How to hire great people to do hard things with
This past weekend I completed my 12th Ironman 70.3. It hurt. I wanted to quit. I was disappointed for good chunks of the race.
And there's 1 thing I will remember most about the experience:
The importance of doing hard things with great people.
Whether it's racing, building a team, product, or company, the people you surround yourself with will change the trajectory of your success.
How do you find great people to do hard things with?
It starts with who you hire.
Today we're looking at best practices for bringing on great people to help you do hard things.
Hiring Philosophies
I have a few hiring philosophies that have served me well over the years.
1. Make it make sense
Design an interview process that makes sense and sets everyone up for success.
Don't:
Have a 9 person interview panel and they all ask the same questions.
Request someone be available tomorrow for a 2 hour interview block.
Assign a project to showcase skills and restrict the massive deliverable to 24 hours.
Keep adding round after round of interviews when you're unsure about a candidate.
These are just a few very recent examples. They don't make sense.
Make the interview process make sense.
2. Candidate Experience
I want every candidate to walk away from an interview process feeling a) positive about the team, b) positive about the company, and c) feeling the result could go either way.
Being kind, caring, and building a connection matters.
There's also nothing worse than leaving an interview feeling like you crushed it and a job offer is the obvious next phone call, but then you get the automated rejection email.
Aim to be neutral - meaning - they walk away feeling like they did their best, they enjoyed their time with you, and that it could go either way.
3. Horses > Unicorns
Unicorns are mythical creatures, and yet, the number of times I've heard a hiring manager say, “Yeah, I'm looking for the unicorn.”
First, that's a lot of pressure.
Second, while that search for a unicorn carries on, you're missing out on lovely, capable horses who can run fast and strong.
Give me the horse who is going to grow into the role over the unicorn who seemingly has it all already and will likely outgrow the role faster than we can say, “Glitter is a lifestyle choice!”
Clarify Role Competencies
Now onto hiring tactics.
For whatever role you're hiring, the first step is to get crystal clear on the role competencies.
The handful of areas that are mission critical for being successful in the role.
Here's an example of core competencies when I was hiring trainers onto my team:
Problem solving
Audience engagement
Curriculum development
Stakeholder management
Written & verbal communication
Of course there are other skills and areas that would be beneficial for the role, but this exercise forces you (and your hiring panel) to be very clear and get aligned on the skills you NEED in the role.
Behavior Based Questions
From your core competencies, you can then write the job posting and draft interview questions that will help you identify the right candidate.
I lean into behavior based questions because past behaviors and experiences can be helpful in informing future behaviors. Plus, I'm more interested in what you've done vs you telling me hypothetically what you would do.
These questions are a launching pad to ask follow up questions to learn:
What role they specifically played in the situation
What happened as a result
What they learned or would do differently next time (signal of self-awareness and openness to growth)
Here's a sample of ideas for behavior based questions for hiring a Customer Success Manager.
Identify Values
Every answer a candidate shares, each story they convey about an experience, they provide clues into their internal operating system - their values.
And when we're clear about our values, and our team's values, we can better identify a great candidate to join us to do hard things.
Things me and my last team valued:
Humor
Balance
Respect
Curiosity
Excellence
Ownership
Achievement
Asking for help
Lightheartedness
Knowing my team's values, helps me notice and look for these within a candidate. It also gives me an ability to articulate why I do, or don't, want to extend an offer to someone.
By creating value alignment, you're increasing the probability you'll retain them longer.
Increase retention and you have more time to do hard things with great people.
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What’s the best team you’ve been part of? Comment below!
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