Right People, Right Seats – Ya Gotta Have Both…and You Can!

But how? Many think it’s elusive or impossible. Many consider it the Holy Grail of running a business. In every company, people are the basis of great joy and the root of all evil. Scratch the surface of any business issue and what do you find? A people issue. So, how does any company, large or small, get all the right people in all the right seats? It’s not only possible, it’s required to be a great business, one that people want to join and remain a part of for a long time.

Right People – There are many ways to define this. A-players, superstars, top quartile, etc. The right people for your company are people that live your company’s core values every day. You love working with them. You want them in the foxhole with you when the going gets tough because they’ll always do the right thing in good times and bad.

To live a company’s core values, company leaders must choose a shortlist of them in simple clear terms, live them every day and communicate them from their hearts. Many companies create their core values as a set of behaviors they want their employees to aspire to. That’s a trap for employees. No one can live up to a list of someone else’s aspirations. Core values are best discovered. They’re the best behavior of the best people already in your company. It’s the best of your culture that already exists. Like Dorothy discovered at the end of The Wizard of Oz, “If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own backyard.” Your company core values are already in your backyard. Discover them. Three to seven. Less is more. Keep it simple.

Right Seat – People that are in the right seat are people that get, want, and have the capacity to do their job. (GWC) Sounds simple. It’s so simple that most leaders miss it. “Get it” means that the person was born with the DNA, the hard-wiring, to do well what they’re accountable for. No amount of training can match innate understanding. “Want it” means that they get up every day with a fire in their belly to excel at the things that they’re accountable for. No amount of pay will make someone want it. “Capacity to do it” means that everything they’ve learned in their life, their business experience, personal experience, training, degrees, and certifications, has given them the ability to achieve greatness in what they’re accountable for. There’s one more aspect to capacity. That’s time. No one has the capacity to excel at two jobs. If someone is accountable for too many things or too many people, they’re doing two jobs and they’ll never excel. At best they’re doomed to mediocre performance, as is the company. Everyone needs to focus on no more than five major things that they’re accountable for in one job. Keep it simple.

How to Get There and Stay There
For all new people, hire them to the above definitions and standards without compromise. For your current people, hold them to the same without compromise. What if someone is “right person” (they live your core values) but is not “right seat” (they don’t get, want, and have the capacity to do their job)? The good news is that you have other seats in your company. If they GWC another seat, consider moving them to that seat. If not, for the greater good of the company, liberate their future. What if someone is “right seat” (they get, want, and have the capacity to do the job well) but they’re not “right person” (they don’t live the core values)? No matter what seat you put them in, they’ll likely never live your core values. For the greater good of the company, liberate their future.

With all the right people in the right seats, you’ll gain greater traction more quickly, taking the company to places you’ve only dreamed of. Everyone will be rowing in the same direction, at the same time, at the same speed, for the same reason, and there’s only one good reason…..the greater good of the company.
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Bill Hueter is a Certified EOS Implementer®. He helps entrepreneurs and their leadership teams gain control of their business to produce long-term, profitable growth. Together, they crystallize one common vision, then increase discipline and accountability, creating traction every day. As a result, the health of the company is elevated. The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) is a set of simple concepts and practical tools used by more than 120,000 companies around the world to clarify, simplify, and achieve their vision.