Wendy Johnson’s Post

Ever dreamt of working alongside a team of rockstars? The power to build that team might be closer than you think. Becoming a hiring manager isn't just about filling roles. It's about strategically crafting a high-performing unit with diverse skills and complementary personalities. Here's why taking the leap to hiring management can be your key to a dream team: 🟢 Direct Impact You get to identify top talent and bring them on board – shaping the future of your department. 🟢 Culture Champion You set the tone for your team – fostering collaboration, innovation, and a positive work environment. 🟢 Growth Catalyst You mentor and develop your team, helping them reach their full potential. Are you ready to stop waiting and start building? Look for internal opportunities or upskilling options to make the jump to hiring manager. #HiringManager #DreamTeam #Leadership #TeamBuilding

Struggling to decide who to hire next? Feeling the pressure as your business reaches its capacity? It's time to expand your team, but who should you bring on board? Join us for a 30-minute LIVE Brunch & Learn to answer these very questions. Tomorrow, on Thursday, March 21st, from 11:00-11:30 AM EST, myself, Emily Morgan, and Eileen Coombes will explore the key players you need to take your business to the next level. We will discuss what is involved in Building Your Delegation Dream Team: The Three Whos You Need to Get Right to Become a Next-Level Visionary! Discover: ⭐ The roles of a #2 Leader, Executive Virtual Assistant, and Personal Project Manager ⭐ Effective strategies for recruiting top talent ⭐ Proven methods for onboarding new hires and setting them up for success Don't miss out on this opportunity to gain valuable insights! Sign up now: https://hubs.ly/Q02pwFXb0

Many people laid off recently are A-players. Being let go doesn't change that. The decision of a C-Corp doesn't define the person. In most cases, the company's context changed. - A bad decision had cascading effects - A good idea was executed poorly - The market shifted overnight Unless they caused those decisions, they're still A-players. Smart hiring managers don't confuse capability with circumstances. They arbitrage other leaders' lazy approach to recruiting. Maybe this star is best during the chaos of rapid scaling and simply settled into average during steady-state operations. Opportunity: You're scaling fast. Or perhaps they were a flexible generalist who plugged a range of holes until specialists came in. Opportunity: You have a lot of holes. What if they have deep technical expertise and the company shifted off that platform? Opportunity: That's the platform you run. Cuts happen all the time in sports. And many players go on to thrive in a different system. Michael Jordan was famously cut from his high school basketball team. And we all know how that turned out. Don't judge people because their last company lost. Focus instead on how they can help you win. PS—I write daily about leading high-performing teams. If that interests you, please follow Dave Kline. And give this a repost ♻️ if you think it's an idea worth sharing.

There is just such a thing as hiring for a role too early or too late. It’s not about getting the timing perfect, but there’s a world where you identify the right role and person but fail because the timing is wrong. Years ago, I met with a high-growth company looking to recruit a Chief Operating Officer (COO) to their ranks. I was suspicious whether there was even a need for the role let alone if I was the right person for it. The more I talked to them, the more I came to believe that they did need to fill that role but it was the wrong timing. In this case, the company was not at a size (or growth rate) where it made sense to bring someone with that skill set at that moment. There were already several senior leaders around the table who were aptly filling in and while it was a problem they needed to address, it was not so urgent that they should prioritise it then and there. When I think about getting hiring right, I use the following framework: 🎯 Right Role 🐤 Right Person 🕗 Right Time If you deliver on all three of those elements you’re setting this hire up to have a very big impact on your team. I wrote a deep dive on building a great hiring process. You can find it here: https://lnkd.in/gk_2dnCu

How do you know, as a CEO, that you are in the SCALE phase of business & surrounded by your tribe? Well, let me know if this sounds familiar… ✔️ You’ve been running your business for a while now & things are solid. ✔️ You’ve already hired 1-2 people who are supporting you in the areas that you are not efficient at so that you can fully operate in your zone of genius. But now, you’re looking for an integrator or a general manager – someone who can actually run your business. & hiring this person will free up your schedule so that you can do market-facing initiatives like visibility & PR engagements. Does that sound like you? Perfect. ▶ Because you need to connect with other CEOs who are looking to or already have hired their GM or integrator. If you're in the right tribe – if you’re surrounded by the right people – you’ll be having conversations with those who are hiring that high-level executive, their first real leadership role in their company, c-level leadership role in their company. This is so important to you as a CEO, because once you make that C-level hire… You’ll be able to plan a vacation with your family for a week or two – and the business will continue running without you there. You will be able to step away and start a new project – and the business will continue running without you there. But if you’re ever going to reach that point, you need to be in constant communication with CEOs who have already accomplished that. CEOs who have multiple companies themselves. CEOs who have either bought or sold companies. So if you’re ready to make that new hire – and you’re surrounded by the right tribe… Then congratulations, my friend, you’re ready to scale! #Clevelcommunity #businesscommunity #exclusivecommunity

