Agencies - The Modern Day Mercenaries
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So I was talking to a friend the other day. He's an Inc. 500 top fastest-growing companies founder and a Forbes top 30 under 30 leader. The guy is brilliant—smart and knows his stuff. It was kind of funny because, during our conversation, he mentioned hiring agencies as one of his biggest downfalls early on. A bit ironic, right? But early on in his company, he said, "If your interests and goals aren't completely aligned, it doesn't work. They obviously wanted us to be successful, but they weren't as reliant on that success as we were."
This reminded me of a book I read over 20 years ago, "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli. The wisdom in it is timeless. Machiavelli warned that "mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous." Back then, he cautioned against hiring external forces because they lacked a vested interest in your success.
Fast forward to today, and leaders echo the same sentiment. Before you hire an agency to handle a core piece of your business or buy into a magic bean of a strategy, remember: if your interests and goals aren't completely aligned, it won't work.
Agencies work for you, not with you. They move on to the next client without a vested interest in your success. It's that deep commitment that drives true excellence.
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