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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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what a fantastic introduction thank you
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very much
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so over the next 15 minutes I'm going to
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talk exactly about what we said before
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which is I'm gonna talk about one of the
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most important things for any leader to
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be good at actually gonna argue it's the
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most important thing for any leader and
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CEO to be good at the interesting thing
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with this particular subject is that
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nobody teaches as anything about it it's
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actually really hard to find any books
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on the topic it's really hard to find a
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university course on the topic it's
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really hard to actually find any TED
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talk on the topic but before I tell you
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about what I'm gonna talk about I'm
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going to talk about a guy called
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Benjamin sander now Benjamin sander is
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the conductor for the Boston
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Philharmonic Alec Esther now the Boston
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Philharmonic Orchestra if you don't know
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it is one of the best orchestras in the
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world now Ben is one day standing on
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stage on his podium conducting his
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orchestra of about a hundred people and
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he's realizing at that point in time
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that out of the hundred people in the
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orchestra Ben is the only person who
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doesn't have a sound and is the only
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person who doesn't have a sound does
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that mean you can't hear Ben no of
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course not of course you can hear him
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you can hear him how he delivers through
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other people you can hear him through
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how he's selected people to be in his
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orchestra now many people have very
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advanced ideas of a leadership it but I
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think Ben nails it pretty damn well in
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that sentence there really for us
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leadership and our very simplistic way
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comes down to two things it's about
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setting the right team setting the best
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team that you can for your company your
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organization whatever part of your life
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it is and this is about helping those
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people to achieve the results that is
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going to make them successful in that
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particular role that's it now I was
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introduced before and very often I am
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introduced as an entrepreneur or I'm
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introduced as a CEO and the reason for
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that is I've been part and lucky enough
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to co-found over 20 companies with
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absolutely amazing people people who are
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extremely smart and who I will make
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success to but really I don't consider
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myself a CEO I don't consider myself an
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entrepreneur I consider myself a
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recruiter that's it
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my job and my role is to find the right
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people if I find the right people and I
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select the right people my job is really
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really simple
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if I don't select the right people my
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life is very complicated now we all know
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this when we have a great team and we've
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selected the right people for our team
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our life looks something like this maybe
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not quite something like it but the fact
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is we're not creative selecting people
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and it's they're very very good reasons
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for it there are no subjects in
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university as I mentioned earlier on the
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topic when we become a leader in an
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organization our boss doesn't take us
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aside and says Mass now I'm going to
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teach you the secret of how you select
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the right people for your team we just
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assume that people are going to be great
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at selecting people for our team so we
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just say look congratulations master
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you're now the manager of this and this
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restaurant of this in this part of the
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company go and build a team great thank
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you very much now when we get it wrong
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we know the cost US Department of Labor
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said the cost for any particular bad
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hire for any role is 30%
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McKenzie took it one step further and
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said the difference between average
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performance top perform in a position
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67% productivity and bottom-line profits
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but it's not just these numbers that it
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impacts we know what else had impacts it
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impacts culture when you hire the wrong
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person we select the wrong person for a
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team the culture goes down the drain you
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know what it also impacts it impacts
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your happiness and I got the wrong
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person you go stress to work every day
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because you have to deal with a person
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you don't want to deal with it also
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makes their life miserable if you select
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the wrong person for a job you're not
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just doing yourself at this favor you're
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doing them at this favor as well it
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limits your growth it limits a bunch of
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different things for you there's a good
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old saying that says people spend ten
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percent of their time recruiting 90% of
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her time make enough for recruiting
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mistakes anyone laughing in here is
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probably a leader who's faced this as
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well and it comes back to the part of
