BENGALURU : A startup is not a sprint. It is a marathon. You and your cofounder alone can only go so far. But if you have a team who is ready to run all the way with you, it will become so much easier to cross the high and low tides of the startup journey! But how do you ensure that you get only the best of the lot for your core team? Here’s how! This article will help you decide the basic traits that you must find in your core team.
Hustling
The first and most important trait is hustling! A hustler may not know how to do things but he will surely find out and leave no stone unturned to complete the task allotted to him. This is important because if the employee isn’t a hustler, he will likely be running his own agenda or working at his own speed. But if he is a hustler, he will go extra mile without you telling him. He will discover new ways, invent new possibilities and drive the car through the unchartered territories.
Faithfulness
This is one of the most underrated trait of an employee. A great employee who quits within one month is of lesser importance than a good employee with loyalty. As your startup grows, your core team will know all of its strengths and weaknesses. A power hungry employee might just quit you to join a competition and tear the startup apart. But a loyal one will fight with you side by side. Identify who all in your team are loyal to you!
Competence
While loyalty is important, competence is also necessary. A loyal team member who isn’t competent will send wrong signals to the outside world. Newer employees will be afraid from entering your firm and will quit quickly, if they find an incompetent person sitting on top of their head who has no idea what he is doing. I understand that as a startup we might not be able to afford industry experts in different domains but at least let’s get folks who are competent in their streams or get them trained on job so they know their stuff!
Ability to learn
In startups as stated earlier, we often get team mates who are freshers or have little work experience. Then what becomes crucial is his ability and openness to learn. He might require mentorship through your or an outside mentor at times and he must be willing for it.
Open to Multi-tasking
A core employee needs to wear multiple hats. He juggles between roles and sometimes manages many responsibilities at a time. He works for business but also manages social media and also guides supply chain and sometimes even packs and couriers the product himself. A startup employee who is rigid about his work boundaries and is not open to multi-task is a red flag when talked about multitasking.
Hope you build a great core team!