Check references.

Recognize that performance in school doesn’t tell you much about whether a person has the values and abilities you are looking for.

While it’s best to have great conceptual thinkers, understand that great experience and a great track record also count for a lot.

Beware of the impractical idealist.

Don’t assume that a person who has been successful elsewhere will be successful in the job you’re giving them.

Make sure your people have character and are capable.

Don’t hire people just to fit the first job they will do; hire people you want to share your life with.

Look for people who have lots of great questions.

Show candidates your warts.

Play jazz with people with whom you are compatible but who will also challenge you.

When considering compensation, provide both stability and opportunity.

Pay for the person, not the job.

Have performance metrics tied at least loosely to compensation.

Pay north of fair.

Focus more on making the pie bigger than on exactly how to slice it so that you or anyone else gets the biggest piece.

Remember that in great partnerships, consideration and generosity are more important than money.

Be generous and expect generosity from others.

Great people are hard to find so make sure you think about how to keep them.

Constantly Train, Test, Evaluate, and Sort People

Understand that you and the people you manage will go through a process of personal evolution.

Recognize that personal evolution should be relatively rapid and a natural consequence of discovering one’s strengths and weaknesses; as a result, career paths are not planned at the outset.

Understand that training guides the process of personal evolution.

Teach your people to fish rather than give them fish, even if that means letting them make some mistakes.

Recognize that experience creates internalized learning that book learning can’t replace.

Provide constant feedback.

Evaluate accurately, not kindly.
