Perspective is everything and forms the reality we see around us. Many people’s first reaction to reading the title will be to recoil at the inference that churches and criminals are connected. While that topic is interesting, the connection between the two can be explained through statistics. Churches are built as towns grow; therefore, larger towns have more churches. Larger towns also have more crime. The two are not necessarily connected.
When building a team, you hire people for the value they can bring to your business, not the value they brought to your competition.
Isn’t it the prior employer’s job to bonus employees for the value they delivered?
While statistics can easily be used (and abused) to provide perspective, data isn’t the only factor that needs to go into decision-making. When dealing with team-building, data is important, but other factors matter more. Assessing potential is the key HR skill a business manager needs to possess when building a team. You need to be able to identify, hire, and develop employees who have the potential to drive your organization’s success. Past experience is valuable and always an asset. However, it is not a reliable predictor of future success.
This isn’t to say you should ignore experience. Remember, Einstein said that “Failure is success in progress” and “Imagination is more important than knowledge” But success and failure reflect experience. But before you can succeed, you have to fail first. None of us knew how to speak when we were born, and none of us could speak fluently by grade 1. We gained experience, we made mistakes, and we learned. We progressed, because we grew into our potential. But just as I continue to learn new vocabulary, we all have the potential to continue to grow.
Einstein’s second statement, “Imagination is more important than knowledge,” is the key to hiring great teams. Knowledge is experience, and it’s incredibly valuable. But being able to turn knowledge into something more is invaluable. It’s potential.
Properly assessing potential when hiring key staff is the key to building great teams. You need to surround yourself with people who are more skilled than you are, and who also still have the potential to grow.
Because just like towns with more churches have more criminals, a town’s potential for growth is being driven by the right team. In tomorrow’s post, I’ll explore the factors and strategies I have successfully used to consider potential when assessing candidates for my teams.