Do you have the right people on the bus? That's a phrase used by Jim Collins in his bestselling book "Good to Great".

Few things are more important to the success of a business than having the right people — both the leaders and the followers.  Too many times, these people are like “riders on a bus” who get on randomly — or as a matter of convenience.  That’s usually a serious mistake, damaging to the business and the people involved.

Companies seek, screen and hire people in some of the strangest ways.  Some simply take applications, imagining that they can sense the competence of the person from how they completed the application, or what they claim to have done.   I use the word “claim,” because studies show an alarming rate of false information on resumes and applications.  A wise employer carefully checks out people before it hires them.  There are many legal ways to do so, and lots of resources with useful advice.   Just Google “checking up on applicants.”

Use Proven Tools — An Ounce of Prevention….

There are some wonderful, proven tools for screening applicants.  One of the oldest and best is Development Dimensions International’s “Targeted Selection.”  Some leading companies simply will not hire anyone without having them screened by Targeted Selection.

Another challenge in deciding about who gets on the bus is determining the right mix of talent, skills, and experience.  Far too often, those preparing job descriptions and specifications used in hiring have never done that job, or anything remotely like it.  They simply imagine what the job entails and what a person filling it must be like.  Defining the need is the first, and arguably the most important step in deciding “who gets on the bus.”  Doing it well is imperative.

Develop “Real” Job Definitions

Human resource and recruiting professionals are often good at this.  BUT, and it’s a big but, they still typically have never done that job.  That’s why it is very important to have job definitions that are developed with people who have done the job — recently. 

It would seem logical that the hiring supervisor or manager would be a likely candidate, but in these days of mobile managers and lateral “promotions,” that person may not have ever done the job either.  Spend a lot of time thinking and collaborating on what the person filling the job must be like.  Time spent here can avoid expensive and disruptive mistakes.

The final step is deciding who should drive the bus, and what kinds of people are best at the next organizational level. The CEO/President and the COO or Vice President levels are critical to the success of the company.  All the best selections for jobs elsewhere in the organization can be wasted, if the leadership is “wrong.”  Poor leaders lead to poor results; misfits are also equally damaging.  Wrong leadership can be hired in many ways, and on many levels. 

A common form of screening and interviewing is what I call “the good old boy network and dinner.” 

Networking and personal recommendations are excellent ways to find people.  There’s nothing better than first hand knowledge of a person’s character, managerial and leadership style, and track record. 

Networking is Powerful (but used alone, can be dangerous)

However, there’s a flaw in using this method.  A common practice is for an executive to tell an owner, investor or board member about “someone they know.”  The first mistake is that they may “know” the person, but not have “in-depth knowledge.”  That’s dangerous.  The second is the “let’s have dinner” interview.  Most people are lousy interviewers.  They talk too much about themselves and what they are interested in and probe too little into the candidate. 

One dinner as an interview is a risky way to choose a leader.  Interviewing is a learned skill, and the best professionals excel at it.  Executives and managers often do not.  Junior level recruiters often just “screeners” using rote checklist of questions: jobs held, experience, education, and other spec details.

It is in this kind of situation that a fine, new book The Right Leader: Selecting Executives Who Fit by Nat Stoddard & Claire Wyckoff, is an invaluable resource.    An excellent older book, Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching, and Keeping the Best People, by Bradford Smart is also very useful.  One aspect of Stoddard’s book stands out — the importance of “culture fit.”  The book offers data on turnover rates for senior executives, especially CEOs who turn over at the rate of 15% per year.  In the past decade these turnovers based on performance related reasons have tripled.  In fact, 40% of all leaders fail and are replaced or retired in their first 18 months on the job.  Is this the fault of the leader or those who chose him/her?

Why Do So Many Leaders Fail, So Fast?

Are there that many inept executives out there?  I don’t think so.  I’d bet that most of these “failed CEOs” had been successful in prior jobs.  How do you think they got this job?  What happened? 

In a word (or better yet, two words): “culture mismatch.”  As thorough as the hiring process might be, it often takes dangerous short cuts in the area of matching the culture of an incoming leader to that of the company (and people) he or she is going to lead.  Why?  This is even a more delicate skill than interviewing. 

I particularly like Stoddard & Wyckoff’s chapter five, called “The Character Bucket.”  One of their key points is that “leaders cannot lead if followers are unwilling to follow.”  People sense the values of a leader, and those values are developed early and become part of that leader’s character.  The chapter opens with a quote from musician Stevie Wonder, “Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.”

Few Mistakes are More Disruptive and Expensive than Hiring the Wrong Leader

A new leader comes in and usually is expected to act fast, and naturally employs what’s worked for him/her in the past.  That is natural and logical, and might be right — or horribly wrong. 

It’s easy to imagine big mismatches.  They describe many problems:  A dictatorial leader comes into a previously collaborative, consensus driven company.  Clash! 

But even lesser mismatches (including a failure to understand “foreign cultures”) can cause failures.  In Operation Iraqi Freedom, efforts to get Iraqi judges to rule on local cases were impeded by American military who didn’t want to “tell them what/how to decide cases.”  But, in the words of an Iraqi judge, “how will we know what to decide if no one tells us?”  Clearly there were two radically different cultures at work before and after Saddam’s fall. 

More nuanced cases of this happen in multi-national companies all the time.  A new, culturally insensitive leader schedules global meetings timed for his/her convenience/time zone.  He or she doesn’t think about far away people who must get up at 3 or 4 am.

Certainly there is much more to this decision set of “who gets on the bus” and “who drives the bus,” than can be covered in a short article, but let’s not overcomplicate things.  Three steps are essential: 

1) Doing the right homework is important—get the job definition right. 

2) Using all the proven tools is also important—most of us are not good interviewers. 

3) Finally, and perhaps most important of all, the leader can only lead followers who will follow and that depends on the culture fit.  

When these are done right, the “bus ride” is satisfying for everyone “on board the bus.”

* * * * *

About the Author:  John L. Mariotti is President and CEO of The Enterprise Group — Time-shared Executive Advisors. He was President of Huffy Bicycles, Group President of Rubbermaid Office Products Group, and now serves as a Director on several corporate boards. He is the author of a number of business books on Partnerships, Marketing and Strategy. His latest book, THE COMPLEXITY CRISIS was chosen as one of 2008’s Best Business books. His electronic newsletter THE ENTERPRISE is published weekly. His Web site is www.mariotti.net.