FOR ENTREPRENEURS
What Not to Do as a Transformational Leader When Hiring
Three lessons I learned while running a startup and collaborating with creators
Although joining forces with other founders and creators to establish your footing as a business or develop projects is a great way to share the burden and grow your network, it has downsides. A common suggestion when launching a company or project is to pursue horizontal collaborations instead of hiring experts or full-time employees. In July 2023, 11.9 million people in the United States worked as independent contractors, which was 7.4% of all employment. This includes freelance workers and independent consultants. It isn’t just difficult for professionals to gain full-time employment in the United States; it’s challenging to maintain it.
In contrast, managing employee turnover with people exiting to consult might seem like a pastime for an employer, especially if you hope to maintain a company culture that reflects your values. When choosing collaborators, it is important to interview people on board with the same vision and commitment to a functional work ethic. However, being on board isn’t synonymous with sharing your exact perspectives and beliefs–that is antithetical to equitable diversity efforts.
As a Founder and solopreneur, in my experiences with collaborations, I didn’t follow what has since become my golden rule: don’t hire based on potential; hire based on current output. During an interview, I would listen to a creator gush about the creative work they were working on and future passionate projects. In listening, I assumed that with all their irons in the fire, the person was disciplined. That is not always true. Generating profitable or creative ideas and being able to produce a physical, effective product are two different steps in development. If creators cannot move beyond the ideation phase, they need a role that enables them to play to those strengths. Ambition and brilliance shouldn’t excuse creators who lack the ability to consistently execute and follow systems.
Although allowing rising creators to showcase their skills is admirable, wasting limited resources on unfinished or failed endeavors is costly in the long run. Sometimes, hiring an expert who can get results in less time is more straightforward, even if it initially costs more. As a company, you will promise to deliver services or products to consumers, and when your creators or contractors go rogue, you risk terminating contracts and losing revenue or investors. Hiring someone based on the title they self-bestow as a contractor requires a thorough background check and references. There are hundreds of titles that get thrown around. Still, unless you have a project manager for collaborators or contractors, most of your time is spent micromanaging and sending deadline reminders.
As a creator and employer, I sympathize with creators with a process that allows fluidity and free thinking. Most founders and creators consider themselves visionaries. However, not all visionaries have experience executing their visions. A writer or a contractor who has never finished writing a book or building a building hasn’t proven they can despite your attachment to the title. Having completed projects indicates you can develop an idea in its entirety. This was a skill I had to learn while working as a contractor, and it is worth noting that it isn’t for everyone. Even if you must incorporate additional people into your process to get a job done, you must establish systems that hold you accountable and complete the project.
As a transformation-focused leader, it wasn’t easy to see a person’s passion and the potential for the project to succeed. I recognized their weakness in time management and following systems early on, but I sought to nudge change. My attempt to help them improve their professionalism ended in me becoming more frustrated with their output and them feeling overwhelmed. Recognizing when to nudge and when to call it quits helped me learn three lessons as an employer.
LESSON ONE: DON’T RUSH MATURATION
Believing that exposure will trigger a learning experience in someone you are trying to help won’t get the results you seek. Some people genuinely need time to fail and learn step-by-step instead of having cheat codes. Noticing whether an employee is catching their rhythm early enables you to communicate your expectations before they become too settled in an unproductive routine. Meet and discuss the position, expectations, and available resources, and allow them time to explain what they need. As time progresses, invite them to evaluate themselves regularly instead of allowing them to skip levels. Once they realize current methods aren’t working, they will have space to brainstorm new solutions. This approach will foster critical thinking rather than premature ascension.
LESSON TWO: DON’T CONFLATE ABILITY WITH PERFORMANCE
Two things can be true. Give yourself the right to boast about a creator’s brilliance and recommend them, but not hire them. I have written glowing recommendations for several people in the past that I would never rehire. Understanding that someone has a gift or exceptional skills but isn’t a good fit for your company isn’t a crime unless it’s discrimination. Hiring someone as a collaborator should be mutually beneficial. They should be able to grow professionally and receive honest feedback about their performance, and you should have someone enthusiastically doing the job you hired them to do. Keeping an employee beyond the timeline for expected milestones or once their performance has plateaued without addressing what’s needed to move forward is kryptonite. We can be people first and a successful business.
LESSON THREE: DON’T FORGET GOODBYES
Let’s be honest: most people are poor communicators and bad at confrontation or asking for what they want. How many times have you been or wished to ghost someone? Now, times that by a few million. For people to exit your company without conflict, you need to keep open lines of communication. Each employee should feel confident that they could resign at any moment and be okay. Having an employee resign isn’t ideal, but if it has to happen, make sure you prioritize their needs and help them transition out of the company. Prioritize friendly goodbyes that include an exit interview. This is an essential professional etiquette skill many people lack and need help developing in an environment where they feel safe. They have happy memories at best, and you have another good testimonial.
Above all, our goal is to help people achieve their goals and service our communities by providing them with the solutions they need to thrive. With this in mind, we can form healthy businesses and healthier employees.
