In this episode of the Business Broken to Smokin’ Podcast:
Lodestone True North’s Head Coach Mark Whitmore interviews Alec Broadfoot, CEO of VisionSpark https://visionsparksearch.com/
They discuss Alec’s new book, “Revealed! Insider Secrets To Hiring Your #2 Leader” https://visionsparksearch.com/alecs-book/ , finding second in command folks, interviews, business operating systems and a whole lot more!
0:00 Intro
1:22 Shoutout to Sal Filardi
1:31 Book reference: Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton
2:01 What is Second In Command? – “Someone who is going to run the business for the Visionary”
3:48 Where/when do you see an organization needing to hire Second in Command or C suite?
6:52 Does it work to bump up the office manager into Second in Command? Good question to ask: Can this person take my business to the next level?
8:29 Background information on VisionSpark https://visionsparksearch.com/
12:59 How do you pitch hiring folks for companies?
13:45 What’s the difference with a recruiter and a search firm?
16:31 Tips for using a recruiter:
- Ask what their success rate is
- What is your guarantee? And what does it mean when I need to activate the guarantee?
17:29 Using assessments in the hiring process: success rate more than triples
17:43 Reference to University of Michigan study: The interview as a tool to predict someone’s future success is about 14% accurate. But when you use a high quality assessment the percentage goes up to 52%
18:03 Some examples of high quality assessments
- Vision-Spark has it’s own assessment https://visionsparksearch.com/
- Predictive Index https://www.predictiveindex.com
- Kolbe https://www.kolbe.com/
- StrengthsFinder https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/strengthsfinder.aspx
- Myers Briggs https://www.myersbriggs.org/
- Profiles International https://www.profilesincorporated.com/
18:34 What about DISC? https://www.discprofile.com/what-is-disc/how-disc-works/
18:45 What the assessment does: it measures an individual’s core behavior.
20:16 What’s the most quirky or cool/different assessment? What’s one that you wouldn’t recommend?
Several that are really cool:
- The Working Genius (Patrick Lencioni) https://www.workinggenius.com/
- The Enneagram https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/
- PRINT https://www.paulhertzgroup.com/how-print-works/
- Kolbe https://www.kolbe.com/
22:33 Talk about the difference between, cognitive, affective, and conative
- Cognitive: measures mental, attention to detail, learning speed, vocabulary, memory recall, ability to retain information
- Affective: measures your core personality behavior, organizational level, orientation towards process, energy level
- Conative: measures instinctive behavior
29:34 What assessments would you recommend to a company new to using them? Fairly easy to get their hands around?
- VisionSpark
- Start with complementary assessment for our listeners: Email [email protected] and mention this podcast!
34:05 Interviewing hacks
- Pre-take an assessment
- Have pre-written interview questions ahead of time
- Have the same questions for each candidate at that level
- Have a hiring process/playbook
- Get specific examples in an interview
- Have someone else in the room as an interview partner to take notes, so you don’t have to remember everything the interviewee says
36:24 “We have seen visionaries where their strength that makes them a great entrepreneur also is the kryptonite for them when hiring individuals.”
37:16 Quick and easy interview format:
- Start with a closed-end question
- Tell me about a time when…
- Ask questions about how to solve a difficult situation
40:35 Hiring process:
- Create a compelling position profile that attracts the right people
- Look at resume to see if they have the qualifications to do the roll
- Phone screener
- Invite them to take an assessment
- 90 minute interview (Phone or Zoom)
- Have an interview day for the top 3 or so candidates
- Have them interview with 2 direct reports
- Have them interview with their peers
43:09 VisionSpark Interview Day Form LINK HERE VisionSpark_Candidate Rating form
Evaluate these in 6 areas
- Resume
- Cultural fit
- Ability (past-focused: what do we know about their past)
- Aptitude (future-focused: what do we know about their cognitive or physical ability)
- Core values
- Character
47:57 Book reference – Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni
49:01 During and interview make sure you’re listening, and don’t do all the talking. It’s a discovery process
51:35 Book reference – Topgrading by Brad Smart
52:36 The AAR Tool https://youtu.be/YScRIF5Pm-A
58:36 The average time of a mis-hire 278 hours
1:00:02 Alec’s new book “Revealed: Insider Secrets to Hiring Your #2”
1:07:36 How do you help people figure out their unique ability?
1:10:57 What talents are good for a visionary?
1:13:59 How do you start with a visionary?
- Start with some questions:
- If we’re having this conversation a year from today, what has to happen for this #2 leader to be a hero to you and your organization? What is your company like? What is your life like?
1:17:13 What is the suite of rolls for a Second in Command?
1:22:04 What does the Second in Command own?
1:27:22 What characteristics do you see in a great #2 Leader?
- Strong mental aptitudes
- Great at critical thinking and problem solving
- Strategic thinking
- Detail oriented
- Organized
- Process oriented
- They love playbooks and have the ability to create and implement playbooks
- They love people and realize that people are truly important to the organization, and they will coach and develop
- Right people, right seats
- Great communicators
1:30:20 What resources would you recommend for developing a future #2 Leader?
1:35:50 Sensitivity testing…
1:37:45 Why are visionaries not good at hiring in general, but especially when hiring people for their leadership team?
- They hire from a pool of 1
- Hiring based on resume, gut, or instinct
- Not using objective tools
- Having a process for interviewing
- Hiring someone they like instead of someone that is best for the business
1:45:00 Book references:
- Make the noise go away by Larry G. Linne
- Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman
- The second in command by Cameron Herold
1:49:46 Talking about core values
1:52:51 Pinnacle tool: Who wants to keep your job?
2:03:11 Book reference – The road less stupid by Keith J. Cunningham
2:09:55 What is so compelling about working with entrepreneurs?
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