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HATTIE: Number 7. You must create an environment for employees to thrive. Tom Gegax built TirePlus from zero to hundreds of million in sales. He believes it is his ability to hire and coach people that is key to his success. Tom shares his four-step coaching process.

TOM: I think there are four steps, that if a small business owner misses any one of these four steps, then their relationship with either their employees or their spouse -- which is critical in any business -- is at risk.

The first is to understand the other -- the expectations of their employees. Truly understand what do they expect out of being here, rather than just, "Hey, you need to do this, you need to do that." What do they expect.

The second is what they expect of them. Being clear. We sometimes think employees should be mind readers. They really need to be able to understand, "Okay, what do you like in terms of hours?" What about your specifics -- what kind of things you want me to do? You know, those kind of things really need to be clear.

Then the third step is to be able to give them feedback on how their doing.

HATTIE: That's the coaching (#4).

TOM: Yeah, that's the coaching. I mean, giving them the immediate feedback … that we talked about earlier. The fourth step is asking, "How we're doing as managers or leaders or coaches?" We rarely ask that one. "Hey, how am I doing?" And you know what they usually say, 'Oh, you're doing fine.' Okay. Then what a leader should say -- there's an old, called a rule of three. People will lie until the third time. So you ask him, 'How am I doing?' They say, 'Great.' Then you say, 'Are you sure? Come on.' 'Yeah, you're doing great.' 'Come on, you're not telling me there isn't -' So finally they say, 'Well there are a few things.' So you say, 'What are the three things you like about how I'm doing? And, what are three things that I can do better? And, you start saying that to certain employees, wow, you're going to hear some powerful things.

HATTIE: Jon O'Keefe needs creativity from employees so he looks for the unusual then works to build a team.

JON: People buy people first. And we employ people here--you know, we employ people because they're unusual, they're different. They think outside the box. They're different types of people. You know, one guy came to an interview in a checked suit, a totally tartan checked suit. And, you know, this guy was unusual, but he was actually capable of being able to deliver as well.

HATTIE: Where is this guy now?

JON: Well, that's actually Nick. He's our technical director.

NICK: I actually turned up in a tartan suit. And he actually said to me, `He's either good or he's mad.' And he made the decision that I was good. JON: I employed a copywriter because his last job on his CV, well, he was a human cannonball for a circus. So you look for unusual people, as long as they've got a skill base.

JON KEEFE: ........ Make sure that everyone understands exactly what they need to do, why they do it, when they need to do it for. It's kind of like a doctor's surgery. People are in and out every day. These guys all in here and the guys over in the sales office, it's a musketeer thing. It's all for one and one for all. And you have to create that kind of mentality.

HATTIE: Anne Beiler built from zero to $400 million in sales by focusing on making sure employees feel good. Ahmad Chabbani pays attention to the personal growth of each person at OMNEX.

MAHMOUD SERHANE: He can teach you anything. He can introduce you. He can help you build a good personality. He is a smart guy.

HATTIE: The key to succcess with people is clear! Thriving companies are lead by great communicators.