The ‘best person for the job’

The 'best person for the job'. A well-known phrase, but what does it mean to you as a manager?

As a manager you will need to make sure you build the right team to achieve your objectives. As I spoke out in an earlier blog, every person is unique and has his / her own strengths and weaknesses.

For you the challenge to put each and every one of your team in the right role to get the most of his / her strengths. Making sure the impact of their weaknesses is the least.

People who can do something good, like to do this. At the other hand, activities a person is not good at, he / she does not like doing.

Therefore, if you give attention to areas of weakness, all good qualities get less attention. At the other hand, If you only focus on the good qualities, he/she will become better and better...

As a manager, you most likely get the opportunity to recruit new talent in the team.

It is common knowledge that your brain has already flagged the likeability of a person at first sight, long before you shake his/her hand for the first time.

This is a very tricky aspect. The biggest mistake any manager can make is selecting people that look like you.

Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Group's legendary founder, credits much of his success to one thing: hiring the right people and, as a result, building unstoppable teams. One of the smartest things managers can do, according to Branson, is hire for their weaknesses.

So, next time when you think about areas where your team can improve or putting a new team in place, think about putting people in their strengths, in roles where they can "raise above you", and let them speak up to keep having "the best possible team".