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Minted Founder: The Best Leaders Were Not Hired. They Were Grown.

By Mariam Naficy · Leadership · 1 min read

Naficy promotes from within instead of hiring external executives. Internal people outperform.

Key Points

Internal promotions perform better than external hires
External VPs need 6-12 months to understand the culture
Stretch assignments develop leaders faster than any training

The best leaders were not hired as leaders. They were grown into them.

Grow From Within

Most startups hire senior executives externally. Naficy promotes from within.

Internal people know the culture, the product, the customers. They start running on day one.

If you're around long enough, you realize you can grow people into leaders. But you need years and years.

Stretch Assignments

Give people assignments beyond their current ability. They will grow into them.

The struggle is the development. Naficy's best leaders all came from stretch assignments.

You need years and years to grow people into leaders. But then you realize — wow, wasn't I lucky that I did that?