3 September 2009

Pinto's Point

Hire higher

By Jim Pinto

When I was starting out in business, I met Ken Olsen, founder of DEC, one of my heroes at the time. Of course, DEC (the mini-computer leader) was eventually bought by COMPAC, the PC company.

Ken Olsen gave me a key piece of advice, which I have always remembered. He smiled, “Never hire someone who is not better than you are. If you’re always the best, when it comes to the crunch, you’ll be doing the job yourself.” As my company continued to grow, I encouraged all managers to hire people who were “promotable,” able not just to do the job for which they were being hired, but to grow into growth positions in a growing company. And, of course, as long as we could do that, the company kept growing. While it may sound overly simplistic, it is true.

Ogilvy’s famous book “On Advertising” is really a management book. In that book, he said, “If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we’ll become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we’ll become a company of giants.”

Former Apple marketing guru Guy Kawasaki expounds further on this point, “A players hire A players; B players hire C players.” Guy means mediocrity hires inferiority to help themselves “feel” superior.

Large companies are driven toward mediocrity because they create management layers where mediocrity can hide. Middle managers in large companies have no incentive to hire higher. They hire to meet budgets (set by someone else) and usually accept the lowest-paid person who meets the qualifications. In large companies, that is a primary cause of poor performance.

Hiring higher takes self-confidence and self-awareness. It is the only way to build a great team. Small company entrepreneurs have every incentive to hire well, and they do because good individual performance and teamwork help them become successful.

Related links:

• Should You Hire Higher:
  http://www.kestlerfinancial.com/dnn/Default.aspx?tabid=151
• Forbes – Hire Bigger Than You Are:
  http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/02/karlgaard-leadership-hiring-intelligent-technology-ogilvy.html?partner=alerts
• The 21st Century Model For Achievement!
  http://blog.hireauthority.com/

Behind the byline

Jim Pinto is an industry analyst and founder of Action Instruments. You can e-mail him at jim@jimpinto.com or view his writings at www.JimPinto.com. Read the Table of Contents of his book, Pinto’s Points, at www.jimpinto.com/writings/points.html.