Taking your time to find and hire A-players for your leadership team is an investment in your company. That’s because the people you hire for your leadership team are going to hire more people. Your CFO is going to hire accountants and analysts, and your head of sales will be hiring sales managers, salespeople, and sales analysts.
You want A-players making those hires because A-players hire other A-players. Superstars want to work with other superstars, so if you hire a superstar VP of sales, they’re going to hire great salespeople. If you hire a B-player for VP of sales, they’re very unlikely to hire A-players because:
- They don’t recognize A-players.
- A-players want to work for other A-players. They see B-players as a poor reflection on the company and an obstacle in their way to growth.
- B-players are afraid of A-players because they see them as a threat to make them look bad or take their job.
In fact, while A-players hire other A-players, B-players tend to hire C-players. This is how a B-player on your leadership team can have a harmful effect on your workforce as these B-player leaders bring a parade of mediocre (or worse) workers into your company.
You can have a great strategy and a great new product, but if you don’t have a leadership team of A-players, you will not become a great company. Your leadership team must be either all A-players or a combination of A-players and B-players who have short-term A-potential. You can’t have C-players on your leadership team. B-players without A-potential will kill your business slowly; C-players will kill your business quickly.