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being if
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you hire the right people your job is
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actually really really easy now I gotta
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tell you we are horrible it's we're
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getting better but if you're horrible
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it's because nobody taught me how to
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recruit so I had to go out and figure it
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out for myself
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one of my CEOs who had newly elected for
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one of our companies as a CEO you know I
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figured out I'd failed through
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practically training him on recruiting
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and I went to him and I said to him look
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you're coming to ask me questions about
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marketing you're coming to ask me
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questions about Finance you come to ask
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me questions about sales but never once
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have you asked me a question about
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recruiting why is that that was exactly
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I was met by complete silence and a very
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red face the face of somebody very
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embarrassed so we have to be proactive
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about seeking this information that we
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can improve our efforts now the good
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thing is we're not alone in being
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horrible at recruiting the UK
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billionaire John Caldwell once said that
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if I'm lucky I only get recruiting wrong
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70% of the time now knowing that we're
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bad at this we set out as a team we
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wanted to build a framework that allows
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us to be much better recruiting I think
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we have a slight issue there we go thank
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you we set out to build a framework that
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would make us much better at recruiting
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a structured process that we believe can
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be one of the best recruiting structured
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process and frameworks in the world now
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I should say before I do this we're
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really bad at recruiting if you look at
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the talents that I have in some of the
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tests that we use the ability to
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understand people falls the lowest of
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all my talents so I'm really doesn't
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come natural for me the second thing I
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should tell you is we probably
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understand 20% of what we need to
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understand we probably leverage only 10%
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of that because of things like arrogance
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because of our cognitive biases because
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we still think that we can do things on
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on our backbone and just computer
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whether person is right for the role
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like this
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now all these cognitive biases there are
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many of them but let me walk you through
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some of them so the first thing is to be
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trying to hire our hire ourselves why
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not we're excellent we're the best
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employee there is and we know how it is
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look I'm analytical
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he has to she has to be analytical I am
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empathetic the person has to be
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empathetic I am competitive
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everyone should be competitive so we
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look for ourselves the second issue is
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we try to hire people who can do
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everything I spoke to one of our CEOs
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the other day and he was trying to hire
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a CMO he wanted to see him oh came from
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a PR company true story when a CMO come
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from a PR company who is analytical
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detail are not good at sales good at
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building relationship in strategic easy
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to find that person right so we try to
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find a person who could do every single
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part of the entire company because then
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we feel like we're gonna be successful
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but the truth is selecting the right
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people is a bit like a football team you
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don't want a person who's good at
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everything you want the best attacker
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and you want the best goalkeeper and you
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want the best defender we also like to
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hire people who are worse than ourselves
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there's good old saying that says ace
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hire bees be higher CC Hyades and so on
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and so forth I try to tell our leaders
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all the time to say look I don't care if
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you're the smartest person in the room
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because ultimately what's gonna tell me
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that you're the smartest person is that
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you hire people who are smarter and
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better than yourself you don't actually
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as a CEO or as a leader need to be the
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smartest person you don't even need to
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know more of about the subject and the
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people work for you as long as you can
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find and select the right people we also
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make quick decisions we go into an
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interview and we know how this works
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we go into an interview in about a
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couple of minutes maybe sometimes
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seconds
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we've decided I like the guy I don't
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like the guy and next 45 50 and our
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minutes we end up spending all the time
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and all of our energy just to confirm
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that we're right we know that it's a bit
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of the facebook error today where we
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love to look for stories that confirm
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the bias that we already have and the
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last thing of many is the Whedon do not
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hire and oh sorry we hire for single
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positions not for teams we're trying to
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build a team we don't need 15 strikers
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we don't need 15 golden keepers we need
