Are some red flags actually signs of a good leader?
Inc has an interesting article up that I think needs more discussion. The base idea is that 5 things that are seen as red flags in hiring are actually what companies need the most. So, this is interesting to think some common thinking is all wrong. First, I want to say I like this article, and it has a lot of good thought. Let’s look at some of his ideas and think yet more. His points are in bold below
They make relatively few important decisions – which Red Flags Needs Thought
Inc said that great leaders empower their teams to make more decision on their own, so fewer decisions is seen as good to the writer.
On the other hand, some leaders avoid decisions or seek consensus which is not the best way either. Leaders need to be able to gather data from many sources and make good decisions for the team. Therefore, leaders need to make enough decisions, and not be avoiding them or getting stuck in analysis paralysis.
So my thought here is that simple rules that cannot see what individual leaders are doing is a critical point. We do not like to throw people in a box too quickly before we know them a little more.
They discipline employees relatively infrequently
With good hiring and leading this does work out. However, we do not see a lot of consistency in good hiring, so we think a leader who has never fired anyone is too weak a leader for most of our customers. Discipline and feedback are critical to leadership. Weak leaders let things go or just occasionally blow up.
They don’t always know the answer
This one also needs more thought. We cannot imagine a good candidate who could not tell us what their experience was in detail with our leading. These answers they should have, and it is a red flag if they cannot explain what they did. This seems to have nothing to do with being a leader who relies on his or her subordinates, and therefore, is not a know it all. We do find cases where excellent candidates will say “I do not know” to a query about something that was outside his or her responsibility. Bad candidates pretend they know everything. See also Making Great Recruiting Decisions is about Data.
Recruiting is more tricky than accounting. People are a moving target and so complex. We always need to be awake and understand each candidate deep enough especially to find the diamond in the rough.