Not long after my stomach declared war on my two old friends, stress and spicy food, I started to think about how I could potentially alleviate some stressors at work by adding to our team. If you’ve ever grown a small business, you know that you start out typically by yourself, wearing all the hats, and slowing but surely begin to delegate those hats to others who can be trusted with those responsibilities. I’ve managed to make really good progress with this over the past year, so I decided to continue the trend and dive into the interviewing process to fill a new position.
This was the first time that I had interviewed for an entirely new position in a long time. I am used to hiring designers and developers, which I have down to an exact science at this point. Interviewing for a management role forced me to assess different backgrounds and qualities in the candidates, and with each interview I found myself forming the position around that person for the moment, imagining each person’s potential for growth in our small, growing company.
For some reason this whole process, in addition to the other usual annoyances of my week, had my head spinning with indecision. Indecisive is not usually a word I use to describe myself, ever. I usually get an idea, deliberate, consult with trusted peers, deliberate a wee bit more, and then act. That process can take an hour or a few days, but rarely more.
Choosing the right employee isn’t something that should be rushed, however draining the process can be. It is so much more than picking an impressive resume out of a haystack. Education is good, but not always paramount. Personality and confidence are great, in the right quantities. Willingness to be passionate about the job at hand and embrace the start-up mentality, priceless!
As you can imagine, after much deliberation, I did make a decision. At the end of the day, the best advice I can give to any business owner is to trust your gut. Not your desire, or the popular opinion, but that tiny voice that says, Let’s do this, or, This doesn’t feel right. You just need to have faith in that voice, and keep listening to it even when you think you’re moving in the right direction, because the winds can change very quickly. So, here’s three cheers to the tiny voice and the joys of delegation!
