The global talent pool is shrinking and your business is one of thousands that needs great people in order to innovate and grow.
You don't want to lower your sights, but the stricter your demands for absolutely the best people, the more rarified is the air and the shorter is the supply of that kind of talent.
Always, always hire the best people you can find.
But you don't need extraordinary people to do extraordinary things.
Ordinary mortals, with the right coaching, will achieve outstanding performance. Obviously you've got to hire people with the prerequisite skills and experience, but it's you, not them, who determines the heights of their achievements. Give them more and more delegated authority, push for solutions not questions, nurture them, give them time to learn and the opportunities to thrive, and push them to the absolute limits of their capability.
Make their role demanding, and challenge them every day.
So often I've seen people heralded by the boss as the next 'big-thing' - they join an organisation with a fanfare only to flounder after a few months. Why does that happen? Could it be that expectations were set too high at the outset, or that it was assumed the 'newbie' would fit right in and take control? Or could it be that extraordinary performance takes time and the boss wanted quicker results?
Extraordinary performance comes from the person, their experience, their new role, the environment they work in and the nurturing they are provided. Any Clark Kent can be your Superman, and it's up to you to get that performance out of them.
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