Shaadi.com Founder Anupam Mittal Says Hiring Wrong Leadership Can 'Kill A Company'

Shaadi.com founder and Shark Tank India judge Anupam Mittal recently took to LinkedIn to impart invaluable advice to fellow entrepreneurs on the critical process of hiring senior leaders.

In his post, Mittal underscored the pivotal role leadership plays in determining a company's fate, cautioning against the dire consequences of appointing unfit leaders despite having a "revolutionary product, passionate team, and flourishing markets."

"How do you kill a company? By hiring the wrong leadership!" Mittal wrote. Mittal said that hiring the right senior people falls in the list of "Simple but not easy."

The Shark Tank India judge said that Founders and CXOs today are bombarded with fancy recruitment tools, psychometric evaluations, and interview techniques promising the perfect hire.

"But, most of them are only marginally effective. Unlikely that a smart senior individual will fail an interview, no?" he added.

Mittal shared three fundamental strategies he employs to identify and onboard top-tier leadership talent.

The first step, according to Mittal, involves multiple face-to-face meetings in relaxed settings, such as meals, to assess candidates' suitability beyond formal interviews.

"Everyone has their guard up during office hours and official interviews. The key is to be in a more relaxed environment and the best setting is over a meal - saves time too. Also, one such meeting won’t do. You specifically need 3 and here is the brilliant hack -> If every meeting gives you more confidence, you got your hire. If you get more doubtful, move on," he said.

Secondly, Mittal advocated for "unnamed" reference checks, leveraging personal networks to obtain candid feedback on candidates' performance and character.

"'Named' ref checks don’t work. I use my own networks to find common connections and request them for a confidential 15-20 min ref check," he said.

Mittal advocated the use of his "PEARL" reference check theory, which stands for:

P - Promise reciprocity
E - Ensure confidentiality
A - Ask targeted questions
R - Retrieve critical insights
L - Learn rehire potential

And lastly, Mittal stressed the importance of recruiting "builders."

"What you want in a leader is -> High learning agility + Strong ownership + Outcome orientation + High degree of candor. ‘Builders’ are usually like that – they like to roll up their sleeves and get shit done. Preachers & politicians can create toxicity in an org, what you are looking for are scientists who love questioning the status quo and finding the right answers," Mittal said.

"Building a winning leadership team takes time, but hire correctly and you will cut down half your workload," he said while concluding his post.

Mittal's post sparked robust engagement on LinkedIn, garnering over 14,000 reactions and prompting meaningful discussions among users. While some echoed Mittal's sentiments, others proposed additional measures, such as incorporating genuine psychometric evaluations and psychiatric involvement in decision-making processes, to enhance leadership selection.