Cartographer Of Opportunity

Because Evergreen entrepreneurs don’t have the promise of a looming exit and payout to attract and retain top talent, they must turn to something else. “That something else, to me, is human nature,” says Quest Nutrition co-founder and president Tom Bilyeu. He says that one of the biggest problems business leaders face is a failure to acknowledge human nature and use it to their advantage. “Values and identity drive behavior,” says Bilyeu. “Your job is to create, define, explain and get your employees to embody a core set of values.” If a company hasn’t outlined its values, employees will act in accordance with their own — which opens the door to discord and ineffectualness.

Bilyeu explains how he helps employees pull in the same direction as his company, and why he’s more than happy to help poor cultural fits find a job that works better for them.