I have (in previous articles and posts at davekraft.org) addressed the issue of the kinds of people you are looking for in order to hire or bring into your team.This is one of the most important decisions you will ever make as a leader.
Currently, several of the men I coach are in the process of making the selection of a key person to join their team. Many more of them will make such decisions over the next year or two.
Let’s look at some characteristics of the person you should definitely NOT SELECT or HIRE!!
Don’t select or hire this person person if:
1. You have to talk yourself into bringing on, against your better judgment…
If you have grave doubts before you bring them on, imagine what it will be like after you bring them on. If you don’t truly believe they’re the right choice, it’s not fair to the team, the organization, or to that person whom you will not be able to support with a whole heart. You will more than likely regret it until the day you wind up letting them go.
2. You would not trust with your credit card number or your children…
Years ago I listened to a talk by Don Cousins at Willow Creek in which he strongly discouraged bringing a person into a key and prominent leadership role who had MAJOR character issues. Don said you will spend lots of time re-parenting them. Character is a huge issue. More leaders fall over character issues than competency issues. There is a big difference between someone with flaws or issues (which we all have) and someone with MAJOR character flaws. Ask for wisdom to know the difference and the ability to discover it in the interview process.
3. Who can do the job as it currently is…
You should be looking for someone who is not only adequate for the job as it now is, but has the emotional, intellectual, competency and relational capacity to grow with the job and responsibility. The last thing you want is to spend countless hours training and developing a person and then, a few years into it, have to let them go because they couldn’t keep up with the growth taking place. And now, painfully, you have to start all over again with somebody new.
4. Who has a victim or entitlement mentality…
You know who I mean…constantly whining and complaining. No matter what is done for them, it’s never enough. They never had a job in their life that they had anything positive to say about. They never take responsibility for poor work and performance. Everything is always someone else’s fault. They are envious, jealous, nitpicking, back-biting and back stabbing toward their co-workers…the office gossip. Don’t let the resumé and perceived brilliance blind you to who they really are.
5. Who you really don’t like to be with…
Your personal chemistry with this person is extremely important.
I love something Perry Noble says on this…
“I once had a leader tell me to never hire friends, which was a bit odd to me because as I read the NT, I’m pretty sure that the guys who worked together liked one another and actually spent time with each other outside of work. Call me crazy…but I hire people that I like, or at least believe I will enjoy spending time with. Why in the world would a leader hire people that they do not like and then complain about the people that they have to spend 40-50 hours a week with?”
6. Who has no gas in his tank or fizz in his Coke…
I want to have people on my team who love what they do and consider it a privilege and joy to do what they love and are suited and gifted to do so. Passionless team players will suck the life out of a team and be a downer over the long haul. Too much is at stake to have people with no passion or who have a passion leak due to any number of issues going on in their lives. Passion is high on my current list of qualities I’m looking for.
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