Danish business magazine Berlingske Nyheds Magasin did an article recently picking their management dream team, naming executives from various organizations to the positions of CEO, CTO, CFO, chairman of the board, etc…

This is their dream team:

What is this, the Borgs? You must assimilate. Resistance is futile. You must become a man aged 35-50 and wear a dark suit and a tie.

Why is no one wearing jeans and a T-shirt? Why are there no men with long hair or just a beard? Where are the ethnic minorities? Why only one woman? Where are the older people? Where are the people under 35?

I was wondering why this search for a dream team resulted in an ethnically homogeneous group of identically dressed, identically looking people of the same age, and I had to laugh when I saw this picture of the people who chose the dream team:

If ever there was proof of the temptation to hire in your own image, this is it right here. A group of corporate-looking men (and one woman) aged 35-50 choose a management dream team of corporate-looking men (and one woman) aged 35-50.

My tip: When you hire people, be it employees or leaders, make sure to hire people who are not like you. After all, your company already has a you. People who are not like you are bound to make you a little uncomfortable and that’s fine. That just means that you’re not totally sure of what makes them tick. The’yre consequently more likely to surprise you and to contribute something new to the organization.