To what extent should your evaluative criteria vary depending on the situation you are facing? Potentially a lot. Suppose, for example, that you are taking a new job as vice president of sales, managing a geographically scattered group of regional sales managers. How would your criteria for evaluating people differ from those you would apply if you had been named to lead a new-product development project?
These jobs differ sharply in the extent to which your direct reports (1) operate independently and (2) are dispersed geographically. If your direct reports operate more or less independently, their capacity to work together will be far less important than if you were managing an interdependent product development team. On the other hand, the fact that your people are geographically dispersed may restrict your ability to develop them. If so, you will want them to have threshold levels of competence and judgment.
The criteria you apply may also depend on whether you are in a start-up, turnaround, realignment, or sustaining-success situation. In a sustaining-success situation, for example, you may have the time to develop one or two high-potential members of your team. In a turnaround, by contrast, you need people who can perform at a high level right away. Likewise, in a start-up you may be willing to trade off some trust for a higher level of energy and focus, whereas this would not be the case in a sustaining success situation.
It is worthwhile to spend some time thinking about the criteria you will use to evaluate your new team. Having done so, you will be better prepared to make a rigorous and systematic evaluation.