As a result of this column you and your organization will: Be reminded that as much as the world changes, some things remain the same. Understand that all products and services are delivered by people. Increase productivity by matching the right people for the right jobs. If you look at any organization that’s consistently successful, you’ll find their relentless in people selection. Common sense tells us the right people, including ourselves, have to be in the right jobs. Far too frequently, businesses may not know enough about the people they hire, or they may pick people with whom they’re comfortable rather than others who have better skills for the job. If you spend the same amount of time and energy training and developing your people and yourself as you do on budgeting, strategic planning, and financial monitoring, the payoff will come in sustainable competitive advantages. What kind of people are you looking for? Too often we are seduced by the educational and intellectual qualities of the candidates interviewed. We don’t ask, “How good is this person at getting things done?”

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There’s very little correlation between those who talk a good game, and those who get things done. What distinguishes the most successful enterprises that execute their strategies is that they have selected the doer instead of the talker.

When interviewing candidates for a position, the first traits to look for are…

• Trainability.
• Energy.
• Enthusiasm for execution.

Are they open to new ideas? Are they willing to learn new skill sets? How do they set priorities? Do they include other people in the decisions made? Can they justifiably take credit for good financial results, or were they just moving from position to position, one step ahead of calamity?

Consider what the candidate wants to talk about.

• Does the candidate detail the obstacles that had to be overcome, the thrill of getting things done, or do they keep wandering back to strategy and philosophy?
• Did they learn new things at their old job, and how did they apply these new skills?

Do they explain the roles played by the people assigned to them? Focus on the candidate’s energy, accomplishments, and willingness to put in extra hours to get things done. Donna Cornell, President of Cornell Career Center, cautions, “Make sure you hire the person, not the resume. Invest the time to thoroughly interview to insure this is the stellar performer you need.”

Decisiveness is the ability to make difficult decisions swiftly and well, and to act on them. Many people dance around decisions without ever making them. When they don’t, everybody in the organization knows they are wavering, procrastinating, and avoiding reality.

Getting things done through others, including suppliers and customers, is a fundamental leadership skill. Poor leaders smother their people, blocking their initiative and creativity. They’re micromanagers and insecure leaders, who can’t trust others to get it right because they don’t know how to monitor their performance.

Others err in the opposite direction by abandoning their people, customers and suppliers and tossing the ball entirely into their court. Then, when things don’t get done as expected, they’re frustrated.

Too many business leaders don’t bring things down to earth, focusing on short-term accomplishments on the way to bigger goals. The leaders whose visions come true are those who build and sustain their people’s momentum, reaching one goal at a time.

Hire executioners, clarify what you want them to do, train them to do it, get out of their way and remember that follow-through is the cornerstone of execution. Following through ensures that people are doing the things they committed to, according to the agreed timetable.

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