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Who do you want in the trenches with you?

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Spoiler alert: this post contains a spoiler about the conclusion of Celebrity Apprentice.

You’re building a business. It has some similarities to going into battle.

  • You don’t really know what’s going to happen.
  • You need to equip yourself properly.
  • You must be in it for the long haul.
  • You need a strategy.
  • You must know what you want to get out of it. What’s the mission.
  • You need to have a thick skin and confidence.
  • You have to be able to handle unexpected events.
  • You need to know when it’s time to retreat with honor.

And.

You need the right people in the trenches with you.

Band of Brothers in the trenches

But how do you know who will be there, handing you the last cigarette as the artillery fire is landing all around you? Who will jump out of the trench with you and charge into the unknown, eyes fixed on the next hill? Whom do you want to share victory with?

Perhaps I’ve watched Band of Brothers one too many times, but I’ve always known that surrounding yourself with the right people is crucial to success. Jim Collins calls it “getting the right people on the bus.”

How can you discern who will be really invested in what you’re doing…as a colleague, partner, or customer?

How can you ensure that you have the right people?

Here are some tips:

  • Work with someone smarter. Surround yourself with people who inspire you with their resourcefulness, their savvy, and their education. If you need to be the smartest person in the room, you’re not cut out to be a business leader.
  • Work with someone who knows something different. If your special skill set is marketing, hire someone who’s an ace at finance. Know your own strengths, and choose people who compliment them.
  • Work with someone who’s been somewhere different. Find people who have a different life story, a different perspective. You don’t want to be surrounded by yes-men and yes-women. Find people who will argue with you if you’re wrong.
  • Give your people a way to shine. Leeza Gibbons won Celebrity Apprentice this week because she consistently took advantage of her team’s talents and allowed them the room to perform.
  • Stop trying to convince people. As an entrepreneur, your resources are best invested in people who already “get it.” When you describe your mission, look for the light to go on in the other person’s eyes. If it’s not there, you don’t have a good fit, and it’s best for both of you if you move on.

Who’s in the trenches with you?

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Manage Your Milennial New Hires With Loose Reins

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By Barry Welford

A large proportion of the people you will be recruiting will come from those born since 1980. These are often called Generation Y and the younger of them are known as Generation Z or Millennials. Likely they will be technologically savvy and will be well informed on the job market place and what it has to offer. What are they looking for in working in your company, and what do you need to have them achieve for success?

There is much online help for this significant recruiting challenge and there are even webinars that can set out effective strategies for recruiting Gen-Y.

The recruitment process can only be regarded as a success if both the candidates selected and the company achieve their goals through the contributions of these new hires.

Establishing A Loose Reins Culture

A company culture that is likely to resonate well with these new hires is what the Harvard Business Review calls the “Loose Reins” approach to management. Sometimes, the best management is little or no management at all. Sometimes, effective order and engaging experiences can be achieved with the most simple rules.

The article gives examples of how these principles are applied and gives the following summary of what it is all about:

The power of this kind of self-organization suggests that creativity and innovation might best be achieved not through rigid hierarchy and central controls, but from one or two simple but vital agreements. These agreements are often implicit, ones that everyone understands and is accountable for, yet that are left open to individual interpretation and variation. When we provide the right social context and then let things be, employees self-organize and produce better environment and better results than managers imposing control.

That sounds very appealing but clearly is somewhat revolutionary. Perhaps not everyone will be comfortable in this kind of environment. The recruiting and selection process clearly is critical in making candidate choices that will be successful for both parties.

Selecting Generation Y Candidates Who Can Accept Loose Reins

Before discussing the factors that will distinguish the most successful candidates for this Loose Reins culture, it is easier to define the characteristics of those who will not fit:

Individuals who

  • are black and white thinkers and do not see the shades of gray
  • insist on clearly defined detailed rules
  • are not self-starters
  • have difficulty in making decisions

The better candidates will be at the other end of the spectrum on these dimensions. In particular, they:

  • have an attitude of getting things done
  • can cope with ambiguity and devise practical rules that work
  • are innovative in finding novel solutions
  • will involve and work with other team members

Needless to say candidates will only be interviewed if they have the necessary job and technical skills to handle the position.

What These Candidates Will Demand

What may sometimes be overlooked is that it is even more critical for the candidate that the outcome should be successful. The company can move on fairly rapidly if a wrong decision has been made, but the individual will be faced with much more significant problems if the job is not working out. You can therefore expect that the best candidates will have their own requirements that must be met. In addition to the standard terms such as salary, vacation, hours of work and working conditions these might well include the following:

  • A realistic job description
  • A list of available resources and budgets
  • A clear statement on results to be achieved
  • Possible career opportunities based on success

The bottom line on all this is that the successful candidate and the company must have a shared vision on what is to be achieved and the plan to make it happen. Without this, there is a good chance that one or other or both will be severely disappointed.

Are you a “loose reins” manager?

Author’s Bio: Barry Welford writes for Next Day Flyers. He is a frequent blogger on business performance and Internet Marketing. You can follow him on Twitter at @bwelford.