by Margaret Heffernan - Thursday, 6th September 2007 -

I had other reasons too of course. But after founding or running five companies, and hiring some four hundred people, I was burned out, exhausted by people. I wanted, I needed to be alone for awhile.

Three years on, I miss them. Not all of them – I still recall a few with a shudder. But I miss my star performers, not just because they made my job such fun, but because they made my own work so much better.

First, there was Kate. Kate, whose Filofax was covered in pictures of her daughter and who never apologised for always, always leaving at 5pm.

What Kate could achieve in a day left everyone else gasping. She was something every company needs but which has gone severely out of fashion: Kate was an interstitial person.

She filled in the gaps between departments, between specialties, between projects. Having an uncanny ability to spot the cracks through which information, details and responsibility disappear, she fixed things before they went wrong.

Kate’s other great strength was that she would tell me when I was making a dumb decision. She was usually right.

Everyone knows it’s stupid to surround yourself with yes men. The trick is to find people who believe in you and your mission, yet who stay rigorous in scrutinising tactics.

Kate did that all the time. She always believed – but she never stopped asking hard questions.

It was Kate who told me I’d be stupid not to hire Pam. Pam is a designer. When the web emerged, Pam went from being a good software designer to being a brilliant web designer.

She became spectacular in print too. In fact, whatever she turned her hand to, she delivered with panache and speed.

Apart from her ability to work like a Trojan, Pam’s great gift was that she never stopped looking and thinking, and she never became cynical. Every day, every project was a fresh opportunity for Pam to learn and to shine.

She was quite possibly the only person I’ve ever known with endless creative resilience.

I’m not sure anybody meeting Kate or Pam for the first time would recognise their gifts. It took me awhile to understand how lucky I was. The same was true of Jonathan.

Working in television, I was surrounded by ambitious young men determined to make a splash. Many were brilliant, some were fun, but it was always hard to trust any of them.

They seemed more committed to their fame than to their work. Jonathan was different. He came to me, wanting to direct a series I was producing. On paper, he didn’t really have the track record for it.

What he did have was a burning desire for the assignment and real respect for the team. I knew I could trust Jonathan to treat people well and to aim high. I was right, but I underestimated him.

He built relationships with that team that lasted for years. He proved that he cared about everyone’s success.

Kate, Pam and Jonathan all have outstanding professional skills. But these days, towering competence is an entry level requirement: you don’t get in without it.

To my mind, this triumvirate was outstanding for three reasons: they had a great attitude, were brilliantly creative and could be trusted.

I’ve learned never to hire anyone without a great attitude – by which I mean a passion for hard work, an eagerness to succeed and a commitment beyond oneself.

Most people have this, which is just as well since it is virtually impossible to teach. What matters most is building on that enthusiasm: recognise it, reward it, and set a great example.

Kate’s attitude was impressive because it sought out problems to fix. She always went beyond the assignment.

Creativity probably can’t be taught either. Managing it requires open-mindedness and vision.

I don’t recall ever giving Pam a very detailed brief; I would only ever discuss what we needed her designs to achieve. How those goals were reached was her genius, not mine.

Of course, I trusted her. Just as I trusted Jonathan, to treat talent with respect and to handle relationships with care. It’s really impossible to conduct any kind of business without trust. Teamwork depends on it.

Client and customer relationships don’t last without it – no matter what the contract says. Everyone who worked with Jonathan learned to trust him. Kate, Pam and Jonathan had more talents than I can enumerate.

But they were stars because they demonstrated great attitude, phenomenal creativity and because I could – did – trust them with anything. They said they were lucky to work for me but I see it the other way round.

They taught me much that I was lucky to learn. Who’s teaching you today?