Hiring People Who Work Differently Than Us
There’s a particular kind of self-awareness that comes from admitting you’re not great at everything, and there’s a particular kind of discomfort that comes from hiring someone who is. I’ve always believed that’s the right kind of discomfort - and it’s at the heart of great leadership training.
From my early days managing at AMD to more recently at Google Singapore, I looked for people who didn’t just echo my strengths. I wanted people who filled in the gaps, thought differently, worked differently, and approached problems in ways I wouldn’t. When we started building Teamwork Unlocked, I knew what I brought to the table. I had a clear picture of what the product could be, and I knew how to sell it. I also knew there were parts of this process that I would not be good at, or would procrastinate to get done.
That’s where working with others (and I mean truly working with them, not just delegating!) makes all the difference. The people I’ve been lucky enough to create with don’t just tolerate my chaos - they help shape it. They show me a spreadsheet, timeline, or system I would’ve taken three days to overthink, and they do it in an afternoon. They see things I don’t, and they’re not trying to prove anything. They’re just really good at what they do.
This only works when you trust your team and stop trying to be every role in the room. This is part of why we built the 9 Key Profiles framework, because you’re not supposed to be the whole team. You’re supposed to be part of it. That’s also why our leadership escape room training model works so well - inside an immersive escape room Singapore experience, you can’t solve everything on your own. You rely on others, trust their instincts, and discover the power of complementary strengths.
You might be the Solver, but that doesn’t mean you must fix everything. You might be the Organizer, but that doesn’t mean you always lead the charge. Some of the strongest moves I’ve made as a leader started with letting someone else take the wheel, especially when their instincts were sharper than mine. This is the essence of team building and team development training - not trying to do it all yourself, but learning how to thrive together.
Hiring people who think and work differently than you isn’t a weakness, it’s the start of creating something that lasts. That’s the mindset we’re embedding in our leadership training Singapore programs and every workshop we design. I hope the way we carry ourselves here at Teamwork Unlocked can be an example of that.
Pictured: Our recent playtest group. Thank you!
