There comes a time when every leader must hire a manager -- someone who can take the reins and make sound decisions. Someone to identify the real issues and implement solutions. Someone who demonstrates leadership … but isn’t a clone of yourself.

Finding a manager with the right experience and desirable skill sets is a daunting challenge, particularly since the cost of making a bad hiring decision can be enormous. Selecting the wrong manager can result in poor employee morale, low productivity, and costly turnover.

Here are five key considerations for hiring the right manager.

1. Begin by making a list of requirements. An excellent work history and experience are just the start of a qualification list. It should also include detailed skills, competencies, and even character. Be specific in the talents that are needed, as well as the combination of traits that will best serve the organization -- both for now and five years down the road.
   
   
2. Consider candidates with complementary talents. Often leaders look to hire mirror images of themselves and their abilities. The best leaders, however, aren’t afraid to surround themselves with greater talent than their own. Hiring a manager with complementary skills and experience can catapault an organization to new levels of success.
   
   
3. Use the resume for screening, not for hiring. Hiring someone based solely on his or her resume simply means hiring a good resume writer. The resume should serve as a starting point for identifying the candidates you’ll want to interview, and as a pre-hiring step for checking references. 
   
   
4. Ask penetrating questions that encourage specific answers. Interviewing a prospective manager who must ultimately support the leadership vision and manage daily operations requires a highly rigorous approach. Compile a list of questions that will probe a candidate’s business acumen, self-awareness, and leadership intelligence. Use a critical line of questioning to explore his or her ability to accomplish tasks, handle interpersonal situations, and tackle challenges, and require candidates to illustrate their answers with specific examples.
   
   
5. Determine the importance of cultural fit. Most organizations believe hiring a manager with the right “chemistry” is equally important to hiring a manager with exceptional abilities. Determine upfront how significant a value alignment is to your organization, and pursue interview questions that will reveal a candidate’s compatibility. Answers to questions like, “What kind of environment do you need to be most successful?” can shed light on a candidate’s cultural preferences.

Once hired, transition can be tricky. It becomes the leader’s job to pave the way for the new manager. Keep egos from getting in the way, and provide ample support for this newest member of the team.