My notes is a collection of my life experiences, leadership stories, entrepreneurship journey, mentoring experiences, & personal values.
Qualities of a dream team member.
The qualities of a dream team member don’t fit on a resume.
Ever since I started as an entrepreneur, I knew that the people inside a startup can make or break it. I thought there was a ‘formula’ for choosing the right people. After years of looking, I can say I’ve found MY formula—alignment.
I look for these 3 qualities to help me align with potential team members so I can set my business up for success:
Owning outcomes despite ‘growing pains’
This means diving deep into the role and treating it like a craft.
It breeds proactivity and responsibility. This is most important in a startup’s success, especially in its early days. The way I see it—we are building something that has never existed before—so we can’t succeed if we do the regular things that people are already doing.
The ‘extra edge’ is everything.
Not everyone is cut out for this because actively identifying and solving problems demands mental energy. Only the self-educating lot can enjoy and thrive in such situations, where resources are limited and we need to wear multiple hats.
One must also be willing to make bold decisions.
It’s better to make a decision and be wrong than to not make one or pass it on to someone else. We need to be accepting even when the consequences are negative.
To me, this is the essence of taking ownership.
The next quality I look for is:
Perseverance like the top 1%
Running a business is more like a marathon than a sprint.
Without understanding this, a team member can never have the necessary patience and resilience, especially when plans inevitably fail. Mental preparation for the long haul is key.
Perseverance can be inculcated, too.
It can grow as the team member starts to trust and believe in their founder and the vision. It helps set incredibly high standards for the individual and team. This ‘puzzle’ can take months to come together, but this is the only reliable real way.
The third thing I look for is
Authenticity that creates a feeling of safety
Hurtful truths are better than lies that temporarily comfort us.
Would you agree?
We don’t like people who keep us guessing all the time.
Genuine and honest people save our mental energy. 100% transparency creates clarity and excitement. It lets us believe in new possibilities to achieve new things and go far. We feel safe to talk about our mistakes, problems, preferences, and personal constraints without feeling attacked. This creates an environment of aligned expectations that gives us the ‘permission’ to fearlessly put in our 100%.
Personal heartbreak related to authenticity and family responsibility.