Are You Creating Your Own Competition? Who Cares?
You have a really talented individual on your team. How do you stop them from becoming your competitor?
First and foremost, let go of the fantasy that you can control the outcome. Many businesses are what they are today because a young, talented individual worked for a company and determined they could do it a little better. And guess what? Someone then worked for that person and went on to do it a little bit better! That’s business.
Your focus should be on creating a company so great that your top tier talent doesn’t want to leave. And if they do, it shouldn’t matter because you’ve made good choices and built a solid company that can withstand a little competition.
Nevertheless, as a business owner, what can you do to avoid a situation where your top employee becomes your top competitor? Non-compete? Good luck with that.
Try this instead: Value, empower, and compensate really talented individuals appropriately so they don’t want to leave. If you operate from a place of fear—afraid of having sharp, capable people work for you because they could one day become your competition—you will inevitably build one of two types of teams:
Team Mediocrity: a mediocre team that frustrates you with mediocre performance.
Team Frustration: a frustrated team who resents you for disallowing them to reach their full potential.
I have experienced both scenarios in my career and here are my insights:
Team Mediocrity (but hey, they probably won’t become your competition!)
Hiring mediocre talent to avoid being surpassed down the road is a leadership 101 no-no. This scenario leads to wasted time, inevitable mistakes, and eventually a crumbling business if you don’t pivot quick.
You should never be afraid to hire talent that is really, really good (maybe better than you!) because it is their fresh perspective, new ideas, drive and work ethic that’s going to take your business to the next level—if you let them. Which leads us to the second type of team that fear-based leadership fosters:
Team Frustrated (and most likely to compete with you in the future)
If you find yourself lucky enough to have a really great employee, but you choose to stand in their way instead of letting them flourish, you will be fostering an environment where your top talent resents you as a leader and constantly has one foot out the door. Keeping good talent under your thumb and disallowing them from reaching their true potential will undoubtedly frustrate good talent and further motivate them to do exactly what you’re trying to stop—compete with you to show you what they’re capable of.
But all is not lost. I have also worked with teams who operate from a place of trust and forward thinking. I call this the Healthy & Prosperous team.
Team C: Healthy & Prosperous
Imagine a world where your job is to own the business and get out of the way while your kick-ass team does the rest. Doesn’t that sound nice? Well, it only works if you’re not afraid of hiring great talent and getting out of the way.
Here are 3 tips for building a Healthy & Prosperous relationship with your top talent as a business owner:
Be transparent and honest about your goals for the business and how they fit into the picture.
Don’t expect them to “trust you”. Your employees should never have to wonder or worry that you may not come through and that all their hard work might be for nothing in the end. Make them an offer, put it in writing, and follow through.
Compensate your top talent fairly. If you are confident that your compensation is a fair and accurate reflection of your employee’s contribution to the company, then you have nothing to hide! Therefore, you have the luxury of being transparent and honest which in turn, will earn you their respect and trust. See how that works?!
Remember, we’re talking about your top talent—your c-suite, your highest performers… the people who are SO good, you’re kind of afraid they could go compete with you and maybe beat you in the open marketplace. The truth is, most people don’t want conflict at the end of the day. If your top employee leaves to become your top competitor, look inward first to see what you did that caused them to want to go head to head with you, instead of conquering the world together.
It is your responsibility to earn your employee’s trust, respect, and loyalty. Cutting them a paycheck, well, doesn’t cut it.