There is a lot of talk these days about “fit” when it comes to leaders assembling their team. Often, there is a valuable and gifted employee who is deemed not to fit in the vision of the organization moving forward and they are released. It rarely has to do with character or competence, but rather the third C in the formula, chemistry. I recently observed an example of this as a qualified employee was let go from their job with the primary reason given as “it just isn’t a fit.” Truth be told, it wasn’t, and there was a huge sigh of relief for the employee when the difficult and frustrating experience was over.
Human resource experts Losy, Meisinger, and Ulrich state “People are attracted to positions that fit their self-image.” The trick for leaders is to “get the right people in the right place with the right resources focusing on the right objectives.” This is very similar to the approach made popular by organizational greatness guru, Jim Collins when he compared leading an organization successfully to getting the right people on the right bus, sitting in the right seats, and headed to the right location.
The interesting thing about the above employee is that they quickly found a new job that was perfect for them because the position not only was an exact fit for their skills and experience, but also one that lined up exactly with their self-image and view of the kind of job they felt confident doing. The lesson for leaders is to look for people who not only can see themselves succeeding at their positions, but also who gain a great deal of self-esteem from doing the job. They are in the right place with the right objectives and everyone wins. When you add character and competence with this level of chemistry, they not only fit – they are a perfect match.
It’s our job as leaders to invest the time to hire the right people, put them in the right position, and then support and encourage them so that they can succeed. When someone fails at a job for which they have the skills and desire to perform, the responsibility of the failure must be shared with the leader, or even entirely placed at their feet. Hire carefully.
Lead well.