These Organizations Use Talent Brokers. Why You Should Too.

In an article a few weeks ago, our executive search firm, Offor Walker Group, declared that executive search was broken. Why? Because executive search is built upon the myth that landing a top job is about the candidate's merit, when it is not.

So, what should stand in the place of search?

What already happens between top organizations + the 800 leaders in our network quietly looking for what is next:

Talent brokering. (v.) Leveraging knowledge of -- and access to -- both sides of a talent relationship; creating a vision for what that potential relationship could be; and initiating and advocating for mutually beneficial introductions.*

Kira Orange Jones was my first talent broker.

Kira leveraged her knowledge of my talents, hopes and dreams; matched it with the fundraising needs of Teach For America; and advocated for a meeting between senior leader, Kevin Huffman, and me.

Without Kira as a broker, Teach For America might have focused on the fact that I had never raised money before (besides Girl Scout cookies, which practically sell themselves), instead of the fact that I had a track record of convincing people to do things they'd never imagined doing.

Already, organizations like One Goal, Blue Engine, Teaching Trust, iMentor, Educators for Excellence, Baystate Academy, Lighthouse Academies, Transcend Education, Leading Educators, Teach For America and many others have trusted OWG to formally introduce them to top talent -- and now your organization can too.

There are 800 leaders in OWG’s network right now quietly looking for what is next.

What's next might be joining you, your cause -- your team.

To learn more about joining the invite-only  talentBench network, reach out to Founder & CEO of the Offor Walker Group, Ify Walker, at [email protected].

* Thank you to Lea Crusey for inspiring our definition of talent brokering.