Talent Lessons from Inspiring CEOs: Part One

As I watched the Republican Presidential candidates' debate earlier this week, seeing Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina on stage made me think about CEOs I've read about and, in some cases, worked with directly. 

I think the best CEOs are those who combine amazing vision with a healthy dose of humility (so you can probably guess how I feel about Mr. Trump). They're people who have an uncanny ability to see the world as it will be in 10-20 years, but can also say "I don't know the best way to get there." 

That's why they need to hire incredibly talented people. How to do that most effectively is something we think about every day at Alexander Mann Solutions. 

Here are a few, for your consideration: 

• The earth is flat. Great ideas come can come from anywhere, from the EVP with 40 years of experience to the inside sales rep who's just launching their career. The challenge is to find those ideas and bring them to the fore. That's something Marc Benioff, CEO of San Francisco-based salesforce.com, is a master at doing. Benioff democratizes innovation by encouraging everyone in his company to have a stake in it. Case in point: several years ago, Benioff blew up the traditional management offsite - usually attended by a couple of hundred leaders - to include all his employees. And he used salesforce.com's own technology to do it. 
• Inspire a sense of legacy. When he spoke to Stanford University's graduating class in 2005, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs said this: "Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life." (You can read the entire transcript here.) He applied this philosophy to hiring as well, having  personally interviewed more than 5,000 candidates over his career. Jobs wanted employees who had a desire to change the world, even if it was as seemingly small as how people consume music or interact with their computer screen. He knew that companies can accomplish great things when their employees' commitment to changing the world - however that may be - matches that of the company. 
• Don't compromise. Elon Musk founded PayPal 17 years ago and launched the online payments business. Today, he's revolutionizing the automotive industry and the space transportation sector. And apparently, he loves Pinkberry. Legend has it that when SpaceX built a yogurt bar at its headquarters in Los Angeles, Musk told recruiters to go out and hire Pinkberry's employee of the month. The talent acquisition team expanded the search beyond Pinkberry (that's called talent pooling!) but they did, indeed, hire someone based on their undercover visits to several local yogurt shops. As a Pinkberry fan myself, I'd say that's not a bad assignment. 

• Don't be afraid to take risks. Calculated ones, of course. It shouldn't be a surprise that Virgin Founder & CEO Sir Richard Branson, himself a bit of a risk-taker, would endorse taking the occasional gamble when hiring for his company. He believes that taking a risk on someone who may not have exactly the right credentials or experience can bring something extra to the organization. “A maverick who sees opportunities where others see problems can energize your entire group,” he says. Sir Richard looks at academic qualifications last of all, believing that grades aren't worth anything if they don't come with a variety of experiences and a winning personality.

• Hire for personal passion. Fifty years ago, when Phil Knight created Nike, there was, as he said in an interview with the Harvard Business Review, 'no shoe school'. So Nike hired runners - people who knew what they wanted in a running shoe. Hiring people who have a personal passion for what you do gives your business a tremendous advantage. Your employees can empathize better with your customers. They anticipate customer needs and emerging trends better than any focus group can. And the best ones make it their personal mission to revolutionize what you do.
• Don't be too modest. No-one likes a braggart - especially if they can't back it up - but there's no reason not to celebrate how great your organization is when talking to candidates. Punit Renjen, CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, once said that Deloitte was tougher to get into than the University of Pennsylvania which, in 2014, had an undergraduate acceptance rate of just 10.4%. That's tough indeed. Renjen himself is rightfully proud of his own pedigree as one of the world's leading experts on mergers and acquisitions, “I’m really really good at what I do," he told an interviewer in 2014. I worked more than half my career at Deloitte and had the good fortune to work with Renjen on a research project some years ago. I can honestly say his pride is justified.  

There are over 7 billion people in the world. Finding, engaging and holding onto the ones who'll help you make your company a roaring success like Nike or salesforce.com is one of the most difficult challenges in business - if not the most difficult.

But here's the thing: everyone in your industry has that same challenge. How you deal with it is what makes the difference between market leader and market also-ran. I hope these CEOs provide some inspiration as you try to win in your marketplace.

Next week, I'll bring six more to the table.