This Is What Got Sheryl Sandberg Hired At Facebook

This Is What Got Szu sichyl Sandberg Hired At facebook inc Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently revealed what it was aboutSheryl Sandbergthat made him realize she belonged on Facebooks team. And its a lesson to all CEOs and hiring managers looking torecruit impactful talent.In an episode of Masters of Scale, the podcast hosted byLinkedInCo-founder Reid Hoffman, Zuckerberg sang Sandbergs praises before explaining how she helped him realize what the single most important thing forentrepreneurs growing their businessesis. Its what separates good businesses from great businesses, and the thing that truly defines an entrepreneurs growth potential.When I look at my friends who are running other good companies, Zuckerberg said, the single biggest difference that I see in whether the companies end up becoming really great and reaching their potential or just pretty good is whether theyre comfortable and really self-confident enough to have people who are stronger than them around them.Zucke rberg attributes much of his and his companys success to his self-confidence in hiring Sandberg, who had already demonstrated her business savvy as a key figure at Google and the chief of staff toTreasury Secretary Larry Summers before joining Facebook in March 2008.Rather than feeling intimidated and territorial due to Sandbergs strength, he saw an opportunity to work with someone who was in some ways stronger and smarter than him, and he took it.There are all of these things, for example, that Sheryl is much stronger than me at, and that makes me better and makes Facebook better, he said. I am not afraid or threatened by that. I value that.Ultimately, his experience in hiring and working with Sandberg has led him to solidify a hiring rule for himself going forward and its something that more companies would do well to heed.Ive adopted this hiring rule, which is that you should never hire someone to work for you unless you would work for them in an alternate universe, Zuckerberg c ontinued. Which doesnt mean that you should give them your job, but if the tables were turned and you were looking for a job, would you be comfortable with working for this person? And I basically think that if the answer to that question is no, then youre doing something expedient but youre not doing something as well as you can on that.Since joining Facebook in 2008 as COO, Sandberg has helped turn a company with a $56 million deficit into one withover $10 billion in annual net revenue. And we gotta say, Zuckerberg were pretty fond of her, too.Fairygodboss is committed to improving the workplace and lives of women. Join us by reviewing your employer