Hiring up

They always said the key to being a successful manager, is being smart enough to hire people smarter than I am. 

You have probably thought this through when hiring new people to work on your Team.  After all, the gaps that appear as we get older are pretty obvious.  How do we keep up with technology?   How do we absorb all of the changing data?  How do we begin to understand every product detail?  

Yes, we become so much smarter when we are willing to leave our ego at the door and bring new people to our Team who are smarter thane we are. But what does “smarter” really mean?  How is “smarter” defined?  

Is it all about the craft of the job?  Is it about engineering, finance, economics, design, marketing, chemistry, and technology?  What about Character?  Does it also make sense to hire people with more Integrity of their Character than we might believe we possess?  

If the theory about surrounding ourselves with smarter people makes us as leaders collectively smarter, than could it be true; that if we surround ourselves with a Team who thinks and acts out of a core belief of morals, values and ethics, that we might grow as a Leader with Integrity of Character?

I have been very fortunate to have worked with enormously successful Teams.  I credit my earlier successes to my Teams.  When challenged, I prided myself at saying...”I’m not sure of the answer...I’m just a school teachers kid”.  I loved the cynical answer I would offer when the brightest and the best of the senior leaders would challenge me, knowing I had much more humble beginnings than they had.  

But, I would always have the answer.  The answer was typically better than correct, and I built a reputation of someone you could count on.  But it was no secret that my Team was the key to my success.  We’ll talk more later on assembling that great team.  

How did I continuously assemble such great teams?  What was my secret sauce?

Here’s the recipe to my secret sauce.  I

 hire by the “rule of three C’s”.  

Core, Character, Craft.

When I set out to hire a new Team member, I focus on a discovery of what the candidate feels is the vitality of their core.  The core is that essence of why they believe they are given this wonderful opportunity to live the life they have been given.  This is where values, ethics, and morals are formed and realized.  That is...the Core of the candidate.  

Character is how the candidate can prove they “walk the talk”.  If they found values, morals, and ethics within their Core, then what choices do they make every moment, to live out this Core of who they are?  This is...the Integrity of their Character.

Craft is the easy part.  This is the intellectual side of the career journey.  Craft is the essence of learning, and experience  achieved through school, training, work experience, and applying aptitude.  The missing portions of their Craft can probably be acquired through additional training and other experiences.  But I have no ability to change Core and Character.  They either have it, or they don’t.  And If candidates do not have Integrity of their Character, I do not want them on my Team.

This secret sauce brings me great team members.  If the theory about surrounding myself with people better than me is true, then I have also surrounded myself with people who have a higher level of Integrity in their Character than I might have.  As a group, we’re contagious with each other, and we hold each other accountable to a new level of success. 

As a Rare Leader™, Integrity of Character is where we begin!

If you want to learn more about the Rare Leader™ in you, 

or if you are interested in retaining Steve as your Executive Coach, 

Contact Steve Riege via: twitter, or his website.