Should You Hire People That Are Smarter Than You?

Like most people who are just starting their own business, I heeded to Bill Gate's advice which is to hire people that are smarter than you.

It was great since I needed a mentor and someone who could work with me on a daily basis to wrap my head around certain business principles as I navigate through the business and technical side of things. I thought I'd get someone who's so great at what they do, so I could focus on the business side and closing deals that I wouldn't want to outsource to someone else.


Image Credit: billsoPHOTO

However, there were certain mistakes from that hire that I'd like to share with you today.

1. En Employee is Different from Your Mentor
This was my biggest mistake as I was quickly enamored with the idea of having both. I mean, who doesn't want to hire an expert in a certain field I know nothing about and perhaps learn a thing or two in the process, right?

Wrong.

When you need a mentor, be sure to be clear and hire one. If you needed an employee to work with, hire someone who's good at what they do, but don't have the attitude just because you haven't got a clue at what they do.

A mentor has your best interest as their priority, and only want to bring out the best in you... not the best out of you.

2. At Least Have the Basic Knowledge at What They Do
The problem with people who are good at what they do is they think the rest of the population doesn't understand them. Or even try to.

I did try to work with a super talented developer in the past to help me with me on a project and I didn't get any respect whatsoever just because I'm not in the field.

It's always good to hire someone who's an expert, but in order for you to gain their respect (aside from the fact that you pay them) is to at least understand the basic principles of what they do, what are the limitations of what they do so you could at least get a better feel of what they're doing and up to what levels are the possibilities.

I think that most of us wanted to hire people who are truly experts in their fields and some may be hesitant in doing so. However, if you really want to hire experts, at least try and understand what they do so your expectations and the possibilities would match theirs. I guess I still have a lot to learn in this hiring process, so I'd love to hear how others are doing it?

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