Before You Hire or Fire, Know What’s Missing
Welcome back to NEXT LEVEL Leadership, your weekly leadership newsletter to support your strengths, identify your gaps and create a strategy for greater margins and outcomes.
NEXT LEVEL Leadership requires ONE THING:
Know what “present and future” strengths you need on your team.
We’re curious, when a position opens, what’s often your first move?
- You pull up the old job description.
- You may make a few updates.
- You’re ready to post the position.
- You start reviewing résumés.
Does this seem familiar? And, we’ll point out an important step that often goes missing:
Before asking WHO you need to hire to replace the team member, ask…
WHAT does your team need to move them from the present and into their future as a team and for your organization?
Every team has present strengths. And, every team is going to need strengths to build the future for the organization.
And, every team has gaps, which will hold them and the organization back from realizing the future they are working towards.
It is probable, you have brilliant big-picture thinkers and yet, you need someone who naturally brings greater attention to detail.
It is possible, everyone on the team moves quickly and yet, the team would benefit from someone who slows down and asks different clarifying questions.
It is probable, you have strong individual performers and yet, you need someone particularly skilled at collaboration, communication or bringing people together.
This is “why” hiring isn’t about replacing the person who left.
You have an opportunity to intentionally build the team you need for the present and the future.
Before opening your next position, make a list and ask yourself:
This is where understanding your existing team’s personality and working styles can become incredibly valuable for the present and future of your team and organization.
We use tools like the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator (MBTI) to help teams understand how people naturally take in information, make decisions, communicate, organize their work and interact with others.
When you understand certain patterns with the people you already have, you can see your team’s strengths—and its opportunities—with much greater clarity.
With the MBTI understanding, we know your hiring conversations can become more intentional.
Instead of only asking:
“Can this person do the job?”
Start asking:
“What strengths will this person add to the team?”
A great résumé tells you where someone has been.
Great hiring requires clarity about where your present team is going in the future.
NEXT LEVEL Leadership means building on the present for what’s next and in the future.
As your organization prepares to grow and hire, TC&A can help you better understand the team you already have, in order for you to make more intentional decisions about what you need for present and future employees.
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