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Recruit Leaders Not Followers
Leadership / Advice
Hire people who will lead, not just execute.
What a Leader Looks Like (At Any Level)
- Takes initiative without being told.
- Challenges ideas respectfully.
- Owns outcomes, not just tasks.
- Lifts others up.
- Thinks beyond their own role.
Why This Matters
- Followers need direction. Leaders create direction.
- Followers scale linearly. Leaders scale exponentially (they develop other leaders).
- A team of followers becomes a bottleneck on the leader. A team of leaders becomes a force multiplier.
How to Hire for It
- In interviews, ask about times they drove change, not just executed well.
- Look for independent thinking, not just agreement.
- Check: do they ask "why" and "what if," or just "what do you need?"
The Courage Required
Hiring leaders means hiring people who will disagree with you. That's the point. If everyone agrees with everything you say, you hired followers.
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