 It's funny how you go to tech conference, but what everybody's talking about is people and This slide or this quote from Steve Jobs about having faith in People rather than tech is something that I and I'm sure all other entrepreneurs have to remind themselves about every day That's a very core of building startups It comes down to the people part if you get that right you get everything right get it wrong and Then it will cost you You lose time and money and it might also be the downfall of you as a CEO Now I'm not here to give you a head-hunting pitch Normally this advice comes in a very expensive and often very sleazy package So it's not going to do that. I'm just here to give you some empirical data Some hard-earned evidence that we've seen over the years of hiring I've been in London for 20 years and I'm an Norwegian which means that I come from a small country They have to punch above his weight That's often what he comes down to in hiring. I Started in hiring in 98 in the heydays of tech boom And in 2001 I lost my job and I actually joined a startup Just when everybody else left Now who does that unless you're really into extreme sports and other chaotic things in your life But he taught me something about how or what makes people attractive to leaders It isn't the product that you push in front of you. It's not the back is that you want to brag about with all their money But it is essentially you as a founder and entrepreneur As vulnerable as you may be It's essentially you that want to join So I'm going to take you through a quick presentation First of all, I'm going to talk about what is it that make you attractive as leaders Secondly about what is about your company? That is attractive to talent Basically trying to dissect it into pieces so that you can give yourself or your company a score on how attractive you are to people I'm also going to talk a little bit about what blows it Because you are going to blow your talent magnet at some point. Let's face it And then in the end I'm going to try and give some practical advice on Hiring or finding and qualifying candidates Now I don't have much time. So if I can't Get over it all we I'm happy to share the slides. I'm happy to talk to you privately as well So very quickly Not going to talk too much about us, but our company 360 leaders We have tried to create a talent magnetist We realized that these poor entrepreneurs they're struggling to attract talent themselves So we've done everything we can to engage talent globally in order to create that pulling factor that you often need So we started with executive search about 12 years ago. We then build a CEO Academy Which was essentially for founders first-time founders to try and be better leaders and build better companies That has grown into community about thousand people which meets regularly and we do this with VCs and others to try and help bring Some shared learning around how it is to build startups We do coaching and leadership development and we also build our very own startups call hot topics Which they essentially try and write and capture the the key topics around innovation and entrepreneurship around the world So, yeah, if you're a CEO contact us join us for the CEO Academy is completely free and it's a great bunch of people there to meet Not to brag, but we obviously have worked with some cool companies Just so you know what we do and that we hopefully know what we're doing as well So what is it that makes leaders attractive to talent? There's a couple of people on the pictures here. I don't know if you on the side can see them, but It isn't often what you think it is and the more confident you are the more experience you have as a leader The more you play on your qualities as a leader in the talent attraction game Strength is the obvious one, but it's not just about the strength you have as a leader But it's about how you are able to bring out the strength of your team Weakness Some cultures look at weaknesses as a weakness as a scan in avian. I look at weakness as a strength Now, why is that? Well, most Scandinavians are humble. They're born under the yantelaw if anyone's heard of that They really don't think highly of themselves basically so how the hell are they gonna attract anyone to come and work for them? well, I believe that if you compare some of the more humble leaders To the big brush sorry to say American leaders who you all met at some point you can do everything better than everybody else There's no room for anyone to be part of their team That's what I mean about weakness use your vulnerability as a pulling factor because people want to matter people want to have a place in your team empowerment If this is obvious about how you liberate the talent around you, how can you get them to perform optimally? How can be confident and to trust them? I'm working with a 27 year old female entrepreneur out of Norway who has the most amazing ability to empower people And I don't know if it's her inexperience or naivety But she gets people to follow her based on the fact that she has an absolute unconditional trust to them and their ability She has a strong purpose and she can just let them go and they will follow her and they will work their socks off for her Execution power is important if you don't walk the talk you will never going to make it as a leader Control needs to be balanced with empowerment and it's the constant battle for leaders today to find that balance And then last but not least charisma What is charisma is it that glowing charming? gregarious type or is it something different? We have done a little bit of research on this and found out it comes up to three factors power presence and warmth Power is the authority And I'm not talking about the authority that this guy on the left mr. Trump is showing through his oversized suit and big hairdo We're talking about genuine authority Presence How interested are you really in the people that you engage with how curious about? How they are and how they feel And then last but not least is