A founder explains why their early "no rules" approach failed, creating resentment and confusion. Clear core values and defined behaviors attract aligned hires and repel the wrong fit, even if turning people away feels hard.
When I first opened my business, our whole shtick was no rules. How'd that go? Well, that epically failed pretty quickly. It's like the ultimate people-pleasing thing, but it actually does the opposite. Yeah, I don't think it made them like me very much. I think that created a lot of resentment because things weren't clear. They didn't know what to expect out of me. I didn't know what to expect out of them. Things you're asking them could feel left field, and then it's like, oh yeah, like, what? And now it's like when people get hired, because we have these values and we have these what good looks like behaviors It's easy to say this is what we're looking for. It's either gonna attract or repel the right people. And that might sound scary. I don't wanna repel people that wanna work with me. Yes, you do. Yes. You want the business of your dreams. You have to be able to repel the people that don't belong in it.
