Notes and Takeaways from Cameron Herold Coaches Me on Hiring
When I listened to it: August 2021
Why I listened to it: In this episode from the Mixergy podcast, Andrew Warner receives live coaching from Cameron Herold on how to hire a second-in-command. I took notes on some of the interesting takeaways so I don't forget them.
Go to the podcast listing for the episode or scroll down for my notes.
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My notes
About Cameron Herold
Cameron Herold is the founder of the COO Alliance, a network for the second-in-command. He's also an author, executive coach, and speaker. Previously, he was the COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK which he helped grow from $2 million to over $100M in revenue in six years.
About Andrew Warner
Andrew Warner is the host of the Mixergy, a podcast with over 2,000 interviews with proven entrepreneurs. He is also the author of Stop Asking Questions.
The best leaders constantly work on themselves.
Seeking leadership coaching is nothing to be ashamed of. The top athletes in the world all have coaches. And their coaches usually aren't as skilled as they are. The value of a coach is that they can see things from a different angle and can ask questions that make you reflect.
Hiring is a huge issue for entrepreneurs.
Many entrepreneurs fail to delegate because they don't know how to hire the right people. They get stuck on "how" instead of focusing on "who". To get good at hiring, you have to learn that it's not about asking "how do I get all this stuff done?" It's about asking "who can I delegate this to who can get it done?"
A second-in-command should be the yin to your yang.
The second-in-command's job description should include a list of all the things you don't want to do. He or she should let you keep the stuff you're really good at and don't want to give up, and then help you delegate everything else.
A second-in-command should help you prioritize momentum over perfection.
Entrepreneurs often seek perfection in everything. They often see anything that isn't perfect as a failure, which can restrain momentum.
A second-in-command should want to make you iconic.
For example, the second-in-command should deliver the bad news and let you focus on the good news.
Before you hire a second-in-command, consider hiring an assistant.
A really kick-ass executive assistant can take a lot of stuff off your plate and free you up for your unique ability.
Before you hire a second-in-command, clarify your vision.
Think three years out and describe your entire company in its finished state. Your second-in-command's job is to help you reverse engineer your vision. To do this, he or she needs to be able to see what you see.
Create a job profile for your second-in-command.
Think about the five core projects this person needs to accomplish in their first year for you to be thrilled about the hire. This will serve as the foundation you'll use to create a job description. The goal is to hire someone who’s done as many of them before as possible. Pick a compensation that commensurate with the responsibilities. Then, pick a title that is commensurate with the compensation (e.g. Operations Analyst, Operations Manager, Director of Operations, VP of Operations, or COO). According to Cameron Herold, a Director of Operations costs about $100,000 to $120,000 a year. But a true COO, would cost around $300,000 to $400,000 a year.
Also, list out the key behavioral traits you expect. These should represent the way you want them to act day-to-day.
Write your job description like an ad. You want your ideal candidate to read your job description and say, "that's me". And you want to scare away everyone else.
Interviewing is a skill.
Few professionals get good training on how to hire people and how to run meetings. It's no surprise most people are bad at hiring and bad at running meetings. (This is part of a bigger issue related to a scarcity of training on soft skills like conflict management, leadership, and communication.)
When interviewing a second-in-command, avoid discussing hypothetic situations and focus on what they've done in the past. You should know everything about them before they start the job so you can fully trust them.
Hire for attitude and a proven skillset.
A true A player has done what you need before. You’d never find a pro athlete who is getting paid to learn his or her sport.
A players are already employed by someone else, so you'll need to recruit them away. Try to find the one or two things in life that really matter to your candidates and show them how your company can give them that.
Random anecdotes
The Kolbe profile is a personality test that helps you understand how you like to start projects.
Random quotes
"When you're green, your growing. When you're ripe, you rot." —Ray Kroc
"If you don’t have an assistant, you are one." —Cameron Harold