You must reach out to leaders with a history of being market driven.

Mark Allen Roberts http://www.outbsolutions.com

What a great post.

While I don't come from a corporate background, I can certainly relate to your early comments as it pertains to my small business.

My first employee was a friend. Bad business decision.

The second one, I hired without help.

For the third, I engaged an HR pro (for a considerable sum) to manage the process and provide hire recommendations (with her educated formula). She interviewed great, looked super on paper and was a miserable match for my business needs. Her corporate experience robber her of any ablity to to use initiative and common sense in performing any job tasks without supervision (and a training program was part of this supplier contract).

So, I agree with you – the most critical issue in identifying a good hire for a small business (whether it be a management or administrative position) is to find people who can demonstrate they are able to operate independantly, think on their feet and use their heads to solve problems without being hand-held. We all learn hard lessons from our mistakes. Hopefully others can save themselves the stress from learning the hard way by heeding the experience of others.