Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Hire Your Weakness

I enjoy spending time with people who have similar interests as me. Whether it's business, sports, staying fit, or just being with an interesting person who is outgoing and engaging, I know we'll hit it off. If you happen to work in #HealthcareHR and you love hockey we will undoubtedly be friends for life.

I'm not kidding. For life!

Egos, Threats, and Teams
There is a big problem with focusing on people who are similar to me when it comes to building my team though. If I allow my ego to dictate that I have to be the smartest person on the team (read here --> we're doomed); and if I'm so threatened by someone who might be able to add something that I cannot to our work (read here --> we're doomed again); then I need to shut off my computer and call it a day.

Leadership isn't about knowing everything, or worse yet, putting pressure on yourself to perform as if you did have an answer for every challenge. That doesn't make any sense. 

Yet time and time again as leaders climb the corporate ladder they somehow convince themselves that because of their success they must know it all. Otherwise how would they have achieved such status to begin with?
 

I'd say that is just about the craziest thing I've ever heard.

It's Called Leadership...Not Me-ship
Why is it that so many successful leaders fall into the trap of believing they have it all figured out? Self-esteem? Pressure to perform? Insecurities that they feel would hurt their careers if they ever surfaced?

Yes, yes, and yes. However, showing your human side to your team not only makes you more real, but allows them to feel empowered to contribute, add value, and make the work you are ultimately responsible for that much better.

Now why in the world wouldn't we all show the human side of ourselves? We are in human resources, right? It's in our job title!

How About You
The next time you have a vacancy on your team, instead of defaulting to the normal process of evaluating the position, take a look at where you are weakest and make that skill set the number one priority for the search process. Does that sound scary, liberating or maybe a little bit of both?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



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2 comments:

  1. Jay, great idea to hire your weakness. My current manager and I are similar enough to work well together and different enough to challenge, change, and build on each others skills. It's a great partnership. That said, there is a caution: I've seen managers hire their weakness and, because it's their weakness (and therefore not that important in their minds) that person gets quickly discredited and marginalized - the perfectionist hires the action oriented person and then doesn't trust their decision making because they are too quick to action, etc.

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    1. Great insight on this approach! Thanks for sharing Broc!

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