Chapter 5: Great Employees . . . Where?

Overview

A lot of leaders want people to feel good about them. Great leaders get people feeling good about themselves .

Shay McConnon

A great deal of talent is lost in the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men who timidity prevented from making a first effort; who, if they could have been induced to begin, would in all probability gone to great lengths in the career of fame. The fact is, to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in a scramble through as well as we can.

Sydney Smith

Throughout this book we have made one big assumption: that you want to hire the best and brightest. Now, having established that this is possible if you allow them into your world on their terms and not yours, let's take a look at just what the criteria for engaging employees are. In the last chapter we talked about letting people be themselves at work and of the necessity to be flexible in thought and action. Now let's look at some of the expectations of the best and brightest. And remember, the brighter the people, the more they are going to invest the job you give them with their own lifestyle and their own expectations.