“If you hire people for their smarts, don’t keep them stupid”

During the early days of Greenpeak – the start-up that he once ran – Cees Links had to hire somebody new. At that moment, the small company was having a bit of a rough patch, as it was trying to get a new funding round closed. “We were nearly out of money,” recalls Links, “so, at our next business meeting, we let everyone know that we had about one month of salaries on reserve.” Almost on the spot, a newly hired employee decided it was time to move on – after only a few weeks. To him, the company was just too shaky. “I got criticized by several people saying that I was too open and that I was chasing people out of the store,” comments Links. “But, after some time to reflect on the situation, I came to the conclusion: that wasn’t the right type of person to have.”

In Links’ mind, if a person decides to up-and-leave, instead of sticking around to face the challenges as a member of the team, then it’s probably better for them to move on. “That’s simply not the right attitude to have on board,” he goes on to say, “especially when there were others who approached this same news by saying, ‘We’ve seen this before, we’ll figure out a way,’ and then they went back to work.” It’s this sort of confidence and stamina to push through that Links wants on his team, and this is what keeps him open and honest with his employees. To him, “if you hire people for their smarts, don’t keep him stupid.”