Meet Amy Hoeppner: A Health-Conscious EntrepreneurAmy has always been fascinated by business and she has been an entrepreneur for many years. She has owned and run a diverse variety of small businesses around the country including a trucking company, a day care and real estate. After being on the move for so long due to a military spouse, she finally deciding to return to Muskego to put down roots and open Juice Garden Cafe. Now that she's ready to stay put, her goal is to make a franchise out of healthy, fast food in the Milwaukee area. Continue reading
Thanks to local business owners and leaders for coming out Thursday evening to snack, socialize and learn about more efficient management techniques. Here’s what some of our attendees are saying: Continue reading
Hire Managers whose greatest strengths are your greatest weaknesses.When it comes to hiring policy and people management, the lists go on about caring for and developing your employees, listening, effective communication and setting clear goals.This is all great advice, but what else is missing?
People are inclined to hire people they like, which usually means people that resemble them in some way. Instead of searching for total compatibility in an interview, or “someone you could really hang out with,” identify your weaknesses and search for them as strengths in others.
How can you make your company run optimally? Sure you should get along with your employees, but what can they offer to make the company more complete. Find the missing pieces. Are you organized and meticulous? Look for someone creative and scattered. Are you and your current managers a creative team inspired by the arts? Maybe you’re missing someone who analyzes everything from a logical-mathematical perspective. Adding diverse personalities to your team or company will allow balance and problem-solving from multiple points of view.
A team with different ways of thinking can also do better risk assessment. Perhaps you didn’t anticipate a political shift that had an impact on your industry while a politically-minded colleague may have suspected something was in the works. A diverse team is also great for innovation.
A great example of someone who lived by this advice when it came to hiring is the now retired Jerry Hirshberg, Founder of Nissan Design International. He always hired people in pairs of opposites. He felt that it was great for creative energy and he was right. Hirshberg loved watching employees approach projects with completely different priorities, ideas and styles. “I believe in creative abrasion,” he says. He loved watching two completely different people argue and hash out ideas (non-violently of course). Hirshberg says, “We have titans in their fields going at each other: 'I'm sorry, I see the project this way. The way you're approaching it is just absurd.' That friction can produce wonderful creative sparks."
Hirshberg also thought that his employees felt free to be themselves. They knew that they were appreciated for their individuality and their quirks, so they felt complete freedom to brainstorm and create without having to mold themselves to someone else’s way of thinking. During Hirshberg’s tenure at Nissan, his team has designed such innovations as the Pathfinder and the Infiniti Series, among others.
Of course you shouldn’t disregard ALL commonalities between you and a potential manager or leader. Still, keep your basic values and company culture in mind when selecting your or someone else’s opposite. Qualities to keep in mind when hiring each of your staff members include: kindness, reliability, a good work ethic, a belief in company values.
In conclusion, examine your company as if it were a healthy, long-term relationship. It should be complete and the missing qualities in one person should be present in another. The team should work together to inspire growth and push the company forward.
