An individual contributor, someone who pursues a career path that doesn’t involve management, can be just as valuable as a director who manages 10 to 100 people.
An individual contributor, someone who pursues a career path that doesn’t involve management, can be just as valuable as a director who manages 10 to 100 people.
The key is to make sure you hire the right kind of individual contributor (IC). Some ICs take the “individual” part of their title too far. They prioritize their own impact and ignore the achievements of the rest of this team. What you want is someone who might better be called a “team contributor.”
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I’ve seen companies get burned because they did not consider that teamwork matters when hiring and evaluating the performance of ICs. But it does.
“Team” contributors (TCs, if you will) have strong communication skills. They are open to learning from their colleagues while also open to helping others. Even though they’re not managing, they’re holding themselves accountable for raising team standards and making those around them better.
Spotting valuable team-focused ICs who will perform well in groups starts in the interview process. It’s vital to keep a keen eye out for people who talk about how they’ve helped others succeed versus simply their own success. I’ve used these interview questions to understand whether an IC operates like a TC.
Answers to these questions will often give you clues as to whether a candidate is people-driven in addition to process-driven. Process-driven candidates often believe that systems and processes can solve problems without thinking about how people can influence results. A people-driven candidate is one who assesses his or her team members first and prioritizes collaboration. Good signs that someone falls into this category include narratives of getting energy from seeing others succeed; helping others in times of success as well as failure; and awareness when it comes to another team members success. These are the individuals who take a look in the mirror instead of relocating blame to others.
When hiring, especially in sales, your best bet is to hire those who frame answers as, “Here are my individual achievements, and here’s how I got there—with the help of three coordinators, two executives and a strong product that solved a problem.” Team members should always know they couldn’t do it by themselves.
Train your eyes and ears to be receptive to individual contributors with a team attitude. Nobody wins anything alone.
Glenn Handler is a co-Founder and general partner of Oceans.
