Before writing a job description, create an in-depth scorecard with three components: the role's Mission (its purpose), key Outcomes (measurable results), and Competencies (functional and cultural skills). This forces alignment among stakeholders and clarifies what success looks like before the first interview.
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Prioritizing a candidate's skills ('capacity') over their fit with the team ('chemistry') is a mistake. To scale culture successfully, focus on hiring people who will get along with their colleagues. The ability to collaborate and integrate is more critical for long-term success than a perfect resume.
To avoid the trap of hiring 'good enough' people, make the interview panel explicitly state which current employee the candidate surpasses. This forces a concrete comparison and ensures every new hire actively raises the company's overall talent level, preventing a slow, imperceptible decline in quality.
Public company boards often hire CEOs using fuzzy adjectives like 'leader.' A better method is to first define 3-5 key strategic goals, creating a 'scorecard of success,' and then find a candidate whose track record specifically matches those objectives.
Before hiring for a critical function, founders should do the job themselves, even if they aren't experts. The goal isn't mastery, but to deeply understand the role's challenges. This experience is crucial for setting a high hiring bar and being able to accurately assess if a candidate will truly up-level the team.
Treat hiring as a compounding flywheel. A new employee should not only be a great contributor but also make the company more attractive to future A-players, whether through their network, reputation, or interview presence. This focus on recruiting potential ensures talent density increases over time.
Values are not just words on a wall; they are an active management system. They should be a filter in the hiring process, a reason for public celebration when embodied, and a non-negotiable standard for performance. A company's true values are defined by the behavior it is willing to tolerate.
Many companies mistakenly hire salespeople and then define their job and compensation. The correct sequence is to first determine the business need, then construct the specific job role to address it, and finally design a compensation plan that incentivizes the required activities before ever posting the job.
For high-level leadership roles, skip hypothetical case studies. Instead, present candidates with your company's actual, current problems. The worst-case scenario is free, high-quality consulting. The best case is finding someone who can not only devise a solution but also implement it, making the interview process far more valuable.
Stop defining a manager's job by tasks like meetings or feedback. Instead, define it by the goal: getting better outcomes from a group. Your only tools to achieve this are three levers: getting the right People, defining the right Process, and aligning everyone on a clear Purpose.
