At the 2018 Fastlane Summit I gave a talk on our current hiring process at Territory Foods using this slide deck.
The premise was on how to build a team around you that will actually want to work with you, and building a team that wants to work together.
In other words, how to be a leader and make people want to follow you.
In my talk I kept stressing that you can't just "copy and paste" what I do. It's specific to the company I'm working with, but there are general lessons that apply.
I got a lot of questions after my talk on how people can work on hiring within their own business as they grow, and how they can improve themselves to improve their hiring ability, and their ability to work with others.
So, here are some things that I recommend you do:
If you like the way I think about teams and hiring, I suggest you consume this material as a start:
Talks/Topical Books
I read the biographies of people who are highly successful, and pay attention to their interactions with others. Some of my favorites are below.
Remember, this is a journey and a process. It is not an event!
You do not need to get this all right, or even do all of this, to get someone on your team. You'll get better at it over time. As you start or continue hiring, you will be able to draw from these things and get someone who is totally aligned with the business, and with your own goals.
To give back to the forum, for a limited time I want to also offer up my time to help you, totally for free. Here's some things I would be more than happy to do for people on this forum, totally for free (so long as I'm available):
Despite my crazy-busy schedule, I really just want to help people hire. Here's what I get out of it:
(I'll also drop other hiring tidbits in here when we get back to hiring at Territory).
The premise was on how to build a team around you that will actually want to work with you, and building a team that wants to work together.
In other words, how to be a leader and make people want to follow you.
In my talk I kept stressing that you can't just "copy and paste" what I do. It's specific to the company I'm working with, but there are general lessons that apply.
I got a lot of questions after my talk on how people can work on hiring within their own business as they grow, and how they can improve themselves to improve their hiring ability, and their ability to work with others.
So, here are some things that I recommend you do:
- As much as possible, immerse yourself in the hiring/team building/collaboration problem.
- Educate yourself about collaboration, hiring and leadership (I'll list some resources below)
- Figure out what you'd love in your first employee (ideally, someone who will build the business with you, not just be a grunt worker)
- Put together a mission for your company, even if it's totally new. Your mission is the impact you'd like this group of people, working together, to have on the world (140 characters or less)
- Put together a first stab at the vision for your products, and the problem they solve towards your mission. I think of the vision as what you will create to accomplish your mission. (Vision should also be 1-2 sentences)
- Put together a list of values that are important to you and the company as you work towards that mission (several bullet points with a one line explanation).
- Think about the way you can communicate your mission, vision and values as you start talking to potential employees and everyone around you. For example, go from "I sell gun parts" to "We create products that allow our customers to affordably defend themselves" (if those are your values).
- Put together a sample 30-day (4-week) plan/guideline for the next person you'd like to hire.
- Write sample job postings and actually post them
- Interview tons of people
- If you have employees already
- Set up weekly, 30-minute, 1:1 meetings with a 10-10-10 format:
- What's on your mind?
- What's on my mind?
- What does the week ahead look like?
- Set up Quarterly reviews with your employees. On these meets:
- Ask them what should the company:
- Start doing?
- Stop doing?
- Continue doing?
- Ask them, what should I, as your leader:
- Start doing?
- Stop doing?
- Continue doing?
- Inform them what they should:
- Start doing?
- Stop doing?
- Continue doing?
- Ask them what should the company:
- Set up weekly, 30-minute, 1:1 meetings with a 10-10-10 format:
If you like the way I think about teams and hiring, I suggest you consume this material as a start:
Talks/Topical Books
- Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action - TED Talk - I watch this 1x/quarter so I don't lose sight of how to appeal to people's "why's" and why that's so important. It's a seminal talk about how to attract people with your purpose.
- Simon Sinek: Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action - Book (Amazon.com) – The book version of the TED talk, that goes into much greater detail on how purpose attracts fanatics who will crush it for you.
- Simon Sinek: Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe - TED Talk - Another good Simon Sinek talk on what leaders should be doing for their teams – making them feel safe.
- Kim Scott: Radical Candor — The Surprising Secret to Being a Good Boss - Talk - A talk by Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor on how to be open and honest with your employees, and how that guides them to your mutual goals.
- Kim Scott: Radical Candor - Book - The book version of the talk above, which obviously goes into more detail.
- The Structure of Magic - The seminal text on NLP and understanding how people use language. A heady and difficult read, but it helps to have a foundation in how people's words will uncover their beliefs, emotions and goals.
- Elon Musk: The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (just between you and me) - Blog Post authored by Elon - A blog post written by Elon that explains his mission and vision for Tesla. A great example for people who are trying to write an incredibly inspiring mission, and tie a product vision to that mission.
- Reed Hastings (of Netflix) on Masters of Scale - A podcast hosted by the founder of LinkedIn (Reed Hoffman) interviewing the founder of Netflix (Reed Hastings) on how Reed builds his team, and communicates out how the team works together to achieve success. Also a lot of good commentary on what is most important in building a creative team.
- The Real Truth Behind the 10/10/10 Rule for One on One Meetings - A quick intro to the 10-10-10 1:1 meeting structure I use with my team, the purpose of it, and why it works.
I read the biographies of people who are highly successful, and pay attention to their interactions with others. Some of my favorites are below.
- Elon Musk Biography - Listen to how his employees describe working with him, and how it's the most rewarding experience of their lives.
- Steve Jobs Biography - Notice how Steve Jobs was difficult to work with, but had a team that followed him from company to company for decades.
- Benjamin Franklin Biography - Notice Franklin's philosophies on people, how to communicate with them, and how to take care of them.
- Shoe Dog (Phil Knight Biography) - Notice how Phil Knight assessed his inner circle, and what was important to him in the process.
- Tony Robbins Unleash The Power Within - A fantastic seminar that will allow you to explore what you are really after, and give you perspective on how to understand what is driving others.
- Landmark Forum - A seminar focused on understanding the stories you tell yourself, and how to wield them. You'll also gain insight on how to assess the stories and motivations of others, which is crucial for hiring.
- The Happiness Program - A 3-day course focusing on meditation and interpersonal activities. It completely changed how I interact with myself, and others, which has greatly impacted my ability to hire people and work with them every day.
Remember, this is a journey and a process. It is not an event!
You do not need to get this all right, or even do all of this, to get someone on your team. You'll get better at it over time. As you start or continue hiring, you will be able to draw from these things and get someone who is totally aligned with the business, and with your own goals.
To give back to the forum, for a limited time I want to also offer up my time to help you, totally for free. Here's some things I would be more than happy to do for people on this forum, totally for free (so long as I'm available):
- Guide - Chat within this thread, DM, Facebook Message, etc. about any part of hiring you're struggling with as you put together your own hiring process.
- Advise - Listen in on phone interviews/pre-screens that you are doing with employees, to coach you on what I would do differently.
- Exemplify - Hold pre-screens/phone interviews on your behalf, while you listen so you can learn specifically how I conduct these conversations.
Despite my crazy-busy schedule, I really just want to help people hire. Here's what I get out of it:
- I want to help business owners. This will help people on this forum build teams that let business owners hit their goals. I have invested hundreds (maybe more like thousands) of hours in building a team at Territory, and want you to leverage my experience.
- I want to have a net positive social impact. More people will enjoy working for their boss, and their bosses will enjoy leading them (that's you, and your new employees)
- I want to keep learning. By working with you, I continue to learn about hiring in industries outside of my own expertise. Territory is currently not hiring, and my own business can't afford any new employees, so I can't keep hacking on hiring and team building
(I'll also drop other hiring tidbits in here when we get back to hiring at Territory).
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Last edited:
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