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to put people together in a team because
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we know that we have these biases and
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because we know we make these mistakes
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all the time we wanted to make it much
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more structured we wanted to do
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something that's almost like an Ono
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thing to say
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which is we built an algorithm to
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predict whether a person is going to be
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right for the role yes or no that is we
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build a mathematical formula and
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algorithm the runs on a computer that's
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going to predict if your apply for a job
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with us if you're going to be successful
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yes or no now before you think that
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Darren's think well as is such an idiot
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while you know how can he treat people
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this way how can you put people into
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algorithms I want to say that what we're
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doing is really we're doing what we're
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doing up here already which is we are
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trying to compute whether or not this
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person is right for this particular role
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that's really what's happening when we
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were sitting across from someone and
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interviewing them and asking questions
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we look what we're trying to just gauge
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is this person going to be successful in
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this job in fact if you want one hidden
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really what we're trying to figure out
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is we're trying to figure out if this
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person is going to be able to create the
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outcome that we want the person to
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create so we built an algorithm which is
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we basically built a scorecard of all
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the different things that are important
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and we build an algorithm then
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calculates a percentage chance of that
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person to be successful in that
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particular role now the algorithm isn't
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perfect yet it's just a supporting tool
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right now but what the algorithm forces
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us to do is as it forces us to be
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conscious about what goes on up here it
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forces us to think about the decisions
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that we're making the trade-offs that
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we're making and by putting on a piece
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of paper we've already altered
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significantly the way that we do things
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now all the things the algorithm today
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I'll let by people so there are still a
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bunch of biases and a bunch of things
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that we do wrong because all the input
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comes from us whether it's from us
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direct to your tools that we use it
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comes from people ultimately so it's
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just a computing of score that it does
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today one of the reasons why we like
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this approach is because besides
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selecting the right people we have
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another thing that we're very passionate
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about and that is giving every candidate
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every person out there a fair chance at
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a job you see in high school I was
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horrible
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I was absolutely horrible I went to the
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principal's office multiple times the
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fact that I even got through high school
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I still don't understand I was fired
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from McDonald's
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and that takes a lot I agree it didn't
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quite buy my reason that my cat fell out
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the window as a reason for not showing
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up to work one day which happens to be
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true but you know there probably other
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reasons for firing me as well but the
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truth is some of us mature later for our
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careers some of us need the right
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position the right motivation the right
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leadership to be excellent now the
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problem is today everybody is screened
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on their resume if you don't have the
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right mess in May you're out the door
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now that limits the world that limits
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the candidates that we're able to find
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and attract that means we cannot find
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the diamond in the rough and we love
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finding diamonds in the rough that's why
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we're entrepreneurs
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that's why have you build companies by
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having tools available to us that allows
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us to look beyond resumes beyond the
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obvious we are able to find what we call
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whispering talents now let me explain
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what a whispering telling this first of
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all you have the shouting talent a
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shouting talent to give you an example
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as somebody who went to war University
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they got chopped grades they went to
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great investment bank in the city they
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got promoted faster than anyone else
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that's a shouting Talent now anyone can
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spot a shouting talent because you just
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look at their resume you know how they
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look we like to find whispering talents
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whispering talents are just as good as
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shouting talents other people just don't
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know it it's not as easy to see have an
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algorithm and tools allows us to open up
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our candidacy flow to everyone out there
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it allows anyone with any resume off the
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streets with the university without a
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university degree to come and join our
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company now we may pretend like we have
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certain barriers on the outside but
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actually we look at every single
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candidate who comes in very thoroughly
