One of my all-time favorite statements about leadership, hiring, and building your team: “You want to know how to have motivated employees? Hire motivated employees.”
There is no substitute for hiring the right team. Hiring decisions are among the most important and expensive business decisions an entrepreneur can make. Especially in the early stages of growing your company, each and every person must be an A-player, someone who will not just show up and do a job but truly own their work. An entrepreneur must only look to hire and develop the best people.
Insist on the highest standards. Seek people who don’t just “fit,” but who strengthen the culture and the business as a whole. As business leader, look to raise the bar with every person you add to your team.
At LexION, we look to hire identify people who are an excellent fit for their role, who go above and beyond, and who will be culture-keepers.
- They think big, because we think big. LexION Capital’s mission to turn an old, powerful industry on its head is all about aiming high and refusing to accept the status quo. By making fiduciary-level wealth management available at an unheard-of asset level, we want to raise the bar in finance.
- They have a strong bias for action. As my team can attest, I usually want things done five minutes ago! Everyone here embodies the proactive mindset of GSD – get stuff done. The best time to get something done? Now.
- They think frugally. LexION Capital has been built from the ground up by bootstrapping, without taking any outside funding. Resourcefulness is woven into the firm culture. It’s one more way we reject traditional Wall Street culture of excess and inefficiency. At LexION there is no bonus for increasing headcount; we look to increase efficiency. We get a lot done in a very scrappy way. A successful entrepreneur is always looking to make her business both leaner and more effective. This perspective breeds ingenuity, creativity, and invention.