warmth Some people are naturally warm But other people are confident and that confidence that simmer creates a warmth That is very easy to spot And I think that Whilst being one of the most introverted precedents ever I think Barack Obama scored ten out of ten of all of these three factors And whilst the guy on the left He's trying to score high on power. He's got no presence because he would rather want to play golf up in Scotland And as for warmth well, I don't need to explain you that he's good none So now you're I figured out what makes you attractive as a leader What is it about your company that really can pull in people? The idea is an obvious one. How strong is it? Vision have a crystal-clear vision that is clearly defined as a purpose that will appeal to Develop a subtle junior level all the way up to sea level The people What kind of people do you have in your company? What do they stand for? What are they their values and and how skilled are they how talented are they? Culture is not just the values that you set and create a culture But it's the organic culture that just happens to be out of your little company product How strong is the proposition the monetization model? Obviously that can change through pivots, but it's a very important factor as well and then of course technology and investors And if I were you I would create a quick sort of scoring sheets Just to sort of measure and keep score on your talent magnet. I'm running out of time here, but You now got the talent factor and talent attraction factor on yourself around the company You'd need to think about how you build your team and the whole point here is to complement and not copy yourself Never hire in your own image. It will not work. You're great as you are. You don't need two of you Culture unfit don't always go for the people that match your culture or are like you go for the ones that will challenge you When you're getting a little bit Little bit lacy and you need to be challenged have the people that don't fit the company as well and make sure they're authentic and Make sure that they are those who're gonna make you resilient when it matters the most It's not about you as an individual, but it's about all of you as a team And then last but not leave is the perceived ownership and I'm not talking about equity I'm talking about Essentially, how do they feel about the purpose? Is it a shared purpose? And do they feel like they own the company as much as you do and quickly on the three levels of leadership that many of you Probably know You need people for all levels the mechanical level the strategic one the inspirational one and if you are a CEO Try and bring yourself up to level three and then once you're there And you're the inspirational Community focus CEO that cares about all the parts of the company then you can lift the other good people up as well Now I told you you're gonna blow it and at some point you are gonna have to Think carefully about what you're doing to kill off that nice warm fussy talent magnet that you have created And it's a fitting picture for for a slush. There's no we day, but Well, if you want to do this be arrogant disrespectful Unclear Unrealistic about what it is you're looking for when you hire sloppy with time unprepared and know it all Who wants to work for that and most importantly cheap? Now this is a terrible picture, but I was trained as a sniper and I realized that was not about shooting And don't worry. This is a Norwegian army and they haven't ever shot anyone This is about the planning that goes into it It's the meticulous planning of a search process that is the most important thing you can do as A sniper or even more importantly as an extreme sport Individual they also plan sure there are adrenaline junkies, but they plan so well before they're going to do some stunt So let's talk about the search with a little time. I got left Think about your candidates as your customers I'm amazed how many people just look at your your Clients or investors and treat them well And and try and suck up to them, but staff and potential staff are completely under prioritized so think of it as a customer acquisition strategy and A good way of looking at it if you're looking for a very senior individual You can be seen as having a large B2B sales deal that requires your attention in your focus On the other side if it's more junior volume level higher Try and think of it as a B2C growth hack approach where you find more people at a lower cost But you need to be involved When it comes to pitching when you found your candidates Don't go in with package. Don't go in with title, but go in with the purpose first and foremost Why is it you're doing this company? Why are you working on this company? What is the bigger vision because that's the biggest pulling factor of all of them The next is the passion This is the drive the energy the genuine energy that comes out when you talk about it Why do you love it and why do you get up every Monday morning when it rains and work hard for your business? And last but not least is to pay and the smaller startup you are the more equity heavy You need to offer More money you have try not to give away too much But try and find a balance between a good package and a realistic package and don't be cheap The qualification part I could go on about for another hour, but my key point here is to hide for the future I don't know how many times entrepreneurs have come to me and said I Need somebody yesterday I've tried for six months myself and I need somebody as soon as possible for now No thinking about next 12 months or next three years when the company is probably 10 or 20 acts where it is today So remember the balance between under hire or over hire If you don't have much money and you want to test it out Sure, you can go for junior person that might evolve But it's a huge risk if you go for somebody more senior You might in the short term have to help them and give them some support, but at least they won't outgrow the company on the closing