Aligned
"Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking together in the same direction." Great partnerships aren’t about always getting on. They can be contentious, tempestuous, and stressful. More like a sibling than a star cross’d lover. But so long as you’re both facing the same direction, want the same things and have the same goals, there’s an opportunity for a great partnership.
So we start by looking for people that are gazing off into the same direction as us. Do you share our vision of the future? Do you want to get on board with our Plan of Attack? If you’re not seeing the future we’re seeing, that’s OK! But what are you doing here?
Able
Being uniquely excellent is its own business strategy. And if we’re in a creative services business, then undeniable capability needs to be paramount, non-negotiable. So we obviously need people who can get each and every job done to an exceptional level — whether that’s exploring a new creative concept, or exploiting our systems and processes to execute the smallest detail to the standards that excellence demands.
Of course, if we’re Always Beta, and constantly growing, we’d expect that none of us are ever quite where we want to be. That’s OK too! So long as we’re holding ourselves accountable, we’ll continue to grow, and be better tomorrow.
Accountable
Accountability is the first step towards growth. People who can hold themselves accountable are people who have the freedom to fail, because they’re the people who are willing to learn from their failures. People who can hold themselves accountable have the discipline to understand that there’s a version of themselves that they want to be in the future, and are actively working towards whoever that person is.
People who can hold themselves accountable are also the only people who you can trust, because if someone’s not willing to hold themselves accountable, you’ve got fuck all shot of doing it. No matter how ambitious they are.
Ambitious
Nobody can make you care about stuff. That has to come from you. Having all the talent in the world will only take you so far; ambition is what leads to the daily investments that make the distance that makes the difference. That means having an insane work ethic. Overdelivering all the time. Making sure that whatever you’re doing right now is the best it can be. That email you’re about to send? Better be the best fucking email of your life.
The only thing to remember when it comes to ambition is to not lose sight of your integrity. Warren Buffet once said “We look for three qualities: intelligence, ambition, and integrity. If someone doesn’t have the last quality, you better hope they don’t have the first two.” You’re part of a team; we go further together than we do alone. That’s why we all need to be aligned.