It's impossible to overstate the importance of being a great leader when you're working to build a team or an organization into something that will change the world and make things better for people. Today's guest Andrei Mincov founded Trademark Factory in 2013 to help entrepreneurs secure the legacy of their brands and preserve their hard work. Teams As you grow your team, as you grow your business, as you grow your dream, as you grow your vision, there comes a time when the leader can't come up with all the ideas. In order for the organization to grow, leaders need team members who help generate ideas and who provide initiative to improve things. You'll likely have some team members who simply have marching orders or tasks. Others will be responsible to help you move the organization forward. Those team members will have to have vision. They'll operate from your inspiration. Hiring Finding those visionary team members is different than hiring task-based team members. Andrei uses small, unique tasks to help make hiring decisions simpler. He might, for example, offer a jpeg with a typo or error in it and ask prospective employees to find the error. The intention would be to measure the candidate's attention to detail. He might also ask the candidate to build a video or a graphics project. This process helps him narrow the field because not every candidate is willing to jump through the required hoops to get the job. It also helps him determine who actually has the necessary skill set to accomplish the work. Without poring over countless resumes and applications he can narrow the field to the best candidates. If candidates aren't excited enough, in the beginning, to show you what they can do for you, how excited will they be after they are hired? [Tweet "It's hard to hire from a bunch of unknowns, but it's much easier to select employees from a smaller number of candidates you've already seen in action. #HiringLeaders"] Growth Leaders must have a compelling vision in order to grow a company. They should also likely have a track record of successfully accomplishing goals. Conveying thoughts and messages won't be enough to lead well. Leadership demands action and results. People will follow leaders who have vision and a successful track record. The better your business and the better your track record, the more likely you are to attract great people to surround you. Andrei shared that animals in the zoo don't care about ticket sales. They care about food and comfort and safety. Your team members are similar in that they care about basic things like provision and comfort. While you probably want them to have full ownership in your business, they likely never will. Your role is to provide enough vision for them to recognize that aligning themselves with your goal will benefit them personally. Building Smaller companies often fail to see that they are capable of building something that matters. They may have a really cool team or a really cool business and they assume it's a fluke. They don't take themselves seriously enough to worry about protecting their businesses. What steps would you take to protect yourself and your business if you knew that you would definitely succeed? This issue boils down to leadership, because if you don't have a vision of growing your company into something substantial, you'll miss an opportunity. Great leaders like Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos know that they are building something that can change the world. They are building something that will help a bunch of people do a bunch of great stuff. When you have a vision toward the path to greatness, people will follow you. Do something that people will remember years from now. "Being A Great Leader" episode resources You can connect with Andrei and his team trademarkfactory.com. If you have a brand you're interested in protecting, you can schedule a free call with the team to determine the next steps in your process. This episode is brought to you in part by m