6 Tips to Hire THE BEST Start-up Leadership

If you are the head of a startup, then you understand it takes blood, sweat, and tears to get your business off the ground.  Hiring the right leadership team to run the operations and management of the startup WILL DETERMINE the success of your organization.  With the right leadership, your organization may achieve every goal you ever wanted to achieve, and with the wrong leadership, your organization is destined to fail.

As a recruiter, it pains me to see so many great companies with great ideas go to waste.  I have put together 6 tips on how you can pull together the right leadership team to make your start-up a success.

1.  Invest and Pay for the RIGHT Talent

We all like saving money.   You CANNOT AFFORD to NOT to have THE very best team working for you. When hiring a leadership team, you want someone with an excellent track record.  You want someone who has a history of results. You need someone with experience leading a start- up off the ground. At the end of the day,  you need to have the peace of mind that you are putting the right people in place for GROWTH of your organization, not DOWNSIZING in 6 months.

2.  Take on Staff That Are Smarter Than You

O.K.  Swallow your pride.  Hire those who are smarter than you. If you are wanting to grow the organization, you need someone who has something that you DO NOT have.  Look for someone who adds value.  It is in your best interest not to hire your best drinking buddy.  It is nice to have a good balance of different personalities.  You need someone who has the brains to say “You’re crazy, and here is why” every once in a while.

3.  Look For People with Passion

I love confidence.  Someone with confidence often has passion in a job. Passion drives determination.  A determined and passionate person equals success.  If you are looking for results, look for someone who is passionate about what you do.  Results will follow.  GUARANTEED.

4.  You Need Staff That Fit in With The Company

How do you determine culture?  It is kind of like asking why is the grass green and not blue.  Right?  Well, most organizations at one time or another have hired that person that they thought would fit in, but they just didn’t. It’s important that the rest of the leadership team that everyone works well together.   If people like each other, then it sure makes a better working environment!

5.  Plan out Good Interview Questions

An interview is the chance for you to get to know that person. It is important to understand what makes candidates tick and ask them questions relating to the job.  Seeing how candidates answer interview questions says a lot about the individual. Throw a few curve balls in there.  Ask about their leadership style and how they would handle their first 30, 60, and 90 days in office.  Ask the tough questions and see how they respond.  Understanding how candidates react under pressure is very important.  See how quickly they can think on their feet.

6.  Hire Someone Who is Highly Versatile

With a start-up, you need someone who can roll with the punches, and is okay with risk and the unknown.  Sometimes it’s good to hire a person who is specialized in one area. Often times, however, you need someone with multiple skillsets.  When it comes to a leadership team, you really want that person to be able to quickly adapt to a start-up company and switch roles when they are needed.

 - Source : Sunny Popali, Staffworks, bullseyerecruiting.ent