An Interview With Ken Babcock — Portrait of an ideal candidate — start with where you would like this candidate to be at 6 months, fully integrated in the position, and then work backwards to their first day at the company. When a company is looking to grow, the choice of who to hire can sometimes…

An Interview With Ken Babcock — Collaboration and consensus are not the same thing — navigate decision making to prioritize progress and have a bias for action. Challenge teams to disagree and commit to a course of action, and as a leader, strive to build harmony but create an environment that invites challenge. …

An Interview With Ken Babcock — You’re going to be asking your team for more. Prepare to make it worth it! Startups usually start with a small cohort of close colleagues. But what happens when you add a bunch of new people into this close cohort? How do you maintain the company culture? In addition, what…

An Interview With Ken Babcock — Every person you hire should get a chance to work with you first. For a decade now I’ve done pilot projects as part of recruiting. A little paid 15 hour gigs. I’ve had people go through this and they say, ‘Oh man, this job is too intense for me. …

An Interview With Ken Babcock — Never stop learning. Verify the plan and strategy, look for new growth areas, monitor the competition to be sure that you maintain a competitive advantage and constantly expand your knowledge to stay on top of your tasks. Startups usually start with a small cohort of close colleagues. But what happens…

An Interview With Ken Babcock — Align your team and set milestones: every plan needs deadlines and key team members. After you’ve distilled your ideas down and got to the core of the challenge, now you have to plot out milestones on a calendar with all those who will help in the journey. …

An Interview With Ken Babcock — Stabilize growth with formal structures. It’s time to double down on what’s working: codify values and rituals, document your ways of working, and map out who has decision-making rights. This is also a good opportunity to step back and assess structures and hiring processes to ensure they’re still serving your…

An Interview With Ken Babcock — Vital to scaling up the team’s knowledge and use of internal procedures in the correct manner is monitoring progress. Using our own proprietary software, we have developed algorithms to let us know when processes are not being followed correctly so we can help a location get their team on track. …

An Interview With Ken Babcock — Be conscious that it may not work the first time and you may need to pivot or even start a new company before you succeed. My first business never took off as expected. After five years of trying, I decided it was time to start something new. …