Last week, a disenchanted mid-level executive with 20 years ‘in’ at a large company, came to see me with a his job wish list. It included CEO of a start-up, divisional general manager of a mid-sized company, country manager for a foreign company selling into Canada, or senior vice-president in a large company. The executive also noted that it did not matter to him whether the company was characterized by high growth or turnaround since he could do either. His only proviso was that, “I do not want to do steady state”.
I have previously written about why I do not believe candidates should take such a shotgun approach to targeting a job (see “A Headhunter Pushes Back” on our web site). But when I challenged him a little about the array of job choices he put forth, he took offence and asked how I could know whether he was capable of addressing each and every one of these roles unless I spent 2-3 hours going line by line through his resume and many accomplishments. Furthermore, as one of the ‘gatekeepers’ to the jobs he wanted, what right did I have to block him from being able to sell himself to each and every organization on his target list. If I was unwilling to do my job properly, I should get out of the way and let the clients decide.
Now I know that transitions are a difficult period in everyone’s life, and I deserve everything I get if I ever, ever, appear disrespectful or dismissive of someone’s plight or their many accomplishments. But please let me explain a few things as I do not intend to get into one of these awkward situations again.
First, if you reach out to me and I agree to meet with you (which 99% of the time I will), it is a courtesy interview. I do a couple of these every day and it is outside what I am paid to do which is look for people on behalf of my clients. If I am working on a search that appears to line up with your skills and experience, trust me I will drill down into your resume in great detail. Otherwise it is supposed to be a ‘greet and meet’, a chance for you to get on my radar screen and to get a reading on the marketplace.
Second, I challenge people because I am a big fan of self-awareness. Few attributes predict the likelihood of good job decision-making not to mention the developmental potential of an individual than self-awareness. I challenge you to check it out if you do not believe me. Because of this, I tend to poke and probe about where individuals shine and why, how they affect the people around them, the people with whom they work most effectively, the various contexts in which they have worked, their adaptability and range of skills, their career and development trajectories and plans, the extent to which they solicit feedback how they respond to it, the mentors and developmental initiatives they have pursued etc, etc etc. Executives who perform well in these types of discussions are considered self-aware.
Self-aware executives tend to be focused when discussing next steps in their career, the roles and companies they seek, and why. They know themselves, where they will thrive, where they won’t and they can discuss the issues intelligently. They talk to others in their target roles, they gather