April 26, 2024

Interviewing Patience Right Person Force Multiplier with Jeff Leitman

27 minutes

It’s human nature to get away from pain as quickly as possible.

As painful as it is to have an open role, it is even more painful to fill that role with a person who brings more pain. And that pain is most often delivered in the form of the Wrong Person in the Right Seat.

Today we are going to discuss what this means and how to have the patience to work through finding the right person for the right seat.

Guest Bio:

Jeff Leitman is the Founder and CEO of Rocksteady Corp. Rocksteady specializes in the production of the Rocksteady Stadium speaker system, renowned for its high fidelity and connectivity, and is distributed across North America. Family, team members, and creating a positive and supportive work environment are the foundations of the organization.

As a hands-on CEO, Jeff prioritizes the development and empowerment of his team, partners, and vendors, fostering sustainable long-term relationships.

Problem:

Right person = Aligns with company values, buys into the mission (value)

Right Seat = Skills & capacity to do the work

70% of successful hiring is Alignment …. 30% is skills

The focus is on the skills and stopping the pain quickly.

100% focus on skills and hope it works out

Finding the patience to hire the strongest person requires discipline. Especially when there is a dire need to remove the work from your plate.

Challenge today?

In a startup environment, how to define roles to fill first, and how to ensure that role is defined properly and filled with the right person.

Roles that need to be done but I can’t support or prioritize or don’t enjoy doing - finding people who enjoy their roles, are capable of filling the role, and who fit within the company culture.

Marketing, Sales, Accounting… for me, this was part of the A-team I needed. Creative, fulfillment, and supply chain

I love this and thus don’t need a senior person as quickly.

Or I need help to do it better, and I can be a positive partner and influence in driving a good result.

Remain engaged in the role, even if you hate it. Example: I hated marketing, and hired people to do it for me. It wasn’t until I learned to embrace it that it became effective.

Why is this important to the company?

Adding the right person is a force multiplier, and allows the company to grow at an accelerated pace. Hiring the wrong person is the exact opposite, so be diligent.

Rick’s Nuggets:

Skills-based hiring is transactional

Low perceived value

Lower engagement

Biggest offer wins

Narrow focus- “Just fill this role quickly”

Missing culture/value alignment

Costs the company 3-7X the cash spent

Opportunity cost loss

Productivity

Disengagement

How do we solve the problem?

Define the position in detail, and be sure the candidate hits all the “has-to-have” criteria.

Don’t be lazy, keep going. Interview more people, check references, think of more questions. Be certain.

Don’t overplay your emotional position in an interview. Don’t fall in love with them (and see what you want to see), keep them talking. You lose power when selling your company too hard and too soon.

Work ethic is as important as knowledge or skills.

Expose the elephant in the room.

Check references, and ask the right questions - are they biased? Were they good managers? What was the result and reason for the separation?

What is their motivation? Can you keep them motivated (financially, career path)? And will they be happy employees?

Our process is not overly-formalized. If employees do the first interview, I provide guidance and direction but encourage my managers to also have their own criteria (counterpoint discussion).

Rick’s Nuggets:

Strongest Person =

Positioned well (desire)

Core values aligned

Accurate Seat =

Capacity to do the work and grow

Boost performance

Increase productivity

Key Takeaways that the Audience can plug into their business today!

Adding the right person is a force multiplier, and allows the company to grow at an accelerated pace. Hiring the wrong person is the exact opposite, so be diligent.

Hire people who enjoy what they are doing.

Remain engaged in the role, even if you hate it. Example: I hated marketing, and hired people to do it for me. It wasn’t until I learned to embrace it that it became effective.

Be disciplined, be prepared, have a plan.

Guest Links:

LinkedIn: Jeff Leitman

Company: www.RocksteadyAudio.com

Facebook: Rocksteady

Instagram: Rocksteady

Host Links:

LinkedIn: Rick Girard

Company: Intertru, Inc.

Podcast: Hire Power Radio Show & Podcast

Book: Healing Career Wounds (Amazon)

...more

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By WRKdefined Podcast Network

4.7

3939 ratings

April 26, 2024

Interviewing Patience Right Person Force Multiplier with Jeff Leitman

27 minutes

It’s human nature to get away from pain as quickly as possible.

Today we are going to discuss what this means and how to have the patience to work through finding the right person for the right seat.

Guest Bio:

As a hands-on CEO, Jeff prioritizes the development and empowerment of his team, partners, and vendors, fostering sustainable long-term relationships.

Problem:

Right person = Aligns with company values, buys into the mission (value)

Right Seat = Skills & capacity to do the work

70% of successful hiring is Alignment …. 30% is skills

The focus is on the skills and stopping the pain quickly.

100% focus on skills and hope it works out

Finding the patience to hire the strongest person requires discipline. Especially when there is a dire need to remove the work from your plate.

Challenge today?

In a startup environment, how to define roles to fill first, and how to ensure that role is defined properly and filled with the right person.

Roles that need to be done but I can’t support or prioritize or don’t enjoy doing - finding people who enjoy their roles, are capable of filling the role, and who fit within the company culture.

Marketing, Sales, Accounting… for me, this was part of the A-team I needed. Creative, fulfillment, and supply chain

I love this and thus don’t need a senior person as quickly.

Or I need help to do it better, and I can be a positive partner and influence in driving a good result.

Remain engaged in the role, even if you hate it. Example: I hated marketing, and hired people to do it for me. It wasn’t until I learned to embrace it that it became effective.

Why is this important to the company?

Adding the right person is a force multiplier, and allows the company to grow at an accelerated pace. Hiring the wrong person is the exact opposite, so be diligent.

Rick’s Nuggets:

Skills-based hiring is transactional

Low perceived value

Lower engagement

Biggest offer wins

Narrow focus- “Just fill this role quickly”

Missing culture/value alignment

Costs the company 3-7X the cash spent

Opportunity cost loss

Productivity

Disengagement

How do we solve the problem?

Define the position in detail, and be sure the candidate hits all the “has-to-have” criteria.

Don’t be lazy, keep going. Interview more people, check references, think of more questions. Be certain.

Work ethic is as important as knowledge or skills.

Expose the elephant in the room.

Check references, and ask the right questions - are they biased? Were they good managers? What was the result and reason for the separation?

What is their motivation? Can you keep them motivated (financially, career path)? And will they be happy employees?

Our process is not overly-formalized. If employees do the first interview, I provide guidance and direction but encourage my managers to also have their own criteria (counterpoint discussion).

Rick’s Nuggets:

Strongest Person =

Positioned well (desire)

Core values aligned

Accurate Seat =

Capacity to do the work and grow

Boost performance

Increase productivity

Key Takeaways that the Audience can plug into their business today!

Adding the right person is a force multiplier, and allows the company to grow at an accelerated pace. Hiring the wrong person is the exact opposite, so be diligent.

Hire people who enjoy what they are doing.

Remain engaged in the role, even if you hate it. Example: I hated marketing, and hired people to do it for me. It wasn’t until I learned to embrace it that it became effective.

Be disciplined, be prepared, have a plan.

Guest Links:

LinkedIn: Jeff Leitman

Company: www.RocksteadyAudio.com

Facebook: Rocksteady

Instagram: Rocksteady

Host Links:

LinkedIn: Rick Girard

Company: Intertru, Inc.

Podcast: Hire Power Radio Show & Podcast

Book: Healing Career Wounds (Amazon)

...more