Monday, February 04, 2008

A nickel's worth of free advice: Hire Up.

If you want to talk about a strategy that is 100 percent related to less worry, this is it. The concept of hiring up is critical to your success. Essentially, hiring up means you hire and work with people that are more qualified than you. That's right, better than you.

It won't come as a surprise to very many of you that the factor that prevents people from subscribing to this philosophy is fear. The fear that "I can be replaced" or "someone might be better than me."

Do you ever wonder why so many businesses operate as if no one knows what they are doing? Sometimes the answer is that no one really does know what they are doing. Take a typical small business that is based on fear. Picture the manager who is responsible for hiring the people she works with. If she's frightened of being replaced or overshadowed, she's likely to hire people who aren't quite as bright or competent as she is. In all likelihood, she won't even be aware of her hidden agenda to keep the business down, but that's precisely what she'll do. She was hired not so much for her expertise in running the business but for her efforts in building a successful business. But what she's doing is surrounding herself with people even less qualified than herself because she believes she'll look better. Businesses based on fear are doomed to failure.

As you let go of worry and "hire up," some magical things begin to happen. You begin to get out of your own way and allow success to unfold. One of the turning points in my career was when I realized that, although I believe I'm an excellent writer, I'm not always such a great editor. As I let go of the fear that an editor could change my essential message, I began to experiment with working with various editors. I started to "hire up." Guess what? They didn't change my message, they improved it. And to top it off, a good editor could clean up my writing in a fraction of the time that I spent struggling with it, giving me far more time to do what I do best.

As you let go of fear, you will find that you will be rewarded for your willingness to reach out. Rather than losing your job, you'll be praised for contributing to the success of your business. The truth is, if you can become one of the few people who operates not out of fear but out of a sincere willingness to do what's in the best interest of your business, you'll become an indispensable part of that company's success. And if for some strange and unlikely reason your good faith efforts are not appreciated and rewarded, you will know beyond any doubt that you aren't working in the best possible environment. Don't worry. When you're thinking in "hire up" terms, another, better opportunity is just around the corner.

A good definition of entrepreneur is someone who can achieve predetermined goals through the efforts of himself and others. Why not raise the standards of those results by hiring up? The quality of your work will improve, and your profits will explode.

Editorial: This entry was taken from the #1 bestselling author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, Richard Carlson, Ph.D.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brilliant!

I have worked in semi-professional theatre over the years. I have noticed this theory work there, as well. The self-centered theatre tycoon who funds his own endeavor and micro-manages it into the ground will never develop a theatre company that will improve over time. This is because the company cannot grow beyond his/her ability. If you are better than they are, they will run you out of the company.

The theatre founder who knows his limits, gets the company to those limits, looks for someone else to take it to the next level, and steps aside to let that happen will be considered a wise person and will probably get a theatre named after him.

Anonymous said...

Wise point, but the administration will never tolerate anyone other than themselves "shinning."

The impetus for change would need to come from the school board and if ignorance is bliss than they amust be exillerated.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone other than I have an opinion as to the promotion of a union president to a management position overseeing the membership? I would think that custodial staff would be talking about this long before now.

Anonymous said...

Wow! look at the new custodian supervisor (lets call him Barney Fife: for short) This is what I'm taking about, a guy that thinks his great but has no clue what he's doing. The district got another "Yes" boy.

Anonymous said...

A union official taking a job that places them as a supervisor over their former members is an unprofessional move on both parts. The employer should not consider such an applicant nor should the applicant have applied for the position in the first place. This is worse than someone who worked for Boeing going to work for the procurement section of the Pentagon the next day.

I witnessed a union building rep doing the heavy lifting to get an administrative proposal approved even though the proposal had not acheived consensus of the rep's own membership. A new "process" was cooked up that went around normal democratic methods and assured that the boss got what he wanted (which is what he said under he breath when it was originally defeated: "I'll get what I want one way or the other.").

