Getting Leader Hiring Right

Leadership is the most important thing in the boardroom, on the battlefield, and in life.

One of the most important and overlooked roles a leader has is the responsibility of building a team in the first place. Before assimilation and recognizing the potential impact of a new hire, the leader must assess her/his team, identify gaps and single points of failure, and then prioritize hiring leaders and team members.

As we approach 2024, business kickoffs and plans for hiring start to come into focus. Few things are as important as getting the leadership hiring component right to ensure success in the year ahead.

In the executive hiring space, listed below are a few common pitfalls to avoid when assessing, selecting, and hiring the leaders you need:

• ?Failure to Pre-define Success – When consulting on searches, I often explain that failing to define success in hiring is akin to going to the grocery store hungry. You buy things that look good, and taste good initially, but aren’t good for you. Before searching for an executive, ensure you know the attributes that define success in your firm, your teams, and the specific role. Ask, “What defines your top performers?”
• Resume Seduction – a common tendency that ignites the “likeability” bias and creates a general positive outlook among executive search consultants and members of the interview team. This temptation centers around over-indexing industry experience, time/experience with competitor firms, and the accomplishments listed on their resume.
• Evaluating the Role via ‘Table Stakes – “experience tells you where someone has been, character tells you where they are going.” If your search and interview teams are assessing only those items listed in the job specification, they are excluding the character attributes or the “how” behind the successes. Every candidate presented will meet the requirements for the role – a truly narrow margin on which to make a hiring decision. Instead, evaluate and assess the attributes – drive, integrity, ‘team-ability,’ resiliency, integrity, and effective intelligence to name a few.
• Nepotism – often the hardest pitfall to avoid. The trust, camaraderie, and success you’ve had with those you’ve worked with previously does not necessarily equate to success in a new environment. Teams, environments, and systems matter, so make sure those considered possess the success attributes for the role in YOUR firm. And put them to the test.
• No Data-based Assessment – despite the thousands of leader interviews I’ve done over 25+ years, it took someone explaining that a “gut” call may simply be an acronym for “gave up thinking.” Predictive assessments such as the Hogan or Caliper can add the “DNA data” that bolsters your decision to hire or uncovers attributes that run counter to success in your firm. When assessing executive candidates, for me these are a must.

No hiring process will ever be perfect, but avoiding these common pitfalls will improve your hiring of leaders, immediately.

If you’d like to learn more, I can be reached at [email protected]