Coolers, closers, and cleaners

I bought a hat online and when I opened the package today, the receipt said “Dad Hat - SF Seals”. Apparently once you turn 30, your style starts shifting as well.

On to the next…

I listened to Pardon My Take last week with Tim Grover who is famously known for training Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. For those that don’t know, both MJ and Kobe are known as some of the most relentless competitors, not just in basketball, but in nearly everything they do.

It was fascinating insights to hear Tim speak about training them both. Tim’s job was to document and chart nearly everything MJ and Kobe did so he could create a specialized training program so they could perform at peak levels as long as possible. As you can imagine, he accumulated a significant amount of data and perspective learning from some of the world’s greatest athletes.

One part that Tim discussed on the podcast that I was really interested in was his description of competitors into 3 categories: coolers, closers, and cleaners. In short, this is the spectrum of successful people.

Coolers are those that can succeed if told what to do. They follow directions, avoid pressure and controversy, but are good at what they do. They are satisfied team players.

Closers get the job done if there are not that many variables thrown at them. They are one of the best (not THE best) and deal with pressure well. They love success but would choose security over winning.

Cleaners get the end result over and over again. They are consistently successful but never satisfied. MJ and Kobe are your stereotypical definition of cleaners. They want to be the best at all cost.

You can apply Tim’s categorization to the business world very easily.

I would imagine most highly successful people are somewhere between coolers and closers. These people are highly motivated and successful, but draw the line somewhere. There are few true closers in the world as they value success and winning over everything else in the world. Those types of people are extremely rare. Then there are coolers. These are great coworkers and teammates, but content. The majority of successful people are coolers.

At an early stage startup, you want to be looking for closers and cleaners. These are the type of people who take ownership and responsibility over building the company. They are not satisfied with doing well, but succeeding over and over again.

As companies grow bigger and more mature, you’ll get more coolers. There’s nothing wrong with that. Bigger companies have more defined processes that need smart and successful people to run. There’s nothing wrong with being a cooler — you just simply view life and work differently and that’s okay. Coolers meet expectations and are great teammates overall.

At Secfi, we’re a small team that’s nimble and growing. We’re looking to recruit closers and cleaners who are hungry to take on multiple responsibilities and win. I suspect this will change in the next few years as we hit more mature stages of the company.