It’s all coming back to me….the early days of building a business, and laying a solid foundation to support healthy growth. I find myself with lengthy to-do lists that require many sets of helping hands. It’s tempting to simply throw new tasks over the fence to those that have already proven to be experts as I grow Successful Culture. 

But wait. I’ve been down this road before with Information Experts. I’ve bitten off more than I can chew, and then tossed the overflow to a team mate. Eager to please, they say yes, even though my new request is outside of their core expertise… setting us both up for disappointment. 

I’m happy to report that I have indeed learned my lesson! I will not be a victim of Square Peg-Round Hole (SP-RH) Syndrome. I will not force fit a talented resource into a space where they don’t belong. 

Successful Culture is preparing to launch two podcast series: Culture Conversations and Pivot Points. In my Culture Conversations  series, I interview leaders about what culture means to them, how they institute it, and how they navigate the organization through cultural shifts. In Pivot Points, I interview leaders about the blood and guts of leadership. Leadership is messy. It’s at the point of the Pivot where a leader’s stamina and strength is tested. 

I asked my expert media assistant if she wanted to expand her skill set and take ownership for the management and administration of the podcasts. She wisely replied that this is not her skill set. If I posted a position for a podcast administrator, she said she wouldn’t respond to it. While it would seem that it would be easier for me to work with a single assistant, the end result would frustrate us both. 

The experience reminded me of a simple recruitment strategy that we learned at Information Experts when we implemented the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). It’s the GWC model: do they Get It, Want It and have the Capacity to Do It?

These are three questions business owners must ask of current & prospective employees and outsourced assistants:

• Do they “Get” it? Do they truly understand their role, the culture, the processes and systems, the pace of the organization, and how all of these elements come together to form a well-oiled machine? 
• Do they “Want” it? Do they genuinely like their job? Do they believe in what they are doing? Are they excited about coming to work to see the progress that is occurring? Do they want to use their experience, talents, and ideas to further the organization? 
• Do they have the “Capacity” to do it? Capacity is a multi-pronged word. It applies to mental, physical, emotional, spiritual (in some cases), and intellectual capacity, as well as having the capacity of time to do a job well. 

Growth demands a lot of resources, and strong expertise. It’s really easy to take resource shortcuts, especially when we want to complete everything yesterday. The GWC Model helps us to assign the best resources to the tasks we need to complete to keep moving towards our goals. 

For more information on GWC, take a look at one of my previous blogs on the model here.

 Call to Action:

What techniques do you use to ensure your team members Get it, Want it, and have the Capacity to do it? Please share your experiences in creating a team of experts to move you toward your goals.  

 Keep growing!