Union reps should not do the bidding of administration; they are supposed to be keeping the fox OUT of the henhouse, not opening the door for him.

Anonymous said...

You're all mistaken. If you look at it from the district perspective. He did not help any union member to win even one step of any grievance. Not one! So why would'nt he be the next logical person to climb aboard? The district sees him as 10 for 10 from the free throw line. The union sees him as ducking a fight and doing the turtle. Lose the mitts Kip!Huh!

Anonymous said...

Couls we please take the pics of board members off of this site. I am tired of looking at Susan Paine-in-the-ass, Gary igNoble, and witchy-poo McMurray. And dammmit, Brossoit smile looks as if the monkey is doin' sumthin' out of view down below.

Not a personal attack just an observation.

Anonymous said...

First one coordinator hired, now another. Somebody at LHS is gotta feel like they got their privates slapped.

Anonymous said...

I thought the guy at LHS was going to get the job. I did'nt even see Barney kissing up he's better than all of you losers.

Anonymous said...

Yes. There ARE always two sides to every story, aren't there.

Anonymous said...

You're comparison does not miss its intended target. After forcing out many excellent District employees of extremely high caliber and now only an asset to their current employers, Marla has built around her people of the quality of Manny, Chuck, Brian & now Kip. It doesn't necessitate that you have a psychology degree to recognize what is going on here and why she needs to do this. Unfortunately, insecurity and distrust rule the day!

Anonymous said...

The copy of "Faculty Incivility: The Rise of the Academic Bully Culture and What To Do About It" by Darla Twale has arrived. As expected, it hits very close to what The "Edmonds Experience" was and is. One example: "To be successful as a bully often requires an entourage-a bevy of believers, that is, witting or unwitting allies who are part of the powerful elite." Page 58. More choice tidbits later.

Anonymous said...

I whole-heartedly agree it is a smart approach to hire competent, innovative personnel. At a private business where I was a Supervisor, I did just that. We had control over the people we hired for our departments, and could train them as we saw fit. Over time that area ran like a well oiled Rolex watch. For one six month period, our error rate was nil, and every individual cared what happened in their arena. I never had to worry if I was on vacation, or busy in meetings. The department ran by itself. What more can a supervisor ask for? You also have to give people credit for their good works on a continual basis. Where I work at the Edmonds School District, this is nearly non-existent, or merely an after-thought. It's more like the Supervisor takes credit for everything, but has added nothing. This is so sad....

Anonymous said...

It is funny that we have two custodial supervisors and? a custodial manager, when before we had one person doing this job. Bob Carr, for those who forgot. How many people does it take to screw in a light bulb so to speak? The better question is, how many to supervise the screwing? On the Custodial Union President now being the Custodial Supervisor, probably just as incompetent at that too!! I can't remember the last time there was a section meeting, over two years at least, maybe three or four. Shouldn't these be quarterly at the minimum? The new custodial Manager has managed to contract work outside of the School District. All of the custodial supplies which used to be handled within the district, through the Warehouse, are now serviced through Service Paper. They are a non-union shop, for those who did not know! Meanwhile, Union Warehouse Drivers have had their work days per year reduced. Where was our Union then? No where to be seen. They do not want to address these hard issues, that may upset someone in Management.

Anonymous said...

You have to admit Barney Fife was always good for a laugh! Good at heart, but a bumbling idiot. Is this who you want for a Supervisor custodial crew? The other supervisor is usually catching up on her sleep whenever I see her. So this is a real dilemma. I say they are both un-needed, save the 100k + and put it towards supplies to clean the schools!

Anonymous said...

Our district is top heavy in many area. Assist Supt., Custodial Supervisors, Mid managers some wher this has to stop and we need to get back to the business of educating our kids. Start leading by example all of you at the top, you may soon take a tumble and the fall is a long way down. I bet you won't think your story is one sided when it is you defending your job or lack of.