One of the challenges we often see with Owner/ Managers is their ability to surround themselves with people good enough to run the business or take care of the business if they were not around.

Not having a team like this in place ensures that continued pressure is placed on the owner/ manager and that the value of the business, if indeed a sale is being considered, will be significantly reduced. It is simply unhealthy as an owner / manager to be ‘irreplaceable’.

So, what things do you need to look for in the ‘right people’, the people that you can rely on, who you can trust to do the right things – to take care of business?

Here are some traits that the ‘right people’ will demonstrate:

• They will fit with the Company’s core values: The best way to achieve this is to hire people or cultivate people who really do believe in your core values – for example if one of your core values is to ‘always put the customer first’ you want people who truly believe and embody this.
• They don’t need to be tightly managed:  When you feel the need to ‘tightly manage’ someone, they are probably not the right person. If you have the right people you don’t need to spend a lot of time ‘motivating’ or ‘managing’ them They will be self-motivated, self-disciplined and highly productive – it is simply part of their DNA!
• They understand that they don’t have ‘jobs’ they have ‘responsibilities’: They grasp the difference between the tasks they are asked to complete and their true responsibilities – they can complete the statement ‘I am the person who is ultimately responsible for…’’
• They fulfil their commitments: They view what they have committed to as sacred – they do what they say they will without complaint. That said, they are careful what they say they will/ can do and are careful never to overpromise and under deliver.
• They are passionate about the company and its work: Nothing great happens without passion in business and the right people display remarkable intensity.
• They display a ‘window and mirror’ maturity: When things go well, they point through the window and credit others and factors beyond themselves, taking little credit themselves. Yet when things go wrong, they will look in the mirror and at themselves, they don’t blame circumstances or other people – they simply point to the mirror and say, “I am responsible”.

Take a look at the people in your key positions right now. Do they pass the right person test above? Be honest and commit to either developing them (if possible) or improving the quality of the people around you by hiring individuals who fit the right person profile.