Talent Wars
or The Necessity of Working with B and C Players
John Shiple and Mark Long
Objectives
The purpose of this discussion is to gain a stronger understanding of the role of the CTO as it relates to building and managing team members and your own professional growth. Here are the key items that we will discuss today:
• How to find, attract and hire the best available talent • How to onboard and validate new employees • How to manage individual strengths and weaknesses (short- and long-term) • How to balance technical skills (which can be learned) with capabilities (e.g. the built-in interpersonal skills, work ethic, attitude, etc.) of an employee • What are the attributes of a great CTO?
Hiring: How to Pick Your Ideal Candidate
What are the “Deadly Sins of Hiring”*? 1. Undefined ideal candidate
– – Job fit Cultural fit
Lead the discussion, don’t follow
2.
Getting sold
–
3. 4. 5.
Superficial questions Illegal questions Ignoring outside input
* Pulled from Leadership IQ’s “5 Deadly Sins of Hiring”
You hired Them…. Now maNage Them
Now that you have hired your talent, what’s next? 1. Implementing a Probation Period (to confirm the right hire, decide to keep them on, etc.) 2. Identifying employees’ strengths and optimizing their contribution 3. Improving employee’s weaknesses with ongoing training and evaluation, regular feedback/reviews, and challenging employees to perform well 4. Working with Skills (trainable) versus Characteristics (attitude, honesty, intellect, etc.) 5. Candor, honesty and openness about defects, changing roles, or termination
How to Spot and Develop Managers
• Types of training that is effective? What is your training budget? • Does your employee learn by rote, reading, listening or watching? Ask. • Provide opportunities for employees to showcase their mgmt skills (within limits!) • Provide constructive feedback to promote faster growth
Build and Keep Your Team: Retaining Talent
Common retention-related problems: 1. Treating everyone as equal 2. Avoiding 1:1 engagement 3. Neglecting the first 90 days 4. Letting them leave 5. Turning your back when they leave
* Pulled from Leadership IQ’s “5 Deadly Sins of Retention”
Looking Inward: Strengths and Weaknesses
• Define the ideal CTO:
– Strengths:
• • • • Technologically sophisticated Continually learning Interpersonal skills Solid understand of business principals and processes • Works well with other department heads
– Understands the goals/concerns of each department
• Leadership skills
– Can lead a team both by example and by sink or swim methods
• Understands the business demands handled by CEO • Hiring/firing skills • What else?
• Where do you excel? • Where do you need to grow?
For fuN…
• Got any good stories about F-level players? • Funny interview stories? • What is your proudest employee turn-around story? • Tell us a horror story about your worst employee/manager interaction
References
• Lots of conversations with members (via forums, networking events, personal outreach) • Leadership IQ – 5 Deadly Sins of Hiring, The Perfect Interview Question, Hiring IQ • LACTOForum.org!!!
Appendix
Management Training
• Budget? • Available classes? • Training companies vs. extension schools (UCLA, Wharton)? • Certifications?
Who has ideas on educating us?
Partners
• How to evaluate and work with A, B, and C-grade partners
• Executives (CEO, VP of Marketing) • Vendors • Partners (business relationships, affiliate relationships, “powered by”) • Functional peers and team members (Marketing Director, Designer, Sales Associate)
Group Questions
• Who has had formal management training? • Who has learned to manage by necessity? • Have you looked at yourself as you do your team? • Speaking of talent, how can you grow in your career….