How to Hire like a Superboss

Ralph Lauren once spotted a beautiful woman, Virginia Witbeck, in a burger restaurant in New York and loved her outfit. She was wearing a man’s jacket, old corduroy pants, and an old fur jacket she had turned into a vest. He approached her table and offered her a job, telling her he wanted people with style. She worked in his design department for four years without a formal job title, serving as a muse and sounding board. She was a presence; Lauren wanted her around simply to hear what she had to say.

Let it be known that this is not a blog pertaining to encourage you to up your stakes in questionable dress sense (I’m pretty sure my kids and wife would move out if they spotted me donning a fur vest). Nor is it an incentive to only employ those with a truly ‘individual’ fashion sense. Instead, I’ve been reading with interest over the last couple of days about the inner workings and recruitment techniques of a rather special type of boss, aptly named ‘the superboss’. Ralph Lauren’s appointment is a rather specialist example of the sort of behaviours these ‘superbosses’ are renowned for.

In a past blog, I explored the idea that recruiters and HR’s should resist the urge to eliminate prospective employees based solely on their past credentials and experience, and this post goes one step further to explore the possibility that we should all be recruiting more intuitively - releasing our inner ‘superboss’ and educating / teaching others at the same time.

‘Superbosses’ is a term coined by leadership expert Sydney Finkelstein for those who excel at recruiting and motivating large networks of star employees. These are the bosses who approach hiring in an unconventional way.

Here’s just some of the habits and takeaway pointers you should take into consideration when emulating the style of a superboss:

Know what you’re doing.

Firstly, it’s probably worth highlighting that making a superboss style hire is not a free pass to simply hire anyone who seems ‘different’ to your usual hires with the hope of spectacular change. It’s something you should do deliberately, not flippantly. Understand your hiring process will be less conventionally but of equal effort to if you were hiring in your more traditional way. Choose to ask more personal questions rather than run of the mill ones; moreover, make sure these questions are asked with the intention of really listening to the answer. You want to hire someone who ‘gets it’ – regardless if their CV is the most impressive or not. Hiring a chef? Ask about the cookbooks they love, what inspires them, their favourite herb and how they feel it elevates a dish. Listen for passion, knowledge and an innate understanding.

The power of unthreatened

Whilst the majority of hiring managers won’t admit it, large percentages unconsciously choose second tier talent because they find it easier to categorise and manage them. In essence, they find it difficult to hire someone who might know more about the job than they do. To hire like a superboss you need to have a level of arrogance that means you are invulnerable to this problem. You need to be really ready to embrace extreme intelligence, mind-bending creativity and forceful personalities – without worrying that their talent might outshine your own. Most of us enjoy improving our understanding, doing better and being challenged with genuine insight in a sociable situation, so why not at a professional level?

Employ people who question your wisdom and be proud to go public when your employees shine – it can only reflect well on you as a leader. 

Make you reputation magical

Superbosses become talent managers. Recruiting the exceptionally talented encourages an environment where other exceptional talent will want to work. Think about the very best chefs in the world, the most amazing emerging chefs are willing to work for almost nothing in order to be close to these ‘icons’ because they feed (excuse the pun) their own aspirations. Offering a path to personal growth is probably one of the most attractive pulls for those who have great ambition. When you recruit, look for passion, a quest for knowledge and a real passion for success, and encourage it, encourage it, encourage it!

Give up your time

Those who have worked for superbosses often comment that they spend a lot of time with their hires. Do not expect to recruit like a superboss and then treat that employee the same as you always have. Superbosses are unparalleled at nurturing talent. They’re often found discussing issues and solutions with their employees, listening to their opinions and enjoying a challenging debate. You cannot hire for greatness and then simply let that talent fester whilst you are holed up in your office.

Don’t be fooled into thinking this means superbosses are all about giving employees the ‘warm and fuzzies’. They are certainly not all nurturing souls. In fact, it’s been noted that no two superbosses are the same; they are ethically, socially and geographically diverse. That said; there are common themes that superbosses have; they are all innovative visionaries who are fully committed to their businesses and the people who make them succeed.

Being a superboss requires us to revise conventional practices about how we hire, who we hire and how we go about managing, motivating, developing and inspiring raw talent.

To what extent are you a superboss?

Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Mark.