The Speed Trap
I had a client several years ago, a founder of a wellness brand, who was working on her third location of a brick and mortar concept. The business was profitable, but still a slog - as all early entrepreneurial ventures are. She brought me on to establish operations and eventually to help raise capital, as a partner.
We were hiring senior management in the company, and with some urgency, because we’d found a real estate partner who was more than ready for us to have 20 locations, not three. So there was pressure to grow and scale - to keep the partner excited.
As we sat on Zoom calls and across from potential hires, we could see that a lot of people had the technical skills for the job, while few had the emotional intelligence and work ethic for the culture we were building. The soft skills to hard skills ratio was rarely aligned.
It would have been so easy to hire the “technicians” and get to scale because what they lacked in our standard of “excellence,” they made up for in their unique skill set. There were many applicants to choose from, with fewer salary requirements. The most desirable candidates - our gold star selects - were more expensive, harder to find and would be harder to keep.
Ultimately, that company didn’t survive the effects of Covid, but had it continued, our intent was to build it on a standard of excellence.
Mediocrity is easy to scale. Excellence is a one-by-one process that takes a lot more time and attention. One pays dividends tomorrow, but lacks value over time. The other forces an investment in the future. Hiring without considering a new hire’s cultural impact is the fast-fashion of business. It may feel satisfying initially, but doesn’t tend to last.
You’re always choosing which path to take, whether you let it happen by default, or you design for it. Try choosing long-term value over speed.
Welcome to Fall everyone. Back to school (and football season!), more consistent work schedules and the highly productive work cycle which is Labor Day to Thanksgiving. Consider using this time to raise the expectations of your people …
Send me a note if this resonates in some way. I love hearing your outtakes and
reflections - they keep me going as I think about my own level of excellence.
BG
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