with it?
Are they self-starters?
Do they get up and go?
Or do they have to really be monitored and told
what to do every step of the way?
That takes a tremendous amount of not just energy
from their team leader,
but it also takes, it's a tremendous drag
on the whole organization.
They're the ones who always want 10 clarification questions
and then are really slow to implement.
That is tough for me to work with.
The second is a leadership growth mindset.
They are really committed to learning as leaders.
And every situation they go through,
whether they fail or succeed or whatever it is,
they're learning all the time.
So I often ask members, what did you learn from that?
And finally, cultural fit.
You know, even if we got someone who's really a good fit,
good leader, a lot of drive,
but they have no cultural fit with our team,
there's no chemistry.
And we don't have to love everybody perfectly,
but there has to be at least a basis for chemistry,
a way to work together.
So drive, leadership mindset, cultural fit.
Those are the three things that I have found
are great or essential predictors.
So when you're hiring somebody,
those are your objectives, right?
You wanna know what's their drive,
what's their leadership mindset, what's their fit.
So drive, mindset and fit is we've broken out
three interviews to do exactly that.
So in the first interview,
we really wanna establish that drive.
So here's how you do that with one question.
You can do the entire process with one question.
Well, it's focused on one thing,
but it has many, many questions.
We usually take about two hours or more
to go through this process.
And what we're doing here,
the strategy is to drill down as far as possible
on one key question,
and that is what is the hardest problem you've ever solved?
Now, sometimes people wanna share
their personal thing they've overcome, which is fine,
but what we're trying to understand here
is what is the hardest business problem that you've solved?
In other words, something that's fairly similar
to something they would actually solve here.
And what we're trying to determine is are they self-driven?
How did they take on the challenge?
What did they, how did they overcome setbacks?
So you keep asking questions again,
and we've put a long list of questions together
to really drill down to that one key question.
What's the hardest problem?
How did you solve that?
How did you overcome that obstacle?
What made your approach different
from your competitor's approach?
There was a sales team, what number were you?
Well, I was number two.
Well, what did number one do that you didn't do?
You know, we're really pressing in
and pressing in and pressing in,
and we found that you know you've come
to the end of that questioning
when they start to repeat themselves.
One of the keys I found is that the person
who really solved the problem knows the detail.
You know, the person who was on the team
who solved the problem runs out of detail along the way.
So, you know, they can say, well, I did this,
or they can make all sorts of claims
about what they did in their previous jobs,
but at the end of the day,
it's gonna come down to they will know the detail.
And the more you press,
the more you get into the fine-grained detail,
you'll find out who really led it.
But when they start just repeating themselves,
you've come to the T-junction,
you've come to the end of that interview.
Excuse me.
So as you're going through that,
what we're doing here is we're really measuring
their drive and their mindset to solving problems.
In the second interview,
we're now looking to try to understand, you know,
how not only do they solve problems,
but what are the areas of risk?
If we're gonna bring this person into our team,
we wanna drill down into key areas
where they need the most support.
Look, everybody needs support somewhere, right?
We all need help somewhere.
And in that process, the question is,
what risk are we taking on as a company to equip them?
You know, if you wanna hire a programmer
and they've never programmed before,
maybe they're brilliant and great problem solving,
committed to their leadership and maybe worth the risk.
Well, let's send them on a course.
I think this is the kind of person
who is so passionate, so committed,
they're going to be a great hire.
I've actually done that.
You know, I've hired teachers who had never taught before.
I've hired programmers who've never programmed before.
I've also hired some of the best programmers.
One of them was the person who wrote the original book
on that programming language.
Look, not everybody is the same.
So that's what we're trying to determine.
What's the risk involved?
How much work is gonna be to get them fully up?
speed to do their job. And so, you know, the third interview then is Chemistry and Fit
and here's where I would bring in other members of the team. Let them meet at least two or
three other team members and here's what I like to do in that interview. Ask your team
members in front of the new potential hire, what do you wish you knew before you started
working here? Now, if you have a culture of trust, they will actually answer that question
if they are nervous or hesitant or soft, you know, and I say don't, you know, tell
them exactly what it is. And here's the message it sends to the new hire. Wow, if that person
can say that in front of the boss, this is a good culture. Here you can speak up, here
you can say what you think and you're measuring their response to that. You know, not many
people have ever been given the opportunity to be in such a culture, a culture of trust.
And so, they might be suspicious at first but when they hear team members saying things
like that, when they hear what they've learned and the second question I like to ask team
members is what's the biggest thing you've learned in your own leadership since you've
been working here? You know, I didn't see myself as a leader, I see myself as a leader
now. I didn't understand, you know, why they hired me, I get it now. And so, that for us
is the key. So, three essential predictors, their drive, their cultural fit and their
commitment to their own leadership development. Here's the bottom line, never let someone
else be more committed to your growth and development than you are. That's the key.
I hope you enjoyed this training.