The impacts of COVID-19 have magnified the need for entrepreneurs to build the RIGHT team around them. Today’s Entrepreneur’s Expert, Jeremy Macliver is a certified EOS Implementor (https://guaranteedtraction.com/) and owner of Core Matters LLC (https://thecorematters.com/team/), a company dedicated to helping you hire the ones you won’t want to fire.
I know you will get amazing value out of Jeremy and the wisdom that he shares. Please let me know if you connect with him – I guaranty you will be blown away!
Enjoy the interview with Jeremy. If you want to see the video of the interview, click HERE.
Q: Tell us a little about yourself, your company, and your passion for doing what you do.
A: ways been obsessed with a team functions and works (even helping my mom streamline household chores). At 19, I was working at a body shop, and I formulated a plan to grow the business, which led to my 1st hire. He said all the right things, but within 4 weeks, I was firing him and it was a total train wreck.
After that, I have spent the last forever trying to understand and dissect the hiring process, and how building the right team will make or break an entrepreneur.
Q: Many entrepreneurs have a Fab 5, or 5 advisors that push them towards success. Since the COVID crisis, many entrepreneurs are having to look hard at the people they surround themselves with. Why should a Core Fit Hiring Coach be part of their Fab 5?
A: This may sound strange, but I would say that we should only be a member of your Fab 5 for 1 or 2 years, and then we should be gone. Because once we build that system and the structure that allows you to hire the right employees – that is our goal. But you initially need us as a member of your Fab 5 to help you get really clear on yourself and the business you are building (so that we can hire the right people to support that). Additionally, once have that clarity and you start to interview people, you will start to fall in love with people that are giving you signs that they are not a fit – but you don’t see the signs.
Q: What are some ways that helping entrepreneurs find and hire employees has changed over the last few months? And I am going to push you to go deeper than just logistical changes.
A: Our conversations have gone from “we can’t let them go” to “we can’t let them go”. Let me clarify that. We are coming from a place of “We are so busy that we are going to keep them, even if they are bad for the team. I am going to avoid making key hiring decisions” to “We can’t let them go because we are in a crisis and I feel bad”. But we are making the same bad decision, even though our business is at polar extremes.
So have had to coach people now on how do you empathetically and considerately transition to the team that is going to take you to the next level. Entrepreneurs are making the same mistakes, just using different excuses to justify it.
Q: Is that driven from an emotional place or just uncertainty in other parts of the business?
A: It is because they are choosing to deal with the devil that they know instead of the devil they don’t. So they are just dragging their employees thought this; because they don’t have the system in place.
Building a good team is a conscious decision and the entrepreneurs who constantly win have a system and a place to accomplish this.
Q: How can an entrepreneur start to pick up the signs in an interview that someone may not be the right fit?
A: First, let’s talk about the habits that the entrepreneurs should be doing, and then I will answer your question. But to the entrepreneurs out there, I have 2 key points:
1. Shut up. In the interview, you are there for 1 thing. I am the buyer; the interviewee is the seller and I am going to ask you questions. Too often we try to SELL the person we are interviewing and we tell them about our history, mission, vision and values. Then the interviewee answers the questions perfectly. Well, we just gave them the answers to the test!
2. Spend 95% of the interview pushing them away. The more you feel like you are pushing them away, the more you will stay in the zone. Remember this is not the time to make friends, this is the time to make the right hire. A trick I have found is that in the last 5 minutes of the interview, take a hard left and pull them in as hard as I can. Regardless of if I want to hire them or not. I do this because the last pull in is your sales pitch. I want you to fall in love with my company, so that when you walk away you are going to tell some other people in the market about me and it is going to build my brand. This is my plug for Jeremy – check out his book Unmasked: How to Hire the Ones You Won’t Want to Fire.
Now, for those red flags: What you want to look for in the interviewee is if they are repeating everything you are saying. Another red flag is when they answer everything perfectly. That means they are a professional interviewer (which means you probably don’t want them). If they are not stumbling a little bit, this is sign they have done this a lot (or it may mean you are not asking tough enough questions).
Q: Do you feel that a long interview process is more effective than a short one?
A: It really depends upon what you are hiring for. If you are hiring for a high “churn” position, those people are not going to endure a 6-month interview process. But if you are hiring a professional, or a position that has a lot slower churn; then your interview process should be slower too.
Q: Is there a consistent mistake that you see entrepreneurs make when it comes to hiring and what can they do to correct it?
A: The ability to self-reflect while in the interview process (i.e. falling in love with the interviewee). Usually by the time they come to me, they have had some hires that don’t work out. Everyone is wanting a raise all the time; which means you have brought employment down to the lowest common denominator. There are other things that they really do want – but we are not providing them; so they are going to negotiate on cash. Which takes us back to being able to clearly define who you are and what you are wanting. Once we have that, we will be able to define who you want to fill the slots on your team.
Q: Can you describe the entrepreneur that gets maximum value from you in 10 words or less?
A: Blue collar, that loves results more than theory, typically 10-250 employees, growth oriented and hate status quo.
Lightening Round
Q: What was your favorite TV show growing up?
A: None – I grew up without a TV and I don’t have one today!
Q: Do you have a favorite thing for breakfast?
A: Apples and peanut butter
Q: 1 person to be stuck on a deserted island with?
A: My wife
Q: Name a podcast we should listen to right now?
A: Tractionville.
I would also like to provide a plug for Jeremy’s podcast Blue Collar Culture
Q: What is 1 book every entrepreneur should read
A: Traction, by Gino Wickman
Q: What is the best way for individuals to get in contact with you?
A: The best ways are to email me at Jeremy@bluecollarculture.com or jeremy@guaranteedtraction.com. I look forward to setting up a time to talk.
Being an entrepreneur is one of the most difficult and demanding things you can do. The good news is that entrepreneurship today is a team sport. Hit the connect button on LinkedIn or Facebook NOW and together we will work towards hitting your 10-year target. Along the way we will increase your profit, strengthen your leadership skills and transform your banking relationship into a strategic partnership. This will lead to confidence in your path, freedom to dream up bigger targets and a business that is enjoyable to own. When we connect, tell me about the best (or the worst) hire you have made.
Greg Martin is an entrepreneur’s insider to the banking industry and passionately believes that every person was uniquely designed for a higher purpose and calling. Greg guides entrepreneurs in defining and achieving their purpose and calling. His deepest passion is living life with his wife and their wonderful son.
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College Station, Texas
(910) 257-8286