So, for the incumbents, I’ve tried to keep things understandable from a “bottoms up” mentality vs “top down”. So a company of 9 people with 3 teams are really ICs (6), and managers (3).
I try to make sure all incumbents have the opportunity to BE that person, but they may not want it.
For recruiting, you have to know what you’re offering and finding the right people to join you at the right part of this journey. Every day, I feel like I have a better understanding of what the needs are for the business. I can articulate it better in conversation, so I know what I’m looking for. The right people will feel right.
I try to look for that right person who has hit a ceiling somewhere else. (i.e. a team leader who hasn’t gotten their shot at management or the manager who aspires to be a director) Those people can take you far and hopefully onto the next stage (if needed).
Here’s a twitter thread I wrote about how we approach recruiting: