How Do You Hire? II

I’m infinitely interested in the hiring process, especially through businesses and organizations that tout a unique culture, product and service.

Earlier this month I featured Teresa Taylor, Qwest COO and her hiring strategies (always has a meal with potential employer before making hiring decision) as she was interviewed in the New York Times. I love this idea.

In retaliation, my friend Rich of Corn On the Job weighed in with his professional background in HR and recruiting noting that hiring needs to be measurable and having a meal with someone in the hiring process can be a “complete nightmare from a legal standpoint.” I encouraged him to debate this idea and he wrote a fantastic guest blog post, The $300,000 Meal. Unlike Rich, this isn’t my industry, but I have of course been interviewed, hired, I’ve hired and I only expect more of it. I don’t claim to be an expert, but I do claim to grasp, understand and read people. It’s my passion. And for that, there isn’t a formula.

This week I read and enjoyed the interview from New York Times, Corner Office with Bobbi Brown, founder of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics. I included some of my favorite excerpts, but you can read the full interview here.

NYT: Tell me more about what you’re looking for [when hiring].

Bobbi: The most important thing is people need to be themselves. And someone could be totally, on paper, perfect for the job. But they might not have the openness, the vision. I like when people bring energy, creativity, newness to me.

NYT: What else?

Communicating. To me, this is probably the biggest thing. If it’s the right person, I can barely speak and they understand what I’m saying. But if it’s not the right person, they have trouble understanding, because creative people are not like other people. Any other creative C.E.O. will understand what I’m talking about.

I never learned management. I never went to business school. I’m an artist. I happened to have really clear ideas of what I thought my business should be.

I like hearing from Bobbi, because I’m also more of a right-brain creative type. I’ve managed teams but having a clear idea of what you need and what you want from other people can be a challenge to articulate and execute. Nonetheless, communicating has always been easy for me (professionally and personally) so I leverage my communication skills to reach my team/employers then constantly tweak what is needed from an execution standpoint.

What are your strengths and weaknesses at work? Do you recognize them and if so, what do you do to capitalize on the strengths and then learn from the weaknesses? What do you think of Bobbi’s vision (ahem, Rich?)