When I started Hawke Media, I hired seven people to provide custom marketing solutions for our clients. One of them, Tony Delmercado, came in specifically to run our strategy and client services. After interacting with clients, he would come back and tell the team what was needed.
Before long, Tony took the reins. Rather than merely report, he guided clients on strategy and coached the rest of the team on how to best support them. When needed, he would even dive in and perform these tasks himself.
I quickly realized that he had become an indispensible part of the organization. In three months, Tony’s position went from client strategist to director of operations to chief operating officer.
We’d originally agreed on a model of compensation based on revenue from the strategy side, but soon that didn’t make much sense. Tony was touching the entire business, so we made a profit-sharing deal.
Then he made his intentions known. After he saw the results of the profit share, Tony came to me and said, “I don’t think we should pull money out of the business to compensate me. I’d rather leave it in the company and be an owner.”
It was a no-brainer. Tony stepped up before anyone else and went over and above. I’ve never regretted the decision to make him my partner.
The drive to compete at work
Here’s a little secret no one wants to admit: There’s only so much room at the top of a company. You’re bound to hire people who are entirely focused on getting there. And that’s not a bad thing.
If you’re honest about the fact that everyone on your team is competing among themselves and with outsiders for a certain position, it’s easier to make it a healthy, productive contest.
Competition gets a bad rap, but it usually brings out the best in people. It also increases innovation. Ashley Merryman, who wrote a book on competition, cites studies that show how competition boosts creativity for everyone—from children to musicians to startup employees.
It’s important for people in a startup to want to grow and move up. You don’t have the room or the capital for employees who come in and are doing the same thing 10 years later. Fostering a competitive culture helps you quickly identify weak links.
Avoiding potential pitfalls
The biggest argument against competition in the office is that it contradicts camaraderie and creates a cutthroat environment. While I love competition, there has to be a balance.
Here are some ways to ensure internal competition encourages positive growth:
Be open. At Hawke Media, we’re open about the level of competition. For instance, I might walk into a room and announce that a new department is being created and needs a director. Each person has three months to prove that he or she is the best candidate, and if no one meets expectations, we’ll hire from outside. Everyone knows the stakes and who their competitors are. Game on.
Give people what they deserve. Don’t create a toxic atmosphere where one person gets what several people deserve. Instead, reward employees appropriately to keep everyone motivated. Only one person can get that job, but the second-best is entitled to a raise or another opportunity.
Make it fun. Don’t be so serious! Type A people enjoy competing, no matter the risks. Use competition to nurture healthy friendships among your employees. For example, we hold an optional fitness competition. Everyone who opts in has to work out three days a week, and if they don’t, they have to pay $10 into the pot. This creates a fun spirit as we spur one another on to win.
Compete as a team. Ultimately, you all share the same objective, so it’s important to communicate company goals early and often. Once the team hits those goals, celebrate extravagantly together. When we hit our first year’s audacious goals, we took the whole team to Vegas for a weekend—because what good is a competition without the locker room champagne?
It’s only logical: You’re going to succeed if you work hard and do your best. So create opportunities for other people to do that. Healthy competition will help them grow. And when your employees flourish, so does your business.
Photo credit: Lauren Kallen