The First Two Rules of Leadership. Cottrell David

treat someone who will become either your most valuable asset or your most costly liability. Instead, clearly and accurately define, in writing, the skills and attributes the perfect candidate will bring to your organization. Then, prepare every question – and your ideal answer – in advance so that you spend your time listening and evaluating rather than trying to figure out what question to ask next. Creating an interview outline will help keep you on track. Ask each candidate the same questions in the same order so you can concentrate on and evaluate their responses.

      Another issue associated with stupid hiring is that you are emotionally involved. The open position is taking time and energy away from you, so you want to fill the job fast. The leader makes a subjective decision based on personality rather than an objective decision based on fact. Your emotions want the person to “fit,” even though they may not be the right fit. You will be far better off if you take your time and find the right person. Get someone in HR or a peer to help – they're not faced with the same emotions you have about your openings.

      Following these three rules of three will help you hire smart:

      1. Interview at least three qualified candidates for every position.

      2. Interview the candidates three times.

      3. Have three people evaluate the candidates.

      Interviewing at least three qualified candidates for every position sounds like a long process, and it is. But to hire tough and get the right person on your team, you need to have choices. If there is only one qualified person you are evaluating, you do not have a choice. Find three qualified people and make a smart choice on who would fit best with your team.

      When you interview someone three times, you can make a smarter decision. Schedule the interviews at varying times of the day. If your initial interview was in the morning, interview the candidate the next time in the afternoon or evening. You'll be working with them all day, so why not see what they're like at different times of the day?

      When evaluating candidates, consider talent and fit equally. The most talented person may not be the best choice if they don't fit with the talent that already exists on your team. The best information regarding fit will come from the superstars on your team, so it is smart to involve them in the process. They know the job and the culture and will have a good feel for whether the candidate will be a good fit on your team. Most of your top performers will look on their involvement as a reward and take ownership of the success of the person you hire. They will probably help in their orientation and do what they can to help them to be successful. That is a good deal for everyone. If some of your superstars are not interested in helping in the interview process, don't force them to do it. But if they are interested in helping, they are a great source of information.

      Seeing Their Best

      If you hire smart, you won't “stretch” a candidate into being the person that you want them to be. If the job you are seeking to fill has been open for a while, it is natural for you to hear what you want to hear, see what you want to see, and convince yourself that you will coach the candidate to become the perfect employee – the exact awesome individual you need. Be careful; when a position that you are responsible for has been open for an extended period of time, you are vulnerable. Your stress builds and you pressure yourself. My experience has been that the longer a position is open, the better the next candidate looks. Before long, anyone who can fog a mirror is the perfect, obvious choice for your opening. Smart hiring does not work that way. If you hire candidates that are “on the fence” simply to get the job filled, you will pay the consequences later.

      1

      Unpublished Saratoga Institute research, 2003.

      2

      Leigh Branham, The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave (New York: Amacom, 2005), 3.

      3

      This 2011 study was conducted by PDI Ninth House and included data from 2006 to 20

1

Unpublished Saratoga Institute research, 2003.

2

Leigh Branham, The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave (New York: Amacom, 2005), 3.

3

This 2011 study was conducted by PDI Ninth House and included data from 2006 to 2010. Some of the results were published in Tom Daniel, “A Long Engagement: How to Retain Top Performers,” Talent Management, 24.

4

E. Frauenheim, “Managers Don't Matter,” Workforce Management, April 4, 2010; K. A. Tucker and V. Allman, “Don't Be a Cat-and-Mouse Manager,” The Gallup Organization, September 9, 2004, www.brain.gallup.com.