I have a tall privacy fence surrounding my backyard. The ally is paved and not particularly charming and i just prefer not to look at it when i am out in the garden. But this isn’t about my fence,  it’s about making sure the right people are on our teams and in our organizations. But let me take you back to my garden for just a moment: When i bought my house i brought with me a container of bamboo, and because it met some criteria i deemed important at the time- sleek, beautiful, green, tall- i planted it. That was five years ago and today the bamboo is pushing itself up through the pavement in the ally,  obstructing the gate which can no longer open or shut properly and generally pushing its way around my “organization’ with little regard for the rest of us. That pervasive problem is similar to what occurs when we fail to use our hiring intelligence. Having the wrong people- bullies, incompetents, attitudinal disasters, makes it very difficult for other things to grow. And we must be prepared to deal with that fact if we don’t take the time up front to select wisely and train and mentor accordingly. At this point, in attempting to remedy the poor choice i made five years ago, i have four options: Quarentine the bamboo; allow it to take over the entire garden; sell the house and pass the problem on to someone else- or GET RID OF IT.

Clarity of vision and purpose makes hiring a whole lot easier and using learning tools to identify personal style preferences and values can help to ensure the right people are growing together.