Unfortunately my Google Buzz feed does not update to blog posts directly, so I'm writing another post in response to a great comment I have received on the Hiring Leaders in Pairs post. Thanks BN for sharing your insights from the HR point of view...
The comment was "speaking as a startup recruiter, it's a conscious expectation that the new VP you hire will have a team they can bring along. it's part of the value they provide when you hire them, and it's definitely discussed during the recruitment process. often you're building out a brand new team from ground up or building upon one or two other people, and VPs should have the connections to identify and fill the gaps in skillset where they exist." i don't think it would be necessary for the whole team to interview as a lump, it's more of a puzzle where you're fitting together various pieces into a whole. that being said, i like the idea of hiring in pairs. i work much more effectively with my design counterpart than by myself, and if i were a leader it would be a good way to ensure a great team environment along with diversity of thought."
It seems we are doing a version of hiring in pairs or teams in the real world, this often happens in a manager-subordinate situation, and I believe it works for those dynamics. But for the dynamic of dual-leadership role such as CEO and CFO, President and Academic Dean, there exists a certain power autonomy for the leaders. I believe in these circumstances there are distinct advantages to explicitly hiring in pairs:
1. It creates an even power dynamic.
Neither person hired the other and as a result, neither have implicit power over the other. Being new hires at the same time bonds the pair in the context of the new organization.
2. It shows the new hires that the organization values the pair as a whole.
When hiring in pairs, the expectation from the organization that "You are a team" is very obvious. This in turn dampens the desire to take personal credit for team accomplishments, and sets the understanding of "we want results from both of you, as a team."
This doesn't work for all organizational environments today. Most organizations track employees on an individual rather than a team basis. But organizations with a strong team cultures and metrics may find this practice useful for establishing team mentality from the top- down.
