Would you ever hire someone smarter than you?
Amazon has many leadership principles. One philosophy related to hiring and nurturing a team is: 'Hire and Develop the Best.' Amazon describes this principle as, 'Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize exceptional talent and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders develop leaders and take their role in coaching others seriously. We work on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development like Career Choice.'
Some great reasons to hire someone smarter than you:
- Your team's problem-solving abilities become stronger
- It helps the company progress at a faster pace
- Your team's productivity levels will be stronger
- You and other team members have a better chance of learning from each other
The interviewer wants to know if you are confident enough to hire a person who you perceive to be smarter than you. This question has many layers, however. First, the term 'smarter' is relative. Where one individual may have stronger knowledge in a particular topic or task than you, they may not be more knowledgeable in another area. Be prepared to give a thoughtful answer that shows you are invested in making smart hiring decisions based on the company's betterment rather than on your own ego or feelings of security.
"I believe that smart leaders hire smart people who are right for the job. If that means the person is smarter than me in a particular area, I will absolutely hire them! Ego is not an obstacle for me in the workplace as I rarely benefit from being the smartest person in the room. Instead, hiring people that I feel are smarter than me is a wonderful way to expand my team's capabilities. Earlier in my PM career, I read a quote from Ewing Marion Kauffman who said, 'Hire people who are smarter than you. In doing so, you prevent limiting the organization to the level of your own ability, and you grow the capabilities of your company.' That piece of advice has stuck with me, and I believe this mindset fits Amazon's Leadership Principles very well, particularly when it comes to hiring and developing the best."
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