Mark Zuckerberg: Hire People You Would Work For

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Jetsetting CEO Mark Zuckerberg was in Barcelona this week to participate in one of his trademark Q&As as well as — I assume — to rally the Catalan independence movement behind the almighty power of the Poke. As always seems to happen when the Facebook founder talks leadership, a number of news outlets reported today on one key part of the conversation, this time, his one rule for hiring:

“I will only hire someone to work directly for me if I would work for that person. It’s a pretty good test and I think this rule has served me well.”

Obviously we can assume Facebook’s chief operating officer passed muster. You may have heard that she’s pretty impressive in her own right. I suppose the big takeaway here is that you want to keep your eyes out for team players who share your company values. That’s not groundbreaking by any means on the surface, but Facebook has never been about the surface. Its company philosophies and money-making strategies rely on minute details ranging from the algorithm that shapes a news feed to the subtle ways your mouse pointer is attracted to paid content. It’s also built on an implicit trust between Facebook and the user who shares his or her life with the world.

Perhaps this is reading too deeply into the tea leaves and Zuckerberg just found his hiring philosophy in a fortune cookie. Either way, the axiomatic advice sticks — hire with an ear toward mutual respect and shared values, and don’t be afraid of hiring someone smarter or more capable than you.