Build to Win: The Three “C”s of Hiring Success
One of the most critical jobs of a people leader is building a high-performing team.
I like to think of it like a General Manager of a sports team who is assembling a group of players who can compete for the championship. It’s important to think about how the group as a whole will function together versus focusing on each role in a vacuum where you could end up with a team of superstars (or “A players”) who are individually great but collectively disappointing.
I love this quote from basketball legend Sue Bird:
"I've been on extremely talented teams that just don't click, and I've also been on teams with a little bit less talent, but they clicked, and because they clicked, they did better than other talented teams I've been on."
It’s the “click” that leads to high-performing teams.
But I didn’t always know this.
I was fortunate to have an enlightening situation early in my management career, when I first started managing managers. It didn’t feel fortunate at the time, though.
One of the teams I was leading was underperforming, and the morale on the team was in the gutter. After a bit of investigation, it became clear that the team manager was the problem. I had to let him go.
Because morale was so bad, I decided to ask the team what attributes they would like to see in the new manager. I was expecting them to talk about expertise and experience in their area, but instead they listed attributes like “good communicator,” “open to ideas,” “people development,” “high integrity,” “good listener,” and “no ego.”
It was such a valuable list, I decided to ask the peers of the role what they would like to see. Again, the responses weren’t about expertise and experience. It was some of the same attributes but also included “team player,” “empathetic,” “good collaborator.”
Essentially, everyone cared a whole lot more about good leadership skills than specific functional expertise. They already had the functional expertise. They needed a leader.
So I focused my interview questions on the attributes they valued, and I hired a great leader. The team clicked. And he and the team achieved a complete turnaround.
Ever since then, I’ve followed that general approach of analyzing and asking about what the team really needs to click and hiring to fill that gap.
I’ve also learned that the gap is often far less about functional skills and experience than it is about the type of person who is needed to propel the team forward.
Over the years, I’ve learned to focus on three Cs: Character, Critical thinking, and Chemistry.
Character
Knowing who someone is at their core is critical. I like to break this down into three areas:Ethical foundation. What are their guiding principles in life? I’m generally looking for integrity, confident humility, and positivity.
Relationships. What’s most important in how they like to treat others and how they like to be treated. I’m generally looking for people who are respectful, supportive, empathetic, and considerate.
Approach to challenges. How do they approach challenges (in work and in life)? Do they like to do lots of research? Do they like to talk to others who have had similar challenges? Do they consider the journey or the resolution to be the most fun? Do they have growth mindset that uses challenges as a learning opportunity?
Critical thinking
Rather than focus on asking for past examples, I prefer to bring up some semi-hypothetical situations (usually based on some real situation that has happened in the team) and ask how they would think about it. This isn’t meant to be a gotcha or overly complicated. There are no right or wrong answers. It’s just about learning how a candidate processes information, makes decisions, and applies logic in various situations. How will that complement the type of thinking that currently exists on the team?Chemistry
Team chemistry in this sense is definitely not an exact science like the test-tube form of chemistry. But I’ve found there are some specific attributes and skills that make a huge difference.
Diversity
I’m talking about all forms of diversity—gender, race, age, background, personality, and beyond. My experience has shown that building a rich tapestry of perspectives and life experiences doesn't just enhance decision-making, problem-solving, communication, and execution; it sparks innovation. Varied viewpoints empower our teams to uncover blind spots, dodge misinterpretations, and sharpen clarity, driving us toward excellence.
Values
While we want diversity in all the areas above, we need to have pretty strong alignment to our values, because those values will serve as both guidelines and constraints to hold us to the essence of our brand.
Collaboration
John C. Maxwell famously said, “Teamwork makes the dream work.” But I prefer Jason Sudeikis’ version: “Teamwork makes the team work.” 😊 However you want to say it, I believe teams cannot be high-performing if people aren’t able to work together to achieve common goals. I value people who are willing to do what it takes to unite for the victory.
Communication
And last, but certainly not least, is communication. Often, the ability to clearly communicate can make or break a team. And when I think about communication, I’m thinking about both sending and receiving information. Someone’s listening skills are probably even more important than their speaking skills.
I’ve found that candidates who are the right fit on the “C”s are probably 80% or more there.
Prior experience in somewhat similar roles matters, of course, but I don’t over-index on it. I’ve seen job descriptions over the years that require very specific experience for a very specific amount of time. But I haven’t seen that level of specific experience be all that predictive of success.
Even if you have a lot of experience in a specific industry — say sports apparel — the reality is every company is different enough that your very specific experience can actually end up giving you a level of familiarity that causes you to have blind spots (or Tree Stumps, as I call them). I’d rather hear more about the transferrable skills candidates have developed over the years to get a feel for how they will succeed in the role at hand.
It’s important to remember that candidates are also hiring us. They are evaluating their version of the three “C”s in their own way.
A few basics that I think matter may seem obvious, but I’ve been a candidate many times and haven’t always experienced this from the other side:
Show up on time
Give them your undivided attention
When they send thank you notes, respond.
Give a timeline for updates and stick to it
Prioritize the process and move through it without delay
By the way, this is a signal to your current team, too, that hiring for this role is a priority. They are likely picking up extra work while the position is open.
Finally, the hiring process doesn’t end when the offer is accepted. Planning out the first 30-90 days to ensure the new team member is onboarded well is critical to their success. Time spent on doing this is a very high-return investment.
Hiring the right people to join the team is just the initial step to building a high-performing team. There’s a ton more work to do to ensure the team is firing on all cylinders, but getting the right athletes on the team is a critical starting point.
