Hiring? How World-Cup Winning Teams Onboard New Hires

Coming up in today’s edition:

1. One quick win: Mentoring technique from the USA Women’s National Team

2. One proven system: The ultimate prioritisation tool to make better decisions

3. One million-dollar question: To perform like a world champion after a major setback

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1. STEAL THIS MENTORING TECHNIQUE FROM THE WOMEN’S USA SOCCER TEAM

Traditional mentoring is a big ask of your time and energy. 

But every successful player is only because they’ve taken risks over and over again.

So when you next have a new person join your team, take a leaf from former USWNT head coach and current president of San Diego Wave FC:

The experienced people in your team will be able to share:

• Personal stories

• Eye-opening anecdotes

• Practical insights

You want the younger team members to absorb how they think, not just the factual knowledge they possess.

When the pressure gets raised in crucial moments, they don’t have to make the same mistakes as their predecessors.

The goal is to understand the thinking and decision-making frameworks that the senior heads now use while maintaining their youthful naivety to test new ideas.

Jill’s approach to coaching led to generational success of the US national team 👇

Can you create moments this week where the younger team members can learn from the experienced leaders within your team?

2. SEAN ELLIS FRAMEWORK FOR IMPLEMENTING SUGGESTED CHANGES

How do you decide which projects get the green light in your team?

Every member of your team will think their project is urgent and important.

So it’s important to have a system to help you prioritise which ones get time, investment or resources.

Thankfully, one of the greatest growth hackers from our generation - Sean Ellis - created one.

He has built the growth engines for some of today’s fastest-growing companies - many of which have gone on to IPO. He recently documented his full manifesto in the book “Hacking Growth” which has been purchased by over 750,000.

This book introduced me to a leadership system that’s now my secret weapon.

The “ICE” Framework

This framework simplifies your prioritisation by honing in on three critical criteria:

1. Impact

2. Confidence

3. Ease

You can then assess each task or project based on their potential impact (1), your confidence in their success (2), and their ease of implementation (3).

To use ICE this week, rate each project you are working on from 1 to 10 in each category. This gives you a straightforward way to compare options and zero in on the most promising initiatives.

ICE in Action

Here are four examples to show how it can aid your decision-making process:

1. Automating Parts of the Sales Process with CRM Enhancements

   • Impact: 9 - Expected to boost efficiency and allow reps to focus on high-value leads.

   • Confidence: 8 - Similar implementations have shown strong results in other businesses.

   • Ease: 7 - Requires CRM upgrades but doesn’t need full infrastructure changes.

   ICE Score: 24 - High-impact and confidence; a solid choice for prioritisation.

2. Building an In-House Marketing Analytics Tool

   • Impact: 6 - Will improve marketing efficiency but doesn’t directly impact revenue.

   • Confidence: 6 - Somewhat confident it will streamline efforts, but not guaranteed.

   • Ease: 3 - Complex project requiring developer resources.

   ICE Score: 15 - Low score; a longer-term project to consider if resources allow but not a current priority.

3. Implementing Customer Feedback Loops

   • Impact: 9 - Could significantly improve product development and customer satisfaction.

   • Confidence: 9 - Proven to be effective in similar businesses.

   • Ease: 8 - Minimal setup required, mainly utilising existing CRM tools.

   ICE Score: 26 - High across all metrics, making this a top-priority initiative.

4.  Upgrading Office Space for Better Employee Morale

   • Impact: 4 - Small impact on productivity or revenue.

   • Confidence: 5 - Mixed feedback from employees.

   • Ease: 3 - Expensive and logistically complex.

   ICE Score: 12 - Low score; not a high priority given other more impactful initiatives.

This should give you a good reference point of how it can work in practice.

Let me know how you get on this week 🤝

3. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU COMPLIMENTED YOURSELF?

As a leader, we tend to put our people’s well-being before our own.

Yet the buck often stops with us:

• The pressure to achieve company goals

• Balancing our work and home life

• Setbacks and doubts about the future

• Managing the emotional load from events happening outside of work for our team

So here is something actionable that you can do today to kick-start a great week.

Write down one positive affirmation for every year you’ve been alive 💫

Lindsey Vonn is one of the most successful skiers of our generation.

However, after 2 ACL reconstructions and several injury setbacks, even she needed to fall back on this positive affirmation technique to maintain her confidence and win again.

I’m not going to list all 33 of mine but here are 3 examples for inspo 👇

• “You are an athlete, your body can handle this.” (This always helps me after I’ve been through many sports injuries)

• “You are a great dad.” (I imagine I’m not alone when having doubts about whether I’m spending enough time with the kids or giving them the best life, so this is another good reminder that as long as I’m trying my best.. that is enough)

• “You are not scared of this. You will deliver. You are built to handle this.” (Whether it’s speaking on stage, delivering a team talk or running a national campaign, I use this one to quieten the imposter inside my head)

Keep this list in your Apple notes or somewhere you can access easily.

Then whenever you have had a hard day at work, look at this list on your commute home.

Remind yourself, that there is a reason you are in this position 💪

MY TOP FINDS OF THE WEEK 🔍

For your performance:

• Rafa Nadal 🗣️ A 30-second lesson on how mastering your body language can lead to Grand Slam success (Link)

For your team:

• A great framework from Tiffany High on how to manage an underperforming employee (Link)

For your health:

• Ted Lasso 🗣️ An unforgettable quote about helping others bounce back from their lowest moments that’s been stuck in my mind all week (Link)

Hope you enjoyed this week’s tactics. I’ll be back next Sunday with a new lineup 👋 - Alex 

P.S. Did you get something useful from this email? Do me a solid by sharing this link with 1 newsletter pal… 🙏

P.P.S. If you want some one-on-one time to apply some of the concepts to specific challenges you are having with your own team, please get in touch.