Finding the Right People for Your Practice

In Jim Collins' bestselling book, Good to Great, he discussed the importance of getting the right people on your team.  He describes your team as a bus and if you get the right people on your bus, it doesn't matter where you take your bus, you will be successful.  The follow concepts are a summary of Collins's concepts of finding the right poeple from Chapter 3, p. 41-63.

In “Great” businesses, people are not your most important asset. The right people are.   Great businesses make a priority on finding the right people.

CONCEPT:  If you have the right people on the bus, the problem of how to motivate and manage people largely goes away.  With the right people, you can take the bus anywhere it needs to go. 

CONCEPT: If you have the right people on the bus, they will do everything within their power to build a great company, not because of what they will “get” for it, but because they cannot imagine settling for anything less.  The purpose of a compensation system is not to get the right behaviors from the wrong people, but to get the right people on the bus and keep them there.

CONCEPT: In finding the “right” people, greater weight is placed on character attributes than on specific educational background, practical skills, specialized knowledge or work experience.

CONCEPT:  Great companies have rigorous – not ruthless – cultures. A rigorous culture means consistently applying exacting standards at all times and at all levels – especially in upper management.  The only way to deliver to the people who are achieving is to not burden them with the people who are not achieving. 

·     To let people languish in uncertainty for months/years, stealing precious time in their lives that they could use to move on to something else, when knowing that they are not going to make it – that is ruthless

·     To deal with it right up front and let people get on with their lives – that is rigorous

CONCEPT: Practical disciplines for being rigorous – not ruthless

1.    When in doubt, don’t hire – keep looking.  The ultimate throttle on growth is not markets, technology, competition or products. It is the ability to get and keep enough of the right people.

2.    When you know you need to make a people change, ACT.  The right people don’t need to be managed.  Guided – Yes, Taught – Yes, Lead – Yes, - but not tightly managed.

a.    Great leaders don’t rush to judgment. They invest substantial effort in making sure they have someone in the right seat before concluding  they have the wrong person on the bus.  Instead of firing honest and able people who are not performing well, it is important to try to move them once or even two or three times to other positions where they might blossom.

3.    Put your best people on your biggest opportunities, not your biggest problems. Managing problems can only make you good whereas building your opportunities is the only way to become great.

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CONCEPT:  Right People + Great Company = Great Life.  Balance in work and life is possible when you have the right people on the bus.  Finding the right people is key in finding that balance and having a great life.  If we are not spending the vast majority of our time with people that we love and respect – how will we ever have a great life? Great life is made up of people who love what they do and love who they do it with.