Keith Lucas

They're able to operate by a shared set of values.

They seek continuous growth in personal capacity and team capacity.

And they're able to inspire and elevate their peers.

The analogy is very much the elite athletes in sports.

And a mission athlete will bring the same kind of optimistic lean-in effort to a startup that an amazing sports athlete will bring to their team.

To add mission athletes to your team, you have to remember that while you recruit tactically, you must hire strategically.

So tactical recruiting, you got to do all that.

It's the job postings, the interview pipelines, all the other, the calendar stuff, everything else.

But hiring strategically is about holding the line and only hiring people strategically.

with a high probability of success on your team for your mission right now, based on all of your criteria, including your value.

I developed the vision document to help me hire people like me.

And what it is, is a document that is not quite a job description.

It is more the following.

What is the long-term vision for the role and the near-term mission?

And why do these matter to the team?

What value should the person in the role operate by in addition to the team values that everyone operates by?

What is the role scope and day-to-day priorities?

What must the new hire accomplish in the first month, quarter, year?

And what are the constraints and strategies available to the person in this role?

And finally, what expertise do they need?