RULE 15

Be very, very good at finding the right people

You have to be good at finding the right people to fill the right jobs – and then leave them to get on with it. OK, I know this is one rule that requires a certain intuitive touch but I’m sure you know the sort of manager I’m talking about. They seem to surround themselves with capable, competent people and then they just seem to sit back and watch them go for goal. You can do that too. It is a special talent but one you can cultivate. I guess the skill is in both picking the right people and letting go – leaving them alone to get on with it. You have to have lots of trust to do that; trust in their ability and trust in your own as well.

You have to have a very clear idea of who you are looking for to fill a job as much as what you are looking for. For instance, you might need a senior account manager – that is what you are looking for. But who? Team player? Good all-rounder? Someone able to make decisions on the run? Someone who can plan ahead? Someone who understands your industry’s quirks? Someone who speaks fluent spreadsheets? Someone who can work with an overexcitable union?

I’m sure you get the idea. If you have a clear picture of who you need as well as what you need, you make the transition to being a manager who seems to have an uncanny knack of finding the right people. It’s not a knack, of course, but planning, vision, logic and hard work.

I once made the mistake of being totally seduced by a manager’s credentials – I was a general manager seeking to employ a manager – and failing to look hard enough at who he was rather than what he was. Yes, he had the credentials and was very good at his job. But he wasn’t a team player and saw everything as a competition, mainly between him and the other managers. Fine in itself, but it didn’t work for me or the other managers, who all wanted to pull together. This was one case where I was not good at finding the right person. I had found the wrong person and it took a lot to extricate myself. I had only myself to blame because I hadn’t thought sufficiently about who I wanted.

If you’re not good at this, or think you could improve, invite somebody you respect to sit in on interviews with you to give you another perspective. Find a mentor or coach to help you work out who you really need.