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through the tools that we have available
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to us now when you're looking at hiring
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somebody you're trying to determine
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three different questions ultimate
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you're trying to find out if they can
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deliver the outcome but that really goes
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into three different buckets its will to
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person be able to do the job will they
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be successful if they deliver the
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outcome that you want them to deliver
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number one it's very important the
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second thing is will the fit your
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culture will they be able to fit in the
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culture you've created that is key for
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us that is binary if you don't fit our
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culture
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doesn't matter how good you are you're
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not gonna be part of our job company but
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if you do fit our culture then you're
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able and you're able to deliver the
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outcome then it comes down to you do we
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fit your life and it's important that
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you fit the candidates life as well are
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you going to be part of their lives for
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a long time or a short time do you fit
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into their family situation what they
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want and what they want for their career
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now if you want to go through an
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interviewing process very structurally
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we find that there are three things that
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you have to be good at the first thing
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is you have to be a didn't able to
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identify the correct needs that is you
00:14:01
have to find out what is it that you
00:14:03
have to be good at in this particular
00:14:04
position to be successful now need
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identification is where most people go
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wrong if I had to say from this entire
00:14:13
talk what is the number one thing you
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should improve on it's identifying the
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correct needs for the particular
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position and be careful like I said
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earlier that you don't try to say the
00:14:20
person should be good at everything the
00:14:22
second thing is you want to have the
00:14:23
right questions and the right tools to
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be able to figure out the data for those
00:14:27
needs is the person able to answer how
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do you answer the questions the person
00:14:31
fits those particular needs that you
00:14:32
have for role now a need could be you
00:14:34
want somebody who's good at building
00:14:35
relationships for example then the
00:14:36
question becomes what questions what
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tools can I use to figure that out by
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the way it could be cases and other
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things and then you want to have the
00:14:44
right interpretation of the information
00:14:45
somebody comes to the door and sells you
00:14:47
sells you look here's the candidate the
00:14:49
candy that got top grades at work but
00:14:51
they never were part of arranging a TED
00:14:53
conference anything like that does that
00:14:56
person have dry but does that person not
00:14:57
have drive is an interpretation question
00:14:59
and interpreting that correct it becomes
00:15:02
very important and oftentimes where
00:15:03
people go wrong now the way for us to
00:15:06
figure this out in particular identify
00:15:08
the needs is we want to think about it
00:15:10
as if we asked a Formula One team about
00:15:13
their car now imagine you ask the
00:15:14
Formula One see about the car they would
00:15:16
say look a car this consists of chassis
00:15:18
wheels suspension within the wheels
00:15:20
they're different subcategories of
00:15:22
robbers that you can have and you would
00:15:24
say to them well how do you choose your
00:15:26
robber well it depends on the condition
00:15:27
it pens on the road it depends on how
00:15:30
you want to drive and how your car is
00:15:31
set up while interviewing is similar
00:15:33
when you look for someone in Canada said
00:15:36
look I want this candidates who have
00:15:37
empathy you need to understand the
00:15:39
trade-offs you're making what are the
00:15:40
things that are good about having
00:15:41
empathy we also we like people them
00:15:44
but the problem can also be it's hard
00:15:45
sometimes to make decisions because you
00:15:47
understand why people have it tough and
00:15:49
you understand their situation so you
00:15:51
have to understand the trade-off between
00:15:52
those different things now for us we
00:15:55
found out that we believe by talking to
00:15:57
executive search firms we talk to human
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analytics firms we talk to psychologists
00:16:01
that a person on a very high level
00:16:03
consists of three different things they
00:16:05
consist of a brain which is an IQ which
00:16:08
is your ability to learn and comprehend
00:16:10
information leverage that information
00:16:11
the second thing they consist of in a
00:16:13
work situation is their heart which is
00:16:15
their personality and their talents and
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the third thing is their toolbox which
00:16:19
is the past experiences this is what you
00:16:21
usually see a resume that's their
00:16:22
education the things they've learned the
00:16:24
functional learnings exam now most
00:16:27
companies and most people in they
00:16:28
recruit they start out with the
00:16:29
functional learnings they start about
00:16:31
what the person has done before we start
00:16:33
with the heart before we've identified
00:16:35
we want the person to have studied this
00:16:37
or studied that or have this background
00:16:38
we say who do we look for as a person
00:16:41
because we're huge believers in higher
00:16:44
Fitzalan train for skilled methodology
00:16:46
which is we hire the best person and we
00:16:48
help them to get the tools because we
00:16:50
believe they can they can find the tools
00:16:51
of the right person to be successful at
00:16:53
this the second thing we look at is do
00:16:54
they have the IQ to a comprehend and
00:16:56
understand and leverage information and
00:16:57
then the third thing is we look at our
00:16:59
resume that's true for probably 95% of
00:17:00
the position that we look for of course
00:17:02
if you want somebody to build this roof
00:17:03
they better have the right skills it's
00:17:05
not enough to have enough motivation and
00:17:07
then we try to look at the ways to test
00:17:09
that now I should say that there are a
00:17:12
lot of ways you can test people most
00:17:13
people do through interview questions
00:17:14
you can give them cases you can ask them
00:17:16
to do presentations you can use
00:17:18
assessment tools that exist out there
00:17:20
but really what you're trying to find
00:17:22
out is can the person do the job so the
00:17:24
best thing you can do is actually to
00:17:25
take the person and have them work at
00:17:27
the particular job for a couple of days
00:17:28
and you'll be surprised that I found
00:17:30
CTOs
00:17:31
CEOs CFOs and CEOs come to our office
00:17:35
and actually conduct a job for
00:17:36
everything for between two one day to a
00:17:38
week no matter how senior they are
00:17:39
that's the best way for them to get a
00:17:41
feel for the company and the best way
00:17:43
for you to get a feel for the company so
00:17:45
figure out how you're going to test the
00:17:46
things that are important for you and
00:17:47
then the last thing you have to do is to
00:17:50
go back and look at the information so
00:17:52
when you hire someone keep your notes
00:17:54
write down your notes keep them
00:17:57
and then look at them three to six
00:17:58
months later and say was I right or was
00:18:00
I wrong most people just say I hired
00:18:02
wrong okay let me try again very few
00:18:05
people go and say what did I interpret
00:18:08
wrong did I ask the wrong questions did
00:18:11
I use the wrong tools to get that
00:18:12
information so keep the notes and
00:18:15
whether you're successful in hiring or
00:18:16
not go back and have a look at it and if
00:18:19
you do all those things right and you
00:18:22
apply your own Drakkar to this and you
00:18:25
don't have to build an elder in you can
00:18:26
do it your way then you're going to be
00:18:28
better and better and better at
00:18:30
improving your ability to select the
00:18:32
right people and ultimately you can get
00:18:35
to the part where you will spend 10% of
00:18:37
your time recruiting 90% of your time
00:18:41
building new companies or whatever you
00:18:43
like to do thank you very much
00:18:45
[Applause]
00:18:49
[Music]
00:18:53
you
