What is the most important thing to remember when hiring?

The one thing that can keep you from hurting your team?

The one thing you should never forget?

You may interview for skills, but you hire whole people.

Flickr image credit: Syefri Zulkefli

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Here we are on December 26. Christmas is over and the focus turns to next week and the start of 2013.

To that end I thought I’d share these words of wisdom from Sara Paddison.

Realize that now, in this moment of time, you are creating.
You are creating your next moment.
That is what’s real.

I do my best to live by them, although I don’t always succeed as well as I would like, which is why I hold tightly to these wise words, too.

It’s about progress, not perfection.

Flickr image credit: Richard Potts

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This Rule has two parts. They come from different sources, but taken together they will change your life.

The first half is from Alan Kay.

The best way to predict the future is to invent it.

The second is from Anonymous.

One good wish changes nothing; one good decision changes everything.

Well, what are you waiting for?

Flickr image credit: evan p. cordes

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People are often faced with the quandary of deciding how honest they should be when responding to some version of the classic “does this outfit make me look fat” question.

This Rule serves as a good filter to help you decide how to respond

“Never confuse
telling people what you think
with telling them
what they want to hear.”

That doesn’t mean you should always provide the latter and not rock their/your boat.

Sometimes people really do want to know if the outfit makes them look fat.

The trick is to evaluate the situation in order to decide how to handle it.

Flickr image credit: istolethetv

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Today is a twofer, because these two rules go together so well in my mind.

The first rule warns against something that can happen without your even noticing.

Don’t be afraid your life will end,
be afraid it will never begin.
–Grace Hansen

The second offers a foolproof cure to something that, if allowed to go unchecked, will kill you.

The cure for boredom is curiosity.
There is no cure for curiosity.
–Ellen Parr

To live fully requires curiosity; lots and lots of curiosity.

Flickr image credit: gfpeck

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Salvor Harding, a character in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, states a great truth when he says, “Violence is the last refuge of incompetence.”

I plagiarized that line and applied it to the business world, especially networking events and came up with this…

Jargon is the next-to-last refuge of incompetence.

But I have to say, people who break my rule sometimes leave me feeling incompetent enough to resort to violence to shut them up.

Flickr image credit: Gavin Llewellyn

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Everybody knows that exercise keeps you healthy and flexible.

Turning on a dime is the best exercise to keep your mind healthy and flexible, too.

Flexible is good, because, as everybody knows…

Flexible people never get bent out of shape.

Flickr image credit: Bitterroot

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Do you struggle to remember people and events from the past?

Hazy memories of someone or something that loomed enormous at the time?

The author of this short mantra is unknown. I took the liberty of broadening it to encompass more of life than just people, because, for me, it says something very important about growing and letting go.

There comes a point in your life when you realize
Who/what matters, 
Who/what never did, 
Who/what won’t anymore… 
And who/what always will. 
So, don’t worry about people and events from your past, 
There’s a reason why they didn’t make it to your future.

Flickr image credit: Hryck

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Over the years I’ve heard variations of this rule from the best managers I’ve worked with in every field and across all disciplines and levels.

It’s the wise boss who understands that the only thing more important than hiring someone new is retaining someone you already have.

One would think it’s both simple and obvious, but you can walk into any company of any size and find more managers who don’t practice it than do.

Which are you?

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I was reading a post from Mark Suster and I realized that something he said near the end really encompasses the way I try to live.

Life is an informational interview.

Informational interviews are how you learn; they entail talking to people in different walks of life, different positions and different ways of thinking.

Informational interviews require you to come with an open mind and your listening skills fully engaged.

It’s an approach that should flavor all parts of your MAP—reflect in your mindset, inform your attitude and permeate your philosophy.

Try it; you may be surprised, not only at how much you learn, but also how much fun it is.

Flickr image credit: Gangplank HQ

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