Here is some great advice from top business leaders on what to look for when hiring people. That includes hiring book cover designers, book editors, proofreaders, book distributors, printers, freelancers, book publicists, and other service providers.
The secret to successful hiring is this: Look for the people who want to change the world. — Marc Benioff, CEO, Salesforce
Hiring the right people takes time, the right questions and a healthy dose of curiosity. What do you think is the most important factor when building your team? For us, it’s personality. — Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Group
In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you. — Warren Buffett, CEO, Berkshire Hathaway
I’ve got a really good team of people, and a lot of them have worked for me for the entire time. The key is to always hire people who are better than you. — Mark Burnett, TV and movie producer
Don’t hire anyone you wouldn’t want to run into in the hallway at 3 in the morning. — Tina Fey, actress and producer
When I’m hiring a cook for one of my restaurants, and I want to see what they can do, I usually ask them to make me an omelette. — Bobby Flay, chef and restaurateur
Never hire someone who knows less than you do about what he’s hired to do. — Malcolm Forbes, publisher, Forbes
When hiring key employees, there are only two qualities to look for: judgment and taste. Almost everything else can be bought by the yard. — John W. Gardner, founder of Common Cause
When you hire people that are smarter than you are, you prove you are smarter than they are. — R. H. Grant, Canadian politician
You want to hire people with an MBA in their DNA. — Daniel Grissom, author, Step Up!
Hire doers, people with a proven track record of getting things done. You don’t need to give them tasks; they know how to do the overall job. — Julie Heneghan, founder of the Steely Group
Always be smarter than the people who hire you. — Lena Horne, singer
I hire people brighter than me and then I get out of their way. — Lee Iacocca, president, Ford Motor Company
We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do. — Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple
The Boston Beer Co. has a simple hiring standard: Never hire someone unless they will raise the average. — Jim Koch, founder, Boston Beer Co.
You are only as good as the people you hire. — Ray Kroc, founder, McDonalds
Find ballplayers, not those who look good in baseball caps. — Tom Monahan, CEO, Corporate Executive Board
When I’m hiring someone I look for magic and a spark. Little things that intuitively give me a gut feeling that this person will go to the ends of the earth to accomplish the task at hand. — Tommy Mottola, president, Sony Music Entertainment
We focus on two things when hiring. First, find the best people you can in the world. And second, let them do their work. Just get out of their way. — Matt Mullenweg, founder of Automattic and WordPress
Maybe you can teach a turkey to climb a tree, but you’re probably better off hiring a squirrel in the first place. — Kathy Murphy, president, Fidelity Personal Investing
I look for a positive attitude and are they easy to work with. Are people going to like working with them? It’s very important to like the people you work with; otherwise life and your job are going to be quite miserable. — Elon Musk, CEO, SpaceX and Tesla
You can’t teach employees to smile. They have to smile before you hire them. — Arte Nathan, Wynn Las Vegas
If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants. — David Oglivy, CEO, Oglivy & Mather advertising agency
When I’m hiring, I don’t look for credentials, I look for knowledge. — Aza Raskin, co-founder, Massive Health
Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for the love of it. — Henry David Thoreau, author, Life without Principle
I will only hire someone to work directly for me if I would work for that person. — Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Facebook
About John Kremer
John Kremer is author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books, the Relationships Matter Marketing program, and many other books and reports on book marketing, Internet marketing, social media, and book publicity. -- John Kremer on Book Marketing.