Leadership Style
Not all leaders lead in the same way, and that is actually a good thing when it comes to creating a management team. Having different types of leaders on your team will complement each other and improve productivity and communication. When evaluating potential candidates, it’s important to find out their particular leadership style. One way to do this is to have them take an assessment or personality test. A personality test will typically divide people into different quadrants based on their answers and you will want to balance your team with leaders in each quadrant. For example, one type of leader is very demanding, places an emphasis on the bottom line and is not very sensitive to other people’s needs. A team with only this type of leader is a recipe for some very unhappy employees. Instead, there needs to be a balance between this type of leader and leaders who show enthusiasm or calm support.
Diversity
If you build a team of people who all think and act alike, you’ll hinder your company’s chance for growth. Instead, create a leadership team with people from different backgrounds and experience who have different ways of thinking. This can mean recruiting leaders from different companies or industries, different ethnicities, including a balance of both men and women, and even a mix of younger and older generations. Generational diversity is becoming increasingly important as there is a divide between people who have grown up during the digital age and those who remember the way work was before these new technologies. It’s important that you have a mix of both of these people in your leadership team.
New Ideas vs Company Tradition
One of the many questions that come up when hiring new leadership is whether to hire people from outside the company or to promote someone from within. While there is not an exact answer to this question, it is important to have a balance of outside leadership and people who have come up through the ranks. Hiring outside leadership can help rejuvenate struggling businesses and bring new ideas and perspective that will breathe new life into your company. On the other hand, promoting people from within will send a good message to your team members about growth opportunities and also give you a new perspective about how things are working inside your company. Both are very valuable perspectives to have on your management team.
Proven Track Record
One of the best ways to ensure a leader will be successful at your company is to evaluate their past leadership experience. This is most relevant when hiring outside leadership because you can ask questions about what made them successful in their past leadership roles. You should also ask them for a business plan to help determine their strategy and chances for future success. One caveat about hiring outside leadership is that you shouldn’t hire people from the outside as a promotion because they won’t have any leadership experience for you to evaluate. For example, hiring a top performing sales rep for a sales manager role does not guarantee they will have the skills to be a successful manager. The exception to this is when you promote someone from within and you can evaluate their leadership skills based on any non-traditional leadership experience they have had at your company.
Succession planning
As I mentioned above, it is important to evaluate a candidate’s prior leadership experience before moving them into a leadership role and one way to do this is to develop and train current employees to move into these leadership positions. Start by imagining where you want to see your company in 5 years and if you have the talent to help get your company there. If you do, then start preparing people for these leadership roles and give them chances to prove themselves before they need to be promoted. If you don’t have anyone to fill these roles in 5 years, then you should start to consider hiring outside leadership or having a firm assist you in finding executive leadership.
Hiring a great management team doesn’t just happen by accident. There should be careful planning and evaluations to determine the best group of people to make decisions for your company. Maybe you’re looking to hire your first executive, or you’re looking to expand your executive team. Either way, using these five tips during your search will help you narrow down not only the most talented candidates but the ones who will work best together.
