Every sturdy building is constructed on strong columns. Each of the columns carries part of the load. Laterally braced, they in turn support each other. If well engineered, you could remove a column and the structure will still stand. Albeit compromised, it will not fail because it's not been built to rely on just one support. 

Similarly, every successful company is built on stellar columns. They form the structure of your business. Stellar columns are the key people who support you in the four crucial roles of an organization. Like a well-engineered building, your key people support each other and are capable of carrying other loads if need be. 

Here are the four key roles, along with some other titles they are sometimes called, with some of their duties and subordinate roles noted:

                                                                           CEO

VP of Finance       VP of Operations           VP of Marketing and Sales             VP of Admin
Controller                 Ops Manager                   Business Development               Contracts
Office Manager   Director of Production                 Marketing                              Insurances
Bookkeeper         Lead Project Manager    Pre-Construction Services                    H/R
Accounts Receivable     Project Manager                Estimating            
Accounts Payable            Superintendents               Unit Costing
Job Costing                           Crews                                 Sales
Financials             
                  
When you’re starting out in business, you might wonder how in the world can I afford those four key people? And do I really need them? 

You’re absolutely right. When you start out, you can’t afford them. But you really do need them. 

The good news is that many of these key role positions can be outsourced and utilized on a part time basis until your business can sustain them full time, in house. 

So most likely, when you’re starting out, in your org chart, your name will be in every box. You’ll be doing every job, whether you know it or not. And I guarantee that some of these jobs you won’t be doing very well. 

You won’t have enough time to do them effectively. Plus, they’re not in your skill set. Look, if you were great at paperwork, you’d be a CPA, not a builder.

However, since you know how to get things done, organize trade contractors, deliver a durable structure and stand behind it, your skills and traits instrumental to the success of your company. 

Yet, if you have a strong Ops presence, but you’re weak in Finance and Admin, then you’ll constantly be stressed out, chasing cash and working nights to stay in business. 

Think of it this way. If Operations, Marketing and Sales are your company’s offensive team, then Finance and Admin are your company’s defensive team. And as we’ve heard before… “The best offense is a strong defense.” And “Defense is what wins ball games.” (And business!)

So, as you build your business and recognize that you need a balanced team, both offensively and defensively, you absolutely need to be looking for stellar people who have the strengths, experience, traits and talents to do these particular jobs. 

Ideally, they’ll be able to do it better than you, because your job as CEO is to envision the future, set the bar, create the culture you like, get stuff done, and look for more opportunities to sustainably grow your business profitably.  

Your job is not to do their job. Eventually. Remember, this organization building doesn’t happen overnight. 

How do you build a stellar team? You recruit and retain stellar people. So much easier said than done.

So, how do you do that? By learning to recognize, spot, recruit, test and hire people who have an innate desire to do a particular job well. That’s not something you can train or put into somebody. It has to be within them. 

Stellar people like autonomy. They’re self-starters. They are not afraid of reviews, critiques, and observation. They don’t like to be micro managed. 

At the same time they’re fine being held accountable for their work, actions and behaviors. They like to see if they can score and move the bar. Metrics are important to them. In turn, they like to be rewarded.

Stellar people get it, they want it, and they have the capacity for it. As such, stellar people are rare. They’re worth holding out for and not settling. 

You’ll pay more for a stellar performer. Yet, you’ll make more money, have a more effective organization and enjoy life much more when you’re surrounded by stellar people.

More than likely it will take you several years to get an entire stellar team in place. At our company, we learned that we needed to be slow to hire and quick to fire. Our successful hiring rate was 1 out of 20 applicants. 

To build a company of 50 employees means that over time you will seriously consider 1000 people as potential team members. Then, out of the 50 who will stick with you for years, there are your top 10 who will prove time and time again that they earned their Executive Leadership positions. And as such will need to be compensated and incentivized accordingly. 

So those key people are rare individuals. And so, so valuable. And so worth the effort to find, cultivate and keep engaged. 

*****
Photo by Dennis Derham, Giffin & Crane