Page 140 - Executive Warfare

EXECUTIVE W ARF ARE

My advice is not to avoid hiring from outside at all costs but to be very
deliberate in assembling your team.When I’ve made my mistakes, it’s been
because I moved too quickly. I panicked over the fact that I had a prob-
lem in some area and hired somebody without enough due diligence.
It’s not easy to get a bead on a potential employee. Résumé writing these
days is an art. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve interviewed who all
claimed that they single-handedly turned Fidelity Investments into the
giant it is today.
References are also not very reliable. People are so afraid of being sued
that it’s very hard to get an honest answer about a person’s capabilities, so
you have to listen carefully for any hint that the candidate is being damned
with faint praise. Headhunters’ opinions are generally not much more
valuable. Most are much more interested in collecting fees than they are
in giving you an honest assessment of the people they send to you.
So take in all this information, and
then make a few phone calls yourself to
BE VERY
the world at large to try to get a pattern
DELIBERATE IN
on a person. Spend time with the per-
ASSEMBLING YOUR
son. Have some of your staff members
TEAM. WHEN I’VE
you respect spend time with the candi-
MADE MY
date, too, and then compare notes.
MISTAKES, IT’S
You might assume that because the
BEEN BECAUSE I
people you are interviewing have
MOVED TOO
reached a certain level, they are capable.
QUICKLY.
Don’t assume any such thing. Finding
talent with a well-written résumé is rel-
atively easy. Finding capable talent is hard. Capable of fitting in. Capable
of fitting in quickly. Capable of hitting the ground running.
If you are interviewing someone outside your area of expertise,
which you will find yourself doing more frequently as you rise, have
somebody who is an expert interview the candidate, too. For example,
I wouldn’t know a good information technology person if God put her

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