How do you avoid hiring a team of "yes men" (or women)?

People & Leadership
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CISO/CPO & Adjunct Law Professor in Finance (non-banking)9 months ago

Be humble and genuinely take input from your team. Give the team accountability while supporting them. Only give your input after the team members have spoken, that way they can't just follow your lead.

VP of IT in Construction10 months ago

Read "The Ideal Team Player" by Patrick Lencioni.

Chief Product Officer in Real Estate10 months ago

 A "yes man" culture is a symptom of a top down organization that didn't suceed to empower the team.  Resolving it does not start in the hiring process but starts with a mindshift in the ELT to promore empowerement and healthy debate.  Then comes the hiring process that ensure candidates are the willingness to accept ownership and accountability.   

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VP HR - EMEA in Manufacturing10 months ago

Involve other stakeholders to the interview process and not only the usual suspects. If you are interviewing for a finance role, pull in someone from marketing or manufacturing. They will ask very different questions and will probe differently. Hiring clones in a company is dangerous so as an HR professional, think about who can be a challenger. At the same time you will need to speak with the hiring manager and his/her manager as you need to diversify the company

Director of Cybersecurity Data and App Protection in Healthcare and Biotech10 months ago

I like to ask open-ended questions on topics like cloud providers or technology, to see if they have that knowledge, are confident enough to share it, and even defend it if I push back or disagree (in a healthy way). I also strive for supporting an environment of psychological safety, and welcome debate and questions across my whole team. 

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