Experience wins…
I spent the past 2 days at the Corporate Alliance Summitt and met a lot of amazing people. While there, I learned a valuable lesson from Paul.
When asked the question, “what is one of the reasons that young entrepreneurs fail?” His response was very relevant and wise:
“One of the problems that young entrepreneurs have is that they don’t know a ‘Rockstar hiring candidate’ when they see one. It’s not that they can’t hire well, it’s that they haven’t been around the block to work with a ‘Rockstar marketer’ or a ‘Rockstar salesman’ so they hire based on their resume or other credentials.”
His comment really got me thinking and I believe what he has said. The question now is…how do you hire a rockstar team member of you are a young entrepreneur?
Don’t look for the “next big rockstar employee.” Hire the person you like the most, that you feel you’d mesh well with, and make sure they’re a knowledge spong. Every sustainable and successful entrepreneur I’ve known eats up information faster than most. People willing to learn are humble, teachable, and they embrace progress. That makes for a great employee. Strike that. It makes for a great entrepreneur.
Great thoughts here–it’s tough to draw that line extending from experience to enthusiasm and have to choose the candidate who falls someplace in the middle.
I agree with Blake that no matter how ‘Rock Star’ someone may be, they still might not jive with YOUR band very well.
For me, when you’ve interviewed enough people, and really done your research, you *know* when you found the right person. Within 10 minutes after I met Amy Rhoads, I knew she had, what I call the ’special sauce’ that makes a person excellent in their job.
It’s in there… like Ragu. You can’t pinpoint it, but when it’s right, you’ll know.
Never settle, keep talking to people, listen to your gut, and remember your vision and mission and keep it first priority.
One of the reasons it’s hard for new entreprenuers to hire rock stars is that it’s very difficult for them to attract rock star talent. Great employees want to work at great companies. They’ll settle for potentially great companies if there are great owners who have been around the block a few times. If the neither the business nor the owner has a proven track record, it’s hard to attract people that could work anywhere they want.
Brock, in answer to your question, I have tried to give some helpful advice at: http://lawntrepreneur.blogspot.com/2006/03/hiring-competent-rockstar.html
I hope it is helpful.