How to Hire the Right Leadership Team for Your Startup

Are you planning to start up a business with limited resources but wanting to hire the best people? Are you currently budgeting the overall cost of setting up your dream business but not wanting to compromise to hire the right team? Here are tips on how to hire a team with leadership in your startup.

It is a proven fact that your business can only be as good as the people surrounding your team. Since startup business usually has a lot of factors to take in such as having limited resources and even experiences, coming up with your leadership team may play a vital role in the success of your business.

A number of startups fail to progress successfully. The culprit is usually due to the lack of research in hiring leadership positions. It may seem to be a laborious task to do, but thorough research on hiring C- level positions will have a long-term effect on the success of your company.

Here is a guide on how to hire the right leadership team for your startup:

Hire smarter people than you

Since you are the one who came up with an idea regarding how to build your business, you may have the tendency to have the notion that you should always be making the final call. But you have to ask yourself if given your limited experience, you always have the right answer to decide.

You should refrain from hiring employees who are "yes people" who will only agree with every decision you make. Instead, be a kind of boss who thinks of the success of the company by hiring a core team who really possess technical expertise in your market industry. You should be the kind of CEO who truly trusts their team to bring in value-adding viewpoints that will drive your business to the next level.

The best leadership team is made up of members who have complementary parts.

Hiring Tip: You may ask your prospective core employee how they would handle problems you are currently facing. You may also ask situational or real life problems. Their answers to your questions may tell you which areas you may have omitted.

Cover your weak spots

You should not be sugar-coating the skills existing in your current leadership team. You should be honest to acknowledge your team’s challenge areas and try to work them out.

If you have a stiff budget, you might be tempted to hire the least expensive candidates but you will have to face the consequences in the end. Therefore, bring in experienced key personnel with credible track records to minimize the learning curve promptly. It may form a big part of your budget but the benefits are greater than the cost itself. Remember, the more experienced employees you hire, the more readily you can focus on the genuine acceleration of your startup.

Hiring tip: Hire at least one experienced staff person to your core team and assign him to one of the challenging holes in your company. This will speed up growth in those areas.

Recognize leadership skill that attracts talented individuals

The best executives bring numerous skills to the table but one of their key skills is their capability to attract top talent. This intangible trait is beneficial for your startup since these executives will bring out the best in others. People in your company would want to be surrounded by these kinds of individuals. They are like magnets wherein people would want to follow them.

It is a necessity to carefully hand-pick this type of members for your leadership team.

Hiring Tip: Ask your potential candidates if they would follow a leader from company to another.

Hire those who can shape the culture of your company

What kind of culture do you want for your company? Culture defines your company through interactions, goals, vision and mission. As the CEO of your company, you get to set the tone of your company culture. It is in your hands to hire executives that are a good fit. If you hire a team that is not in the same boat as you, your own hires may go against you and can cause catastrophe.

Hiring Tip: Look carefully at titles and accomplishments.

Your leadership team is most likely your home

Your team of C-level hires would be your family for a startup company. They are your confidants to help you make big decisions. They will be the next important group in your life after your family.

There is a tendency that you will spend a lot of long and stressful hours with them. You should ensure that you treat them with compassion.

Hiring Tip: Ask the interviewees how they handle stress and how they cope with it. You can ask situational questions that are related to your startup business.

There is more to life than a big paycheck

There is no doubt that salary is important. You may even have to offer your C-hires healthy paychecks to attract exceptional people. However, stop thinking that this will be the only incentive that should be important.

According to the Shapley value method, there are various factors for determining employee satisfaction. What really mattered to employees in addition to compensation included culture, values, senior leadership, and career opportunities.

Hiring Tip: Be sure to involve your leadership team in big decisions. Let them realize that you value them in your startup company. Should you reach success, acknowledge their efforts and recognize their contributions.

During an early stage of the business, you may be tempted to go the easy route and hire mediocre hires rather than looking for the best fit to fill out your leadership team. However, be patient and be keen during your hiring decisions. Do not rush to hire just because you want to start building your company. Ensure that you will only hire the best and the right fit for your startup.