Nine years back I hired a sales leader with a face like a European James Bond who had a great pedigree, dressed Zegna impeccably and had lots of years scaling startups. He talked a good game, like Jay-Z at the mic. Everyone was hyped up, excited by him. But the results were like aliens: They never came.
It was clear in five months that he was out of his element. Most elements. Whatever success he had before, he could not repeat. He was like my old Doberman Zeus, not able to learn much, or go beyond what he had done before. Sorry, Zeus.
If he was only open to take in the data and facts on the ground, learn, and find a working model, he would be OK. He couldn’t change—so, unlike Zeus, he was Schwarzeneggered.
Running my firms gives me an up-to-the-minute grad leadership course -- and the grading is winning or bankruptcy. Some of my greatest teachers are moments like that one: I hired peeps who had past accolades, but were harder to lead to new wins. They made me a lot smarter about running my startups. I learned to ask precise questions upfront and am far more exhaustive in my investigations prior to hire.
Put Them In The Battle. Some of the best questions for potential hires invent scenarios and ask how they would handle them. If you were to lead people in a new area, what would be the steps to find the best people and handle your attack? What would be your plan to do it in under one month? What would your hiring model be? What would your training model be?
Perfect Recall. Another set of questions asks them about their previous scenarios to see if what is said rings true. Tell me about a time when you led a group of people and you failed. Why? What would you have done differently? Who can I talk to on the team to validate this? Tell me about a time you led a group and thought you would fail, but you changed strategy and won. Who can validate this? How would you rank yourself in terms of contributions against the team from your last three companies? Watch body language and look for inconsistencies in the stories. And remember to talk to people on their former teams above and below them so your draft picks prove winners.
A Country Of Contributors. It’s usually the entrepreneur who does the 1,100-pound deadlifts in the beginning. But to scale, you need to find others with the same or near amount of ripped muscle—and brainpower—so you can get results through them. This is how to best lead, and manage. Find smart, motivated, effective team members with a good heart who are loyal and want to contribute to growing your business. It’s your most important job. Your bench must be second to none to keep the party going.
Walk The Talk, Don’t Be A Punk. Connect the dots so you have a zone and culture where people are pumped about coming to work and can produce their best results. The last thing you want is someone saying “You have such a positive culture,” but your P & L shows losses.
Write Your Own Pro Playbook. Have a consistent set of values so people know what is in bounds and out of bounds in your organization. Measure your values behaviorally on a scale of 1 to 10 and evaluate team members against them. Give your team an opportunity to respond to your scoring and let them tell you if they think it’s fair or needs to be adjusted. Then let them know where they rank against the other members of the team. Watch their competitive instincts and desire for self-mastery light up across their faces when you do it.
Take Off Your Tom Fords. When I evaluate my team, I get feedback from other members, like my COO. They give insights I may not have heard. Step out of your stained glass bubble and get leaders to talk about and diagnose the needs of their followers. Ultimately you’ve got to assess where your team players are. What to do they need from you to succeed? Then give it to them, baby.
Let Your P&L Speak Truth. Look at what your team players' scores are, vs. the cultural score you are giving to your business. Where is the disconnect? If someone scored well on values but has a hole when it comes to meeting financial indicators, where are the subtle and obvious gaps? Success comes from plugging these holes.
Let’s say everyone is scoring well but the business still isn’t doing well. Probe until you figure out what you are missing on your team. Are your scores too generous? Look for gaps and asymmetries. Dig deeper to get to why they are missing. Stay tough and deal in facts.
I usually look at two things: Are team members motivated? Do they have the skills to win at their tasks? If they are motivated--or have a desire to have the skills--that’s a good thing.
Then the next question is: Do they have the skill set and ability to grok it all? If not, you’ve got to make sure they get the right training. Some people may have the training but they are not fully confident in it. At that point it’s about recognizing it and giving them the confidence that they can carry it all the way through.
Speak A Common Vernacular. If the company is doing x and the leader is doing y, that hurts credibility. People look much more at what you do than what you say. I like to make moves through action and not speak as much.
When people look at the culture, they don’t look at what the slogans are. They look at what people talk about when they’re out on break. You want the messages when people are out on break or having drinks after work to be positive, and enhance trust in your firm.
Run A Real Business.
Channel Bill Belichick. As an entrepreneur you need to decipher those who can talk about things and sell themselves well from those who actually do it. Typically I find the ones that can do it aren’t the best promoters of themselves. They’re more normal and less hype-y and sales-y. They are the leaders to build your business. You want contributors—those who are going to get in and work their butts off—people who work hard and work smart. That is a large part of how you scale big.
Put people where their strengths shine. Hold them accountable. Match people by what they say they are going to do vs. what they do. If they’re not hitting 70% on the big items you’ve got an issue. Continue to upgrade the team so you have the best possible one you could ever have. You really are as good as your weakest player on the field.
If people aren’t performing, ask where they should be maneuvered so they’re using their greatest strength? Who needs to go? Who should be given more power? Those questions are things you’ve got to look at almost weekly.
Learn To Love HR. I used to hate the concept of HR. But, over time I saw that as CEO, you are HR, and that HR is your power center. Business is people. Your job is to find the best of the best of the best! It’s like you’re running an NBA team and are looking for the top draft picks—always, at each level. You need players who believe in your vision. Don’t give excuses about why you can’t find them. Don’t say they don’t live here. Open an office in another area. Hunt down the best.
Don’t be blinded by credentials. A lot of people with formal ed are at a deficit because they had a degree. The degree says to them they’re done. They’re educated. There’s a mindset that asks "Why be committed to lifelong learning?" Consider entrepreneurs who haven’t gone to school or who have dropped out, who don’t have that limitation or that meme that says there’s an end to your learning. If you want the best, forget credentials. Hire smart people with all backgrounds who like to learn and can do it fast.
Put Yourself On The Stand. Do your own analysis and scoring on yourself. Is your culture positive? Are your people motivated? Are they inspired—on an individual level and on a macro level, in a group? At what level are you getting the best possible results from each player? Once you’re holding yourself to the highest standard, you’ll be surprised at how much better everyone else will get at helping you achieve your goals for the company. Now, go make it happen!
