As startups see promising success and unprecedented growth, founders often find themselves facing the decision of entrusting key leadership responsibilities to new individuals. What was once a solo expedition may now demand the introduction of skilled professionals to shoulder the burden of management tasks.
During the intricate process of identifying the right candidate to fill the founder’s shoes in an upper management role, there are many strategies to adopt when starting. Below, 20 Forbes Business Council members share the best pointers founders can leverage to pick an effective high-level leader to manage your team.
1. Find Someone To Balance Your Strengths
First, identify your greatest areas of strength and formulate your ongoing role to focus there as much as possible. Then, bring in capable leaders who can balance out different strength areas to allow for you to lead stronger together. It is important to ensure that anyone you bring into your company is invested in your vision and can execute it. – Laura Scotti, ScottiWorks
2. Avoid Micromanaging
Remember that you are not going to find your “twin” and that you need to not micromanage the situation. It can be very hard to fill your shoes, but look for someone who has a strong background in what you do, the same moral compass and a good work ethic. The rest you can teach as long as you make sure they are coachable with a good attitude. – Samantha Frontera, Samantha Frontera, Exclusive PR
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3. Identify Strengths And Weaknesses
A founder’s vision is the driving force behind a startup company. To scale effectively, a founder should recognize that no single individual possesses all the expertise required for holistic growth. A founder should seek complementary leadership by identifying their own strengths and weaknesses candidly and look to bring in an upper management candidate to mirror those strengths and fill in gaps. – Troy Wray, Institute for Development Impact – I4DI
4. Look For Someone With Skills You Lack
As a founder of a small startup, I’m facing this exact situation. I’m looking for a COO who can learn the business end of our company while bringing an MBA and experience in growing a new business. I would also look for someone with stronger skills in areas that I am weak in, such as sales and marketing. – Rob De La Espriella, BlueDragon IPS
5. Find Someone Aligned With Similar Priorities
I would suggest that founders identify someone who is overall in alignment with the purpose and priorities of the company but can also compensate for the founder’s biggest weakness or the part of the business they just don’t like managing. This requires self-awareness from the founder and the understanding that autonomy is typically essential for other leaders entrusted with new tasks. – Bill Dickinson, C3 Leadership
6. Break Your Work Up Into Lists
Start by breaking your work as a founder into two lists: the operating activities you can delegate to someone else and the highly strategic work that only you can do. Take the first list and build a job description based on it. The role might look like a COO, president or chief of staff. Regardless of the title, it should free you up to enable the highest and best use of your valuable time. – Jason Shafton, Winston Francois
7. Find A ‘Cultural Co-Founder’
In a scaling startup, the key is to find a “cultural co-founder” or someone who deeply resonates with your mission and values. This individual should not only have the skills, but also bring a fresh perspective that complements yours. Look beyond just capabilities to focus on shared values for lasting success. – Jon Osterburg, Jitasa
8. Look For Someone Willing To Get In The Trenches
Look for people who have a fire in their belly and the willingness to get into the trenches. Often, leaders from large organizations have limited exposure to the holistic picture and may lack understanding of the need to wear multiple hats as the organization evolves. The proverbial skin in the game comes from flexibility on starting compensation, betting on themselves for substantial future gains. – Michael Schultz, Infuse Hospitality
9. Find A Cultural Fit
For a founder seeking new leadership, start by pinpointing where you need the most support, be it operations, marketing or finance. Prioritize candidates with expertise in that domain and a cultural fit with your company. Remember that skills can be taught but cultural fit is crucial for seamless integration. – Dustin Lemick, BriteCo
10. Learn To Give Up Control
The key is to learn to give up control. This is not oversight control, but control of decisions, strategy and vision. When you’re in growth or success mode, you can hire top-notch people to take on important leadership roles but unless you also empower them and give them space, your startup’s growth will remain static. Let go of the reins, delegate wisely and strategically supervise your growing team. – Dr. David Lenihan, Tiber Health
11. Be Aligned On The ‘Why’
Having the skills, experience doing the job before and an understanding of the technology are a given, but the key alignment has to be on the “why.” What does the person wanting to join the startup have that will align with the founding team? In addition to this, the principles have to be another common baseline. On the founding team, the ability to trust, collaborate and accept new ideas is the key to success. – Sameer Zaveri, Datamotive.io
12. Search For Alignment With Company Values
Before checking skills and experience, ensure potential upper management hires align with the company’s culture and long-term vision. A leader who embodies the startup’s values and understands its mission will better maintain its essence and direction. While skills can be taught, a deep-rooted alignment with the company’s ethos ensures decisions and actions are in line with the founder’s original intent. – Kellie Rastegar, Rastegar Property Company
13. Manage Your Finances
When hiring for the first time, a great place to start is with your finances. Unless you have work experience in the financial sector, there’s probably someone out there who is far more qualified than you to manage payroll, taxes and balancing your budget. Look for someone whose values align with yours and those of your company. – Emily Reynolds Bergh, R Public Relations Firm
14. Look For And Build Trust
When filling such a senior position, it’s crucial to look for and build trust. The best candidates could come from any industry, have a range of dissimilar or complementary experiences and have a range of skills. The bottom line remains the same: It has to be someone you’re ready to completely trust and vice versa. That’s the premise for motivation, ownership and communication. – Sean Shea, ViB
15. Find An Emotional Connection
Looking for a culture and experience fit are probably the two most important things, in that order. It’s great to have a solid education and work background. It’s hard to find people to emotionally invest in ideas that aren’t theirs. Find that emotional connection, and even if they have a lesser skill set, they may be a superior fit. – Ronjini Joshua, The Silver Telegram
16. Identify Leadership Gaps
Founders in need of upper management support should first evaluate themselves and identify any leadership gaps. Next, they should prioritize tasks that consume a significant portion of their daily schedule, preventing them from attending meetings and engaging in the creative process. Finally, they should exercise delegation to pass along tasks that will free up time for client meetings and creativity. – Neha Naik, RecruitGyan
17. Recognize Your Flaws
Having the modesty and emotional intelligence to recognize their flaws and limitations is a characteristic of most good founders. Succession planning should thus never be a challenge but a simple task of finding the person (or people) who are complementary by plugging those gaps and “completing” a growing leadership team in doing so. – Pearl Lam, Pearl Lam Galleries
18. Define Qualities And Responsibilities
One tip for a founder looking to fill an upper management role is to clearly define the responsibilities and qualities they are seeking in a candidate. This will help them identify the specific skills and expertise needed, making it easier to evaluate potential candidates and find the right fit for the position. – Tomas Keenan, Step It Up Academy
19. Conduct A Skills And Responsibilities Audit
Start by conducting a skills and responsibilities audit to identify key roles and skills needed. This guides targeted recruitment for upper management, ensuring a seamless transition of crucial tasks. – Jeff Pedowitz, The Pedowitz Group
20. Find Someone To Fill In For You When Absent
It depends on the type of business, but personally, when it comes to hiring, I prioritize finding someone who can fill in for me in my absence. Ideally, this person would be able to take care of things just as I would so that the company can continue to thrive and operate smoothly even when I am not around. This allows me to create time and freedom for myself so that I can travel and enjoy life. – Joseph Kimbrough, Apex Real Estate Investments
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