The 5 Simple Rules I Follow to Maintain an Honest, Hard-Working, Awesome Team of People

I’ve been running my content agency Express Writers for nine years, and the part that still amazes me today is that we’ve never had a brick and mortar office. While other agencies eventually open concrete workplaces, I’ve kept my own brand with a staff of 90+ workers thriving completely on a remote basis.

So far, I’ve loved the advantages of working remotely with my team. I’m able to hire the best of the best from around the world, quite literally. I love the flexible schedule, the diversity, the work-from-home life, and the complete absence of office-related overhead costs. (Little did I know how much this would help me in the middle of a pandemic!)

But here’s a question many people I know ask me: how do you manage your team while working remotely? Isn’t it difficult when you can’t look over your employees’ shoulders to see if they’re doing things right?

The short answer is yes, it can be difficult. Unfortunately, I was even a victim of embezzlement by two managers I’d trusted with everything back in the day. They stole to the tune of $80,000, and tried to take my brand, clients, and even writers away from me. We recovered. And throughout the years, I’ve developed a system that allows me to lead my customer representatives in a way that complements my brand’s content marketing efforts. In fact, my team has become so amazing that 85–90% of leads visiting our site convert into buyers!

Here’s the (very simple) 5-step system I use to leading a great team that does give two shits about doing their job well — day in, day out.

1. Hire people who are humble, hungry, and smart.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “A great man is always willing to be little.”

I agree with this 100%, which is why humility is the first thing I look for during the hiring process. Humble people are a dream to work with because they receive criticism as an opportunity for growth instead of a hit to their ego. Experience has taught me that the hardest people to work with aren’t the total newbies, but the proud, inflexible 40-year-olds with decades of experience and numerous accolades to their name.