Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Businesspundit: Don't Look For Superstars, Look For Superteams

Businesspundit: Don't Look For Superstars, Look For Superteams
Businesspundit: Don't Look For Superstars, Look For Superteams

For all those people who didn't get the job, read this post. Sometimes it is just a matter of making the right fit. There is no way you can tell that in a job interview. You can be the superstar of the century and not get the job simply because they were not looking for that particular fantastic skill. Also, the super skills you have in one job, may mean absolutely nothing in another job.

Also, in Seth's Blog:Who You Should Hire, he talks about the ability to get things done. Too often we fall into the trap of one versus the other. We want people that get things done, but can work in a team. Teamwork can get the job done, but too often it ends up stifling creativity. Even when the superstar is hired, they are not one for long.

"Most fast-growing organizations are looking for people who can get stuff done.

There is a fundamental shift in rules from manual-based work (where you follow instructions and an increase in productivity means doing the steps faster) to project-based work (where the instructions are unknown, and visualizing outcomes and then getting things done is what counts.)

And yet, we're still trying to hire people who have shown an ability to follow instructions.

I'm almost done with my (sold out) book tour, and the biggest pleasure of the project was working with people who totally understand what it is to get things done. "

END SNIP

After reading these, it reminded me of the post from A Wandering Eyre:On Managing Anxiety, Work, Life, and all Things in Between

"Karen’s post talks about what we do to our motivated leaders. We overburden them. We steal their shiny with promises that never come. I am sorry to say that this has happened to me gradually over the past year. I am still an optimist, often annoyingly so, and I still love my profession, but this past semester made we rethink what my job and my life was and where the lines needed to be drawn. I needed more lines."

I hope that many of the superstars do not get burned out by organizations that want them to comply.

The line "steal their shiny" resonated with me the most. That is a very dangerous thing an organization can do, and sad for the new breed of librarians.



 

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