How To Get The Most From People In Business: 3 Key Hacks

One of the main reasons I enjoy business so much is the people. People amaze, intrigue, inspire and motivate me. In fact, I believe they are the most under-appreciated asset in business.

Often, entrepreneurs spend all their time focusing on their products. But, in my opinion, this is short-sighted. If you neglect the human ingredient, you’re missing a critical piece of the puzzle: behind every great product is an even greater team, and if you understand that, I believe you’re halfway to understanding the dynamics of business as a whole. Here are my 3 most effective strategies for getting the most out of the people you work with.

Help people discover their passions

Everybody has the potential to be passionate about something, but unlocking that passion can be tricky. If you don’t give people some freedom to choose what to work on, it can be stifling. You can’t force somebody to be passionate about something they’re not passionate about. They may be able to fake it for a while, but eventually the illusion wears off.

By contrast, providing opportunities, flexibility and freedom will provide employees with the tools they need to discover their passions. It may not be what you had in mind when you first brought them on, but it’s much better for your business. Happy employees are more loyal, they work harder, and they’re more likely to bring their best ideas to the work they do.

Let them make mistakes

One of the key messages I give to my chief executives is that it’s okay to make mistakes. In fact, I encourage all my employees to make mistakes. For many people, this appears counterintuitive. Even now, after enjoying my fair share of successes, some people struggle to take this advice seriously.

This is why it’s so important: if you don’t make enough mistakes, it tells me you’re not learning. You’re afraid to take risks, and that is likely to prevent you from flourishing. For example, I know that in Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs who have never failed before are not very appealing to investors. Rather, many of the most successful investors know that failure is a key step on the path to success.

It is often quoted that only one-in-ten startups will become successful. That means failure is likely, and so an entrepreneur who has faced failure before – and knows how to combat it – is much more valuable. I would go so far as to suggest that failure of one kind or another is an essential part of the path to success.

Allow others to embrace risk

By themselves, mistakes aren’t enough to be successful. The key trait that distinguishes the best entrepreneurs is their ability to bounce back when something doesn’t go to plan. In other words, they embrace risk.

The ability to accept failure is only part of the equation. You must be able to keep going, even in the face of many setbacks. Businesses do not progress in a linear way. You might take several steps forward, and then hit a major dilemma and go twenty steps backwards.

When you hire somebody, you can never predict exactly how it will pan out, and what they will bring to your business. But the right hire can progress your idea in ways that you never imagined. Success comes from embracing risk on multiple levels, and people are a hugely important part of that.

Overall, success in business is almost always a result of the people who make it happen, and who can adapt to changing situations in order to steer a business in the right direction. As a manager or CEO, it’s your responsibility to provide the right environment for your employees – one which enables them to unlock the very best of their potential.

It is often said that the only guarantee in business is that there are no guarantees. No product or business is immune to change, nor can it succeed by itself. That’s why capitalising on who you work with is ultimately more important than any individual product, client or marketing campaign.

www.james-caan.com