Feeling overwhelmed with hiring decisions? Join us for an insightful webinar where we'll discuss strategies to overcome hiring challenges and make the right choices for your team. Learn from industry experts and gain valuable insights to streamline your hiring process. Don't miss this opportunity to take your hiring game to the next level! See you there! 🚀 #HiringStrategies #Webinar

"Acquiring the right talent is the most important key to growth. Hiring was, and still is the most important thing we do." -Marc Benioff A true leader is someone that can recruit and hire the right people, and get those people in the right seats. A next level leader knows how important it is to act swiftly if you have the wrong people in a seat. Want to evaluate a leader or manager? Take a look at the hires they have made and how they are impacting your organization. #teambuilding #hiringmatters #executionmatters #recruiting

With Founders needing to drastically cut burn across 2022 and 2023. I expect to see growing demand for fractional and part-time sales/growth/marketing leaders at Seed and Series A companies. This can take two forms. 1) Find a killer fractional leader and have them embed themselves in your company fully, part-time, until you have enough revenue to truly justify a great full-time Exec. 2) Give a more junior person the role and responsibility but support them with an experienced Advisor. #1 sometimes works but you need an Exec who isn’t afraid to do the work. Proceed with caution. #2 almost always works, as long as the Junior person is capable and they are open to working with an Advisor. Even if a Founder wants to hire a full-time Exec there is constrained supply as many of the best Execs aren’t itching to jump into an early-stage company again after spending the last year being asked to lay off their team and still hit massive targets. Will be interesting to see this play out.

I promoted the wrong person. Early in my startup days with InCare Integrated Medical Care, in trying to be a good boss, I promoted a great assistant to be a manager. And she was horrible at that job. We lasted 2 years in a frustrating dynamic where she felt overstretched and incapable while I felt that I had hired someone incompetent. I've since had the realization that I wasn't applying what Kim Scott calls a "growth management" framework, differentiating between rockstars and superstars. In Radical Candor, she mentions "If you honor and reward the rock stars, they’ll become the people you most rely on. If you promote them into roles they don’t want or aren’t suited for, however, you’ll lose them—or, even worse, wind up firing them. Superstars, on the other hand, need to be challenged and given new opportunities to grow constantly." This shift in performance assessment mindset has been instrumental as I evolve my leadership skills, and hopefully contributes to a stronger team dynamic as we continue to grow and scale high performing teams at InCare. Looking forward to continuing to collaborate with many more rockstars and superstars! #radicalcandor #leadership #growth #performance #talent #rockstar #superstar

First time in a leadership position? Don't make this huge mistake 👇 Doesn't matter if it's a promotion, if you end up there by default by being an early hire, or even if you're a first-time founder without a management background. I see this cycle over and over again. You got to be a leader by being an exceptional IC. You take ownership. Solve problems. Shoulder burdens noone else will. You're the "go-to guy". Even if it means working from dawn til dusk and showing up on weekends. You always get it done. The problem is, the same traits that make you an exceptional IC work against you in leadership. No matter how much you do, you can't possibly outwork a team of five. And if you react to pressure by locking yourself away and grinding it out, you'll only alienate your team and tank morale. It's not time to be the hero anymore. It's time to be the catalyst. Leadership success is primarily about three things: 1. The vision you create 2. Who you hire 3. How effectively you enable them to harness their own talents and ownership mindset Brute forcing it won't work anymore. Now it's all about leverage. The better you get at using that leverage, the more your team will get done, the less you have to worry about fighting fires, and the more fun you'll have. So many don't even realize the doom spiral they've gotten themselves into or how it could be so different. Mediocre hiring, afterthought team composition and a world-class work ethic - a straight ticket to misery, relentless pressure and underperformance. It really doesn't have to be this way. #leadership #hiring #recruiting #crypto