There are many things in business that hold the business back from realizing its true potential. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons is the misnomer that there needs to be some sort of plan or direction in place to start recruiting talent to be a part of the team. As a matter of fact, this is provably and conclusively false. In the books, Built To Last, and Good To Great, by Jim Collins, one of the main commonalities of companies who have long term and sustainable success is that they got the right people on board from the beginning and used their talent to formulate their plans to succeed, not the other way around. These concepts conclude that plans, your market of choice, and any preparation are not your biggest asset, people are!
Get The Right People On The Bus
In the book Good To Great, it is cited more than once that the great companies mentioned in the book did not have clear direction or plans when starting their companies. As a matter of fact, their industries changed on more than one occasion after trying multiple strategies to take market share and seeing what worked and what didn’t. The common theme amongst these companies before they reached a level of sustainable success is that they managed to get the right people on the bus. Once this happened, they let their talent drive the bus and exploit profitable opportunities as they came. They used methods of trial and error, testing many different ideas before breaking into profitable sectors. But what makes people the right people to be on the bus in the first place?
Core Values
What makes someone right for your business is not just their level of talent (which is undoubtedly important), but their commitment to your company’s core values.Core values are a collection of 3-5 principles that are so fundamental to your company that they form the very backbone of what your company stands for. These core values take precedent even over profit. If profit must be sacrificed for a time to honor your core values, so be it. The impact this consistency will have on the company culture is paramount over a short period of lack of profit. It will reassure the right people that they are in the right place and that the company really feels strongly about the things they say they do. Getting the right people to “buy into” these core values is impossible. The right people will embody these values before they ever join your company. Your company should resonate with them immediately because of what it stands for. This is why consistency with these values is so crucial for the long term success and sustainability of your company. The right people buy in when their company has the same values that they do, even when it happens to be inconvenient. Cultural buy-in shapes the framework of longevity and sustainabilitiy. There is arguably nothing more important. At this point, we see a congruency that shapes a great business. First, there is a culture and strong core values. Second, there are the people in the company that embody these core values. Not once did we yet even speak on a plan, market ideas, or anything else technical in the shaping of a successful company. That is because these two factors are so paramount that getting them wrong will literally cripple your company before it even gets started, no matter how good you think you or your ideas are!
Ejecting The Wrong People Like A Virus
Bringing the wrong people on board with your company can create toxicity and kill you from within. That is why it is so important to have an unwavering commitment to your core values. Any deviation from these values creates a vulnerability the wrong people can exploit. Much of the time, the wrong people don’t do this maliciously, they just don’t share those same core values the company does and this is reflective in the way they operate. With a tight grip on the core values of the company, the wrong people will be ejected like a virus. They will quickly realize that their values are not reflective of the company they are a part of and leave promptly. The right people truly BELIEVE in the core values of their company and embody them everyday in every facet of whatever they’re doing. These are the types of people that will make breakthroughs, carry on the culture of the company long after you’re gone, and keep it so instilled in the company that it will continue to persist even when they are gone as well. They will make decisions for the company through the lens of its core values rather than profit margins of selfish desires. The opportunity cost of compromising core values for profit margins temporarily is like an untreatable virus. Once your company gets infected by it, it can be extremely difficult to get it out of its system! Having the right people on the bus and a strong set of core values to help the right people drive the bus is paramount for the long term success and sustainability of any company.