Try and get acceptance from the role that you're hiring for not just the financial offer If you sit there and give an offer to somebody and bite your nails and hope that they're going to take it You're very unlikely to land that candidate So always try and qualify deeply and thoroughly when you do the closing this is a very important part where 80 percent of of hires fall through and typically without a hiring partner is It's a very sensitive point for particularly C level people and you can't delegate this part It's you that want to join so you need to be involved now You found your candidates you've hired her Everybody's happy. You spent a ton of money on new salary. Maybe even a search fee You wanted to work out So in the first six months, that's when it normally doesn't work out and you think that was the wrong candidate That's not always the case Most candidates after thorough search prices are right You just have dropped this person in and let them on their own devices And this is exactly where you need to engage more and help them be successful So my tip to you on this one is the first six months in the probation period is as much a probation Period from the candidate side as it is to you They'll be picked up by another headhunter or another company. They will also think about doing something else if it doesn't work out with you So embrace them sit down with them and have clear expectations for the next six twelve months and forward Let let that person come to you and say what you should do So you both coach each other you both find out what how this is gonna work and spend time with that person If you do that you may get a candidate that's 80% right to be 100% right and you will benefit from it So last but not least Hiring is extremely hard I've done this for 20 years. I made more mistakes than all of you combined But I learned at a very high cost But I've learned to make sure that I don't make that mistake for other people in the future So be okay with this hiring process except that it's going to be difficult use resources Use your network, but remember you have to find people that are There for you. They're there for the right reasons and Get the people that have it one agenda one agenda only and that's to help you build a successful company and then share your advice find a way of of Sharing with your fellow entrepreneurs don't see them as competitors If there is a way that we can collectively share hiring tips in our industry Then we'll build better companies which surely can be good for us all Thank you very much Thank you Martin, we still have time for one or two questions that you can pick up from the screen Okay, so I get to pick joy Right we can start with the first one experience or drive. I don't think that's a binary thing I would always go for experience with drive. There are I think the most discriminated people after women in Silicon Valley are 50 Year-old white men and people have this assumption that they don't have drive. They're dead meat. They're fat and happy And they're very they're struggling to find a job. So You need to look for people you need to look for their own motivations and drives You need to find out what gives them energy and don't assume because You will be surprised every hire is unique. You'll be amazed about what you find in people So go for experience find the drive is my answer to that The next one has a young founder. How do I attract experience talent? We're going back to the story about this Norwegian Amazing of an Norwegian lady. She's 27 years old and she's hiring people in their 50s So why would these people work for her? Why do these people want to work for somebody's younger them and more inexperienced? Well, 80% will probably tell it You know what little girl? Let me tell you how things are done Then the other 20% are not like that. They're humble They see the value but they also see the limitations even if it's taken a 50 year to accept that I'm not everything. I'm vulnerable. I have limitations and I've it's taken me a whole career to realize it Those are the people you as young entrepreneurs are going to hire Because they will have been there before they will de-risk your organization and the future hires But they'll be there as a as a rock to support you There are some really good when Leadership is a good strategy on a clay executive level. I love that one. So going back to Trump It's amazing to see How narcissistic Psychopathic leaders are doing so fucking well We can't help but follow them We can't help it be sort of drawn in by their ability to make things happen just by sheer brute force I learned one thing in the army that you know when times are tough and people are under pressure And are not operating at the best level. They're really in their dark side. They're super stressed and their worst version of themselves comes out That's when you need a bit of dictatorship But that doesn't mean you have to be an asshole how to get the presentation slides. Well, just Send me an email Psychological testing is it a good thing We use the tool called Hogan assessments as anybody heard of Hogan assessments Hogan assessment is quite a comprehensive Test particularly for leaders. What it does is detect the derailers of leaders So basically when there are in the darker version of themselves And when you think of it in 80% of the cases in a fast-growing startup or even even worse in a scale up Where you can't go wrong and you have to put your foot right That's when you need to understand how people perform and behave as leaders So I would recommend using Hogan for particularly C-level hiring and not only on the candidate But also on yourself as a CEO or as a founder But also the other team members so that you get a full map on how you will work together When things are good and when you need to be challenged But also when things are tough and you need to support each other and have that awareness of how you operate under pressure and Thank you, Martin. Let's give a big hand for Martin. Thank you so much Enjoy your day