Saturday, September 26, 2009

Painted Pictures and Brutal Facts

Cameron Herold is a huge proponent of "The Painted Picture" - a vivid mental image of what your company should look like, feel like, and act like. It's a blueprint of what you want to do, and how you are going to do it. You pull it out and loook at it every time you have to make a decision about the future - it's both a guide and a filter.

Cameron says the most important part of growth is hiring the right people. "Find the A players and make sure you have something in your place to handcuff them there for the next five years."

What if you find yourself with an A player who nobody likes, or is toxic to your company culture? Fire them now, he says. (Apparently, it's a Jack Welch concept.) Good people will think your company is a phoney if you don't cull the people who don't fit the culture. And they'll flock to join you when you show the world how important culture and chemistry are.

As Jim Collins says, "Confront the brutal facts."

Cameron just asked how many of the entrepreneurs in attendance have someone in their business who doesn't fit the culture and really ought to be fired. About half of them put up their hands. Cameron encouraged them to fire those people by Monday at noon. And he offered them his phone number in case they need any encouragement or support.

"You can't build the great company you should be building by keeping them on."

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