Winning the Mental Game of Hiring
Hiring a new key employee is one of the greatest challenges a business owner or financial advisor can face. Hiring for skillset is the easier piece of the picture. But how do you hire for personality?
I always tell my clients to hire for personality first, skillset second. If you have the right personality who takes initiative, has a solid attitude, is career-minded (vs. job minded) and who is coachable, you have a solid foundation to build from. If you have the right personality, you can shape their skillset. If you have someone with a high level skill set, but the wrong personality, that employee will become a liability that can be toxic and sabotage the entire team. Having the right personality can ignite new energy into a team.
The million dollar question is ‘how do you hire for personality’ in just one or two interviews. Interviewing is much like dating, everyone puts their best face forward. How do you know what you are really getting? Hiring is definitely more of an art than a science. I spend a lot of time with clients helping them identify what is required of a particular position, what kind of personality would suit that position and the team best, then we carefully craft interview questions to help uncover the most critical elements necessary for a successful hire.
In my latest book, The Hijacker: Overcome Self-Sabotaging Behavior, I discuss how important it is to understand what Human Operating Systems are, and how you identify them. Consider this, how could a software programmer write useful and stable software if they didn’t know about the intricacies of computer operating systems. You see, they write new programs so that they will work well with the various operating systems that run computers.
Now, imagine that humans also ran on various operating systems. Imagine how much more effective your interactions would be with different people running on different systems. A Human Operating System is a critical element to understanding someone’s core personality, what makes them tick and what motivates them. It is like having a deeper understanding into an individual right from the start. Now consider how useful it would be to hiring for a particular position if you knew before you hired someone what their motivations were, what their natural proficiencies were and how they would play with others. It would be invaluable knowledge!
In fact, in my line of work, uncovering the Human Operating Systems of individuals has allowed me to guide careers, help clients hire effectively and grow their businesses and even save a few marriages!
Think about it, what is it about the guy who seems to know people wherever he goes. People seem to gravitate to him – he has a thousand friends and can leave a business event with 25 new contacts. You know when you meet this guy you immediately like him, but you might now even know why.
Then consider the one who seems to know everything! This person may even be the one you turn to when you have questions because you know that even if she doesn’t have the answer now, she will get you the answer within 48 hours. It is a pervasive personality trait you can count on.
Finally, I know you know someone like this – it’s the guy that seems to succeed at whatever it is he does. He works hard for his success, and he seems to be able to turn everything into gold. He lives in the biggest house in neighborhood, drives the fanciest car and goes on some enviable vacations.
In each of these people, there are patterns – when we decode these patterns, we gain a deep insight into the individual very quickly. In the past, it would take us years to learn what makes people tick. Now, with new knowledge, we can understand what makes people tick with a couple of short interviews.
If you’d like to understand more about how to decode people’s Operating Systems, pick up a copy of: The Hijacker: Overcome Self Sabotaging Behavior. You might also learn a thing or two about your own H.O.S.
If you are hiring for a key position – consider using Getting Results to help you win the mental game of hiring. Complete a Business Assessment here.
