Although not the originator of this line, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has written in his book Common Ground, “There’s an old saying that fives hire threes, but nines hire tens". In other words, high functioning leaders hire leaders, and the rest hire followers. The former leads to transformation and great outcomes, and the latter leads to more of the status quo. The challenge in this for all of us is to be comfortable and not threatened by bringing people in who may actually have some greater skills or knowledge than us, and who may even challenge our approaches or assumptions. The irony is that those things that might unconsciously intimidate us are the very skills and behaviours that will help us achieve great things as a team. Honest self-awareness can be our greatest tool here. Which do you hire, leaders or followers?
