In This Episode

We were talking with a client was lamenting about a key employee who had recently given her 2-week notice.  We asked her a simple question we learned from Jim Collins in his book Good to Great.  We asked her if she was distraught about the resignation or secretly relieved.  Our client said she was secretly relieved.

What’s a good person worth to my business?  How do I define what a good person looks like?  How do I know if I have any good people in my business?  There are so many questions around people when it comes to running your business.

We contend that one good person can be the difference between failure or success in your business.  It starts with defining what a good person looks like.  We have found that most small business owners don’t know what a good person looks like.  This is a challenge because they usually don’t recognize good people when they meet them and typically find reasons not to bring that person on board.  It may sound something like:

  • The person is “overqualified” for this job
  • I can’t afford to hire this person
  • I wouldn’t know how to direct someone like her

One of the places people look to hire first is through their Know Like Trust (“KLT”) list.  Unfortunately what people usually do is hire people from their KLT list.  Folks like family and friends.  The real power of KLT comes when you get those family and friends to introduce you to good people who can help you and your business.  To do this, it is key to know how to ask for help as well as to know what you are looking for.  During the show we talked about how to make those things happen including how to make sense of the “feelings” when talking with someone.

 

People, Companies and Resources We Mentioned in the Show

Jim Collins, Good to Great (https://www.jimcollins.com/books.html)