Hire Above Yourself - The Key to Success

Jonena Relth, TBD Consulting

Michelle Braden's post from May 25th, What Does Leadership Look Like Today, got my juices flowing and I would like to tag onto her blog.

You've probably heard the phrase, "He always hires below himself." It never ceases to amaze me how many leaders hire people just like themselves or a bit "below" their skill/intelligence level. This is a natural phenomenon as we all like to associate with people who will see eye to eye with us. Our instinct is to hire people who we think will admire our skills and track record and eagerly follow our leading. However, we are limiting the creativity and brain power in our organizations with this hiring philosophy. And yes, this happens even when we have a sophisticated HR department because the final hiring decisions are normally left to the leader(s) the new employee will report to.

The reality, though, is that for organizations to grow and excel, leaders must stop hiring people like themselves whom they feel "comfortable" with. They must start employing people who possess skills and abilities that their existing employees, including themselves, don't have. We all have products or services to offer customers, but the truth remains that an organization is only as great as the collective talent of its people.

I hope your leaders are confident in their leadership skills and feel "good enough in their own skin" to allow for differences in thoughts and ideas to be brought forward by all your employees. Everyone has ideas for improvement and we need to value every single person who works for us. From the janitor to the CEO, every opinion is worth considering. MANY years ago, our receptionist, came up with simple security precautions that only she thought of. Her suggestions worked, and because of her sharing her ideas, we were able to protect our clients' data from computer viruses. This was several years before our clients were able to protect their own data from the very same viruses.

Most of my regular readers know that I am a huge proponent for transparent leadership, trust and teamwork. For these to be effective in our organizations, we need all types of intelligent people communicating and working together to provide best-in-class customer service and superior products for our customers. Notice that I mention communicating and working together first - before our service or products. Without great people, we might as well hang up our shingles. But with great employees and contractors, the sky's the limit for the success - and fun - we can achieve!

Jonena

TBD Consulting has a 21-year, proven track record for ensuring employee performance improvement which translates to employee performance success. Whether you need help developing an in-house training organization or simply need "extra hands" to meet your deadlines or ROI goals, please contact Jonena. She and her qualified staff are here to assist you with your organizational development, coaching and training initiatives.

Corporate Office 602-263-1961. Email Jonena today!

Comments

[Laura Collins]

Leaders would only hire those who are below them because they are afraid somebody might surpass them in an unexpected way by an unexpected person.

[Leonard Starling]

I'm sorry but true leaders don't hire below them. Real leaders hire those that can surpass them. You are mistaken Laura Collins.

[Jonena]

For Transparent Leadership to succeed, we need to hire above ourselves. Only by adding knowledge and wisdom to our organizations, can we truly accomplish all we can to succeed in business - not just keep going at the same level we are now.

Yes, there are companies that succeed by keeping all the "underlings" below them, but those companies have HUGE turnover and could accomplish a lot more if they practiced transparent leadership.