Richard Branson told the speaker that great companies pay exceptional people well, not as little as possible. Hire the "mayor of the town"—highly connected business developers—and prioritize cultural fit over skills. Start by naming five non-negotiable core values for your company.
One great hire can change your entire business. You know, when I spend time with Sir Richard Branson, one of the things he said to me, Colin, find exceptional people and pay them exceptionally well. Most business owners I get to meet are, let me find great people and pay them really as low as I can. That's actually a complete myth. Find exceptional people. When you look for certain people in your business, I look a lot for business development people to help me grow my business. I find the people that are most connected in that market. I always call them the mayor of the town, not necessarily actually the mayor, but the person in that town or city that has the most connections because they will bring me the business that I'm looking for. When you start to look at this in your business, you'll start to see things change really quickly. The most important part though is you hire for culture, then you hire for skills, talents, and connections. So I'm gonna ask you to go do this week. Spend time looking at the core values of your company. What are the 5 core values that you will never compromise on? Core values create culture. Culture creates a winning team. Winning teams create exponential growth. Go do that to get your business to the next level.
