Mark MacLeod, a startup CFO and investor who's raised over $1 billion, gives CEOs four quarterly questions to assess senior leaders: Would you hire them again today? Do they attract A-players? Do they crush targets? Do you know what great looks like for the role? He warns that weak leaders compromise fast-growing teams.
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Your senior team will make or break your company. Period. They are your leverage. As CEO, you are only as strong as your leaders. Too many times I've seen this pattern: a VP was crushing it at 50 people, but at 200 people? Drowning. Great person, wrong stage. This happens constantly in hypergrowth. The leader who was perfect last year is underwater this year. I'm Mark MacLeod. Since 1999, I've sat at the right hand of startup CEOs as either a CFO, venture capitalist, investment banker, or coach. I've raised over $1 billion in capital and closed over $1 billion in exits. I coach startup CEOs to grow themselves and their companies year after year without limits. Let me give you the 4 questions I use to assess senior leaders. Question number 1. Would you hire this leader again today? Be honest. Knowing everything you know now, would you hire this person again today? If the answer is no, you're tolerating someone. You're compromising. Maybe they were great 6 months ago. Maybe you hope they grow into the role. They didn't. This question cuts through all the noise. No doesn't mean fire them tomorrow, but it does mean you've got a decision to make. Before question 2, please like this video and subscribe. I only make content for startup CEOs and I want other CEOs like you to see this. Question number 2: Is your leader a talent magnet? Your VP should attract A-players consistently. Are the best candidates excited to work for this leader? Did great people follow this leader from her last company? Or are you settling for B-players because A-players won't join this person's team? A-players hire A-players. B-players hire C-players. It compounds fast. Look at your org chart. If the VP's team is full of mediocre talent, the VP is the problem. Question #3: Does this leader crush their targets? Results matter, full stop. You hire leaders to deliver results. Are they consistently raising the bar on performance? Are they hitting their numbers quarter after quarter? I don't care how nice they are. I don't care how hard they work. If they're not delivering results with a strong team, they're not the right leader. Question 4: Do you know what "great" looks like for this role? This is the one that most CEOs miss. You can't assess a leader if you don't know what excellence looks like. Have you seen a world-class VP of engineering? —a world-class CMO in action at your stage. If you don't know what great looks like, you'll accept good or worse. Talk to other CEOs. Use your board. Get references from people who've seen great leaders in similar stages. Ask your investors to connect you with the best people in each role. Then benchmark your team against that standard. Ask yourself these 4 questions about every senior leader every quarter. Hypergrowth doesn't wait for people to catch up. The leader who was great last quarter needs to keep growing to be great next quarter. Author Jim Collins said, "Get the right people on the bus before you figure out where to drive." He was right. Your senior team is the most scalable thing you can build. Don't compromise. If you made it this far, thanks. Please like this video and subscribe for content to help you grow yourself and your company without limits. And if you want to join a community of ambitious CEOs who want to scale themselves and their companies without limits, please check out Limitless.ceo. Thank you.
