By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy
Here’s an idea to staff your team for maximum creativity and productivity. Reading time: 3:13

“Watch out for that guy. He thinks is smarter and better than you,” the confidant warned the newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer.

The new CEO squared his shoulders, stiffened his stance, and fixed a laser-like glare into the eyes of his loyal friend.Then he erupted with a celebratory grin, saying: “Good, do you know any others who think they are smarter and better than me? I want to promote them all.”

Leaders aren’t threatened by talented colleagues and/or competitors. They’re enlightened at the heightened prospects where the ensuing friction can only sharpen both leaders no matter how many sparks fly.

That’s why the most effective leaders take hiring to a higher level. They pay homage to the business acumen of billionaire industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie whose epitaph reads: “Here likes a man who was wise enough to bring into his service men who knew more than he.”

Indeed “A’s hire A’s and B’s hire B’s,” notes Donald Rumsfeld, the former CEO of a pharmaceutical company who is more famously known as a former Secretary of Defense. A’s seek higher performance with their hire preference. They don’t protect their power. Continue reading →