CEO Hiring Tips
I’m always fascinated to hear how leaders lead, how life’s experiences affected their style and what criteria are used to hire employees. The New York Times Sunday’s Corner Office column gives me insight into their thinking.
Recently Meridee Moore founder of Watershed Asset Management shared her lessons learned.vI like the fact that for hiring she goes beyond school, grades and scores and looks at experiences people have had. The Center for Creative Leadership has documented the importance of learning from experience and Ms. Moore relies on that when she asks candidates to talk about rough patches in their past. The adage “it’s not what happens to you that’s important, but it’s what you do with what’s happened to you that’s more important” should be ingrained in all managers and leaders.
Learning from mistakes is the hallmark of a well-developed person and someone I believe will make a good employee.
It’s too bad that organizations don’t see the benefit of this. They talk out of both sides of their mouth when they say they want innovation and “out of the box thinking” and then severely reprimand employees for trying something new and getting it wrong.
Here’s my recommendation for leaders:
- Encourage open and honest discussions and then listen to what people have to say
- Take a risk and try something new and if it fails, conduct a lessons learned session
- Gather your team together and talk about what worked, what did not, why and what you could do differently in the future
Engage and motivate your employees by not stifling their creativity.
