As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I was recently interviewed by a business coach. It was an enjoyable process, and I wanted to share another excerpt of the interview. I thought you may find this stimulating:
Charrise McCrorey: How do you instill your vision – particularly with new people as they come in? In what way do you provide them with guidance so that their actions align with your vision?
Ryan Poterack: It all boils down to truth and consistency. My behavior is extremely consistent with our core values and this consistency demonstrates what is acceptable in the firm and our culture. In terms of my actions towards a new employee, it is important to be extremely direct. This is an efficient use of time and questions provide an opportunity to see how forthright an employee’s answer is.
If I don’t get a direct answer to a question, I will make it very clear, in a respectful way, what my question was by repeating the question. This doesn’t need to happen more than a two or three times, before there is an understanding of this expectation; When I ask a question, I expect to receive an answer to the question. If a new employee is uncomfortable with this straightforward way of communicating then we do not have a good cultural fit.
If the new employee has personal confidence and is aware of the behavior in our firm being consistent with our Vision, Mission Statement, and Core Values then they will quickly assimilate successfully. I intend to interact with a new employee in the same way I interact with an employee that’s been with us for years. I discuss in the interviewing process; the day I hire you, I want 100% of you and by 100% I mean when you observe something you don’t understand or think is being done improperly it’s your responsibility to communicate it. If the new employee has a creative idea, then I expect them to share it even on day one. It is not correct to think; I’m the new person so I probably shouldn’t speak up.
A new employee has what I will never possess again; a first impression of my business and my team. I promote the value of their naïve opinion about my business and actively solicit feedback. If I don’t get feedback, I’m going to start poking around. What do you think of that; What do you think of this? It’s not easy for someone to provide me with an inauthentic answer. I either get an authentic answer or I get a reasonable response, such as “That’s an interesting question Ryan, can I think about it and get back to you with an answer?” If I get fluff, vague or they complement me – in an authentic or inauthentic way, I’m going to ask more specific questions.
Consistency of behavior in every day interactions breeds trust as expectations are consistently met. New employees learn what is acceptable in a firm by what they see and experience more than what they hear.
Ryan Poterack was interviewed by business coach Charrise McCrorey as part of a discovery process for a book.
