The two most significant factors affecting the success of a startup are timing and hiring. Get either of them wrong and you fail. To build a strong organization, you must hire for strength. Then you manage the weaknesses in the organization.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

The two most significant factors affecting the success of a startup are timing and hiring.

If you get either of them wrong you fail. Let’s today talk about hiring. The most important rule is hire for strength. Every human being has weaknesses and strengths. You need to hire for the strengths.

Inexperienced managers may hire for avoidance of weaknesses. They may look for well-rounded people, but that’s a recipe for mediocrity.

To build a strong organization, you hire for strength, and then you manage the weaknesses in the organization.

An outstanding individual who is ready to join your company will have an innate desire to contribute to the success of the company. To hire them and get them attracted, you must give them big and meaningful mandates. Now, somebody could argue that not everybody can have a big and meaningful mandate in organization, but I believe that’s wrong. If you organize your work well, you can give everybody a mandate that for them is big and impactful; and productivity will increase.

It’s also important to know how to lead a new person. As you are hiring that person you need to show your leadership abilities, because nobody can be successful without a good boss. Again managers, and inexperienced managers especially, may lead every person in the same way. Great leaders lead everyone differently.

Great leaders see the strengths and they manage for the strengths. They lead every person differently. This is why great leaders don’t create followers; great leaders create more leaders.

When you do the hiring, many times if not most of the times, you are being helped by a human resources department and they may be in charge of the hiring process. But no matter how much help you get from HR, the hiring is always your responsibility only.

Nobody else can communicate to the candidate the vision and the mandates of the job description. Nobody else can close the deal but you. No matter how much help you get from the HR, it’s you and only you who is in charge of the hiring.