Our client’s anxiety isn’t misplaced. Hiring a C-level executive isn’t an easy undertaking by any means. Now add to that, multiple real-life examples of startups hiring successful industry leaders only to part ways in a matter of months. A wrong senior hire is a costly mistake - it translates into tremendous financial costs, poor productivity, and negative business impact for startups, and everyone wants to avoid it.

As a first step to understanding the problem better, we started by looking at the hiring process, the job descriptions, interacting with the interviewers, and also with some of the senior leadership that had joined and left the organization.

Here are our key findings:

• There was a big gap between the culture being articulated (aspirational) and the one being built on the ground. The founders aspired to build a culture like Google or Facebook, but in reality, it was based on their own value system.
  
  

• There was no process in place to map the organization's culture, values, and purpose with that of the candidates.
  
  

• The new joiners were not getting any support in settling-in and adapting. The expectation was for them to take charge and start delivering from day one.

Our findings led us to craft the following crucial must-dos for startup founders looking to hire leaders for their growing teams.

1. Define and agree on the culture that you want to build
   This will help you look for and hire a leader who doesn’t just ‘fit’ into the current culture but can also make positive contributions to the future of your company’s culture. While academic credentials and professional achievements are important for any hiring, culture-contribution is critical for senior-level hirings.
2. Assess the values/aspirations/leadership aptitude of the candidate
   Diversity in opinions is great. It allows for different perspectives and creates room for growth. But, without any common values serving as a meeting point, you could find yourself in a cycle of meaningless debates. Checking for a value-fit means that the candidate shares your goals but not necessarily all your opinions and viewpoints.
3. Talk about your vision transparently with your potential hire so that they know what they are signing up for.
   Hiring a leader, especially one who comes with a great success rate and certain clout in the industry, is exciting, to say the least. But, there’s merit in remembering that what works for others may not always work for you. Take your time, have constructive conversations about your expectations, your goal, and the values that you want to live by.
4. Hire a coach to help your new hire settle-in
   And, while we’re on the topic of time, let me also bring up the importance of a slow and steady onboarding process. Once you’ve brought on board a senior-level candidate, it’s vital to give them and your existing team the time to get to know each other’s commitment towards the company’s vision, among other crucial things. A coach can help keep expectations in check while ensuring that your new senior-level hire settles in and adapts to their new role.

So, if you are thinking about building your leadership team, make sure that you have a clear vision, a well defined culture, and more importantly, that you’re aligning your potential hires with them.