An employee, like a start up, requires a certain amount of up-front investment. A good leader, like a good investor, knows how to exercise patience. If you take this approach with your whole ‘portfolio’ of employees, the result will be an A-team: people who achieve the ‘sweet spot’ of highly engaged growth at different times. John Donlan is one of the most respected CEO’s in Australia and his emphasis on people to drive growth has seen Pharmacare evolve into a half billion behemoth.

It is critical that you look at the people that you get involved in the team. The starting point is who should you have in that team, and who you bring into that team. The thing I always look for, for salespeople, but generally throughout the business is those that have got first and foremost common sense. And I think common sense is a really critical thing for everybody in business, particularly in sales and, the type of business that that we operate in. Once you’ve got someone with that common sense, I think the desire to win and the ability to really push yourself. Are the two attributes, that ignite an ‘A’ team. With the right attitude you can generally train them for the skill required for your organisation. Once you’ve got those type of people on board, I think it’s then pulling the team together.

John Donlan

So many great takeaways from this conversation. Listen to the episode in the player below, or download and enjoy it on iTunes. If you’re so inclined, please leave us a review!