When selecting your next employee, how do you know who is the best person for the job? We look at two approaches for selecting the right people to help grow your business.

Skills Versus Experience

A familiar false belief presumes there is a definitive way to identify the difference between good people and great people.

A resume is the usual first test… The belief is that on paper it will show who the best candidate is. Yet, so many managers admit making hiring mistakes – as much as 25-50% of the time.

The first approach for selecting your next employee is to look for the ‘right stuff’. It matches a set of skills with those we believe will lead to success. It’s a belief that leaders are born.

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High Flyers

In contrast, Morgan McCall in his book High Flyers looks at the school of experience. He asks: has the candidate been in battle and in what situations? Instead of pure skills, it’s a search for process capabilities. It’s a belief that leaders are grown based on the experience they’ve had.

And, as a leader and parent it suggests you need to give your employees and your children experiences before they need them. Don’t wait until the clutch situation arises. Remember to accept failure is part of the journey.

The Right People

• What are you doing right now to prepare yourself for the future?
• Are you building skills or growing through the experiences you have?
• How can you gain battle experience?

This is an extract from the Book Rapper issue CEO of Your Life and is derived from the book by Clayton Christensen, James Allworth and Karen Dillon, How Will You Measure Your Life? Here is a review of this book, plus a peek at the Book Rapper issue.