Stephanie Klein, president and CEO of the Experience Factor, is a regular columnist for the Denver Business Journal. Her most recent column is reposted here.
If there is one thing I continue to relearn as a recruiter and manager, it is the importance of remembering how to identify what I call “The Fatal Flaw.” If you’re a hiring manager The Fatal Flaw is the one thing that you’ll likely have to work through or manage more diligently with a new hire.
It could be a skill set deficit, a personality trait or other concern. If you’re an employee, the fatal flaw might be your organization’s internal politics, business strategy, a difficult boss or that one employee you work with who causes unnecessary drama.
Hiring managers and candidates often forget about — or attempt to ignore a fatal flaw — at their own expense.
When I first began managing people, a boss told me that an important part of my job as a leader was to recognize that every employee had “one thing.” That one thing was what I needed to identify and be prepared to manage and work with for the long haul. Failure to identify a new hire’s fatal flaw and managing it proactively usually resulted in an early termination or missed potential and/or a lost business opportunity.
More importantly, I had to identify my own fatal flaw and determine how it impacted the people I hired and worked with. Whether you are a hiring manager or someone looking at another career opportunity, consider the following:
Admitting the truth is the first step. As my boss told me, it is crucial to recognize and acknowledge that no job or candidate is ever perfect. You might think you’ve identified an obvious fatal flaw, but continue to dig deeper. For instance, you may hire someone who you can easily identify doesn’t have industry experience and inherently know they will have a lot to learn.
A deeper level of thinking may enable you to uncover more about their learning style, but if you delve even deeper you may learn that your potential new hire is not comfortable going through any kind of learning curve, and unknowingly can sabotage themselves and others when they feel vulnerable.
Vulnerability is the real fatal flaw, not lack of industry experience. Once you’ve identified the real fatal flaw, confirm your findings when you call on an employee’s references. References are a great way to flush out what has or hasn’t worked in the past to help the employee identify and overcome their challenges.
If you’re a job seeker, the same logic applies. No job or organization is perfect, so it is important to know what challenges you will face, or how you may be limited in accomplishing what you think is possible. Use your network wisely to find someone who knows more about the leadership style of your future boss and the organization’s culture.
Not all conflict is negative. Most people are afraid of conflict and will do almost anything to avoid it. However, finding a way to have an open conversation about the fatal flaw is crucial. Obviously your ability to discuss it without putting the other person on the defense is essential. The intention of any discussion is to identify the concerns and openly discuss how those challenges can get in the way of everyone’s success.
Seek out mutually beneficial strategies to address and manage issues. For the employee that doesn’t do well with vulnerability, you could ask “If I recognize you starting to get defensive on a topic or issue, how can I best bring that to your attention?” Similarly if you have a new boss or supervisor who doesn’t set clear expectations with others on the team and it causes lower results for all, you could say, ““I know the results of our team are critical; how can I help make sure we’re achieving our goals?”
Keep it real. Sometimes it is just too late, or there is too much water under the proverbial bridge and you know you’ve made a mistake in hiring someone, or your mistake was accepting a job you regret. Certainly, how you exit the situation is up to you; however it is never necessary to burn bridges. Most people choose their career opportunities carefully; transversely most managers take hiring seriously. One thing I know for sure is that it is never a good idea to “quit and stay.”
We all have stories about the person who stayed too long and was fired in the end anyway. Or the hiring manager that was toxic and ruined an entire division before they, too, were released. In the end, the one issue they refused to acknowledge or talk about became the reason for their termination. As the old adage goes: “What you resist, persists.”
Self awareness is the cornerstone of any successful long-term relationship and career, and recognizing and talking about your own fatal flaw is not a weakness, but a true sign of character and strength.