And Why This Is Critical

They say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” and it definitely wasn’t built by one person. The team you build is one of the biggest keys to a successful business. Building the right fit team is critical.

Dan Sullivan, founder of The Strategic Coach Inc.,  says it best when it comes to finding a team you can trust. Whether you’re looking for other companies to partner with or new employees that will help you build your brand, the idea is the same:

Take your revenue from last year and multiply that by 100. The reality is that you cannot create those kinds of numbers on your own, no one can. Collaborating can be scary, but it can also be rewarding. A different company may have unique skills or products that can help build your business. Try collaborating with other companies you have a gut feeling you can trust.

Dan says that coming up with an agreement to split the profit with another company should be like, “agreeing with a handshake, not a lawyer.”

Apply that same concept when you’re looking for your team members.

Tools to Help Find the Right Fit Team Members

Using the Kolbe A Index Score to Help Find the Right Fit Team Members

Coincidentally, the Kolbe A index score also helps entrepreneurs follow their gut feelings when picking your team. The Kolbe A Index creates a scorecard for your strengths when interacting in your business after you complete the assessment.  The Kolbe A is the only assessment that measures your conative strengths; how you naturally strive and create.

This assessment helps entrepreneurs remember what their strengths are and enable them to hire team members based on their strengths and abilities and how they can best fit the company’s culture and goals.

When you know your way of doing things, your conative strengths, you’ll feel more confident in finding your fit.

Understanding those strengths is the first step to finding the right fit for your team.  It is also important to trust your instincts as you architect your team. Just because someone looks good on paper doesn’t mean that they are the answer you are looking for.  Allow yourself to trust your intuition and stay true to what you feel when you interact with them. This alone will pay dividends towards your efforts to build the right team.

Why is finding the right fit so critical?

Growth.

As an entrepreneur, you want your business to flourish. That can’t happen unless your team members are the right fit for the business. Your business can’t gain customers if it doesn’t have trustworthy team members that understand exactly what the business owner expects from them. The growth of your business depends on the team behind the business.

Success.

As entrepreneurs, finding the right fit for your team is critical. Just like Dan Sullivan said, it’s the who, not the how.  If you want your business to be successful, trust your team. A business thrives when a team that fits an entrepreneur’s needs is helping run it.  Your team members aren’t just employees; they’re an investment you are making in your business.

How to Find the Right Fit

Go back to the Kolbe A Index.

Look at your strengths when striving — your conative strenghts. Create scorecards to help you figure out what your right fit member looks like. Remember that you can’t do it all. Using someone’s unique skills different from yours helps create a successful working environment and a better booming business.

Your team should be a mix of skills.

Learn what your skills are and what you should delegate. Your right-fit team should bring all the skill sets your project needs to the table. Think about the existing team members you’ve worked with. What made them such an asset to the team? What skills did they possess that made them unique?

Know your core values.

Your Kolbe A Index score can also help with this if you’re unsure. Create a job description that has all the details you’re looking for in a team member. It’s important to know what you’re looking for and to make those values known. Putting the cards out on the table brings people with the same values as your business.

It’s okay to ask potential team members what they are looking for in the job. Staying on the same page is so important. If team members have different needs or cultural ideas than you and your business, finding balance will be much harder.

“It’s the WHO, Not the HOW.”

Finding the right fit for your business is critical to its success. As Dan Sullivan mentions, it’s about who is putting in the work for your business, building your empire. When you focus on the who, the how will take care of itself.

If you need help strategizing in your business to find the right fit member, send me an email at melissa@melissafroehlich.com or find out more about my services here.