Tom Hunt’s Post

I interviewed a candidate. The team were very excited about her: - Aligned values - Relevant experience - A passion for podcasting But the interview was really bad. She was: - Very nervous - Could barely answer - Didn’t ask any questions Yet, I had a feeling there was potential.   We trusted our intuition and decided to give her the job… Within 3 months, she was one of our top performers. Sometimes interviews don’t do people justice. They can be scary. Don’t blankly reject candidates who don’t interview well.   There is more to a person than how they answer questions in a 15-minute final interview.   Agree?

An open letter to all CEO’s: As you build your business, you'll delegate everything. Well… Nearly everything. Everything you used to do is now done better by someone else. To progress, you release. Give up: - Sales calls - Client work - Recruitment But there's one thing you should never let go. Your voice. Speak for yourself. Don’t let people: - Speak for you - Take your calls - Respond to your emails Yes, it’s more work. But it’s your work. Don’t outgrow that.

A team member came to me with a request. He needed two weeks off, during a busy period… With zero notice. Why? He was working too much and his mental health wasn’t great. "Makes sense" I said. "Take the time, paid of course. We’ll handle the work." This wasn't only about doing the right thing… This was recognising his consistent: - Passion for our clients - Relentless work ethic - Action bias His reason wasn’t an "excuse…” He had a real-life problem. Fast forward two weeks, he’s back, recharged. We gave him feedback on how to: - Reduce workload - Delegate more - Manage better And since then he’s mastered the role and his next promotion is coming soon. Leaders, listen: Your team members are human beings. They face challenges, like you. If you give them the space they need to solve these challenges… They'll come back stronger. And your business will grow. TLDR: Make yourself available. Listen. Empathy works.

All toxic businesses lack this: Empathy. It’s: - Putting yourself in their shoes - Understanding how other people feel When a manager lacks empathy, their team are: - Un-motivated - Under-valued - Under-appreciated Empathy changes this. It keeps your best people around for longer. Employee churn is the silent killer of many businesses. And you need to understand people to keep them. TLRD: You may be a manager but you are also a human being. If you want to increase employee engagement, show that you care. Agree?

How to destroy your company culture in two steps: 1️⃣ Not hiring/firing/promoting based on values 2️⃣ Promoting people that care more about themselves, than the business Let me explain… Your business will live or die based on how your people behave. Your people stop caring about your clients? You die. Your people obsess about client happiness? You grow. Your team behave how your leaders behave. If you promote someone that: 1️⃣ Isn’t aligned with your values 2️⃣ Cares more about themself, than the business Then your people won’t behave (how you need them to behave). And your culture will die. These employees destroy organisations. They cause great employees to disengage. Get rid of them. And replace them with someone with someone that cares.

I hired someone over 55. I kept thinking: - "He’s overqualified"  - "He won't fit into our culture"  - “He won’t understand our offering” But I did it. And he was an absolute pleasure to work with. He made a huge difference in the business. Employers: if you want good talent, consider "overqualified" candidates. Hiring managers are looking for a 20-year-old with 25 years experience. This needs to change. All that matters is if the candidate: - Has the skills to do the job - Aligns with the values of the business Let’s stop age discrimination. Agree?

Stop hiring with resumes. Start hiring for attitude. Instead of: - Where did you study? - What was your last role? - How many useless qualifications did you get 7 years ago? Talk about who they are: - What makes you excited? - What did you like about that role? - What didn’t you like about that role? Turn over the resume and chat. Interview like a human, not a robot. Almost every job can be taught. Attitude enables this. Agree?

Someone asked me yesterday: “Have you always been remote?” “Like even before COVID?” Here's what I said: “Yes” "As long the work gets done I don't care whether they work from Australia or the office. I hire people to do a job and trust them to do it." Our team: - Save up to 3 hours per day commuting - Walk their dogs in the morning (and afternoon) - Get the train to Paris and work there for a few days Happy team members = more productivity. If you focus on presence, you get presence.  If you focus on results, you get results. If you can't trust your employees to work flexibly, why hire them in the first place? Trust is key. Remote work is the lock. And they open the door to a healthy organization. Agree?

I need to make a confession. - I post about marketing here - I’ve spent 10 years in marketing - Fame is a b2b marketing business But for the past 6 months, I have done 0 marketing. 😱 Why? Because it isn’t what the business needs me to do. (We have a Head of Growth for that) We all evolve. And I’m evolving away from being a marketer. No more: - Split tests - Backlink outreach campaigns - Uploading retargeting audiences But don’t worry… I’m not leaving marketing behind, it’s a big part of being an entrepreneur. To mark this change, Confessions of a B2B Marketer evolves into Confessions of a B2B Entrepreneur. All I do is think about and start B2B businesses. This podcast is my excuse to talk about it. We cover: - Finding/keeping customers: sales, marketing, strategy - Finding/keeping team members: culture, management, leadership I just released a solo episode to: - Explain more - Give an update on Fame - Give an update on my role at Fame It’s linked in the comments below 👇 Here's to the next 4 years.

I’ve been practising an essential CEO skill. Staying out of it. Each day, I could: - Take an action - Share an opinion - Weigh into a decision But I'm choosing to stay out of it. Not because: - I’m retiring - I don’t care - I don’t have anything to say But because people don’t like micromanagement. They like to figure things out on their own. This means being ok with: - People I wouldn’t have hired - Decisions I wouldn’t have made - Clients I wouldn’t have taken on Which my ego struggles with. But we’re getting there. As most of the time, when I stay out of it… It either: - Went exactly as I would have planned - Went better than I would have planned The team handled it. And the best part? This empowers the team. Empowered to: - Make clients happier - Grow the business - Grow themselves Which is why I'm doing less. And staying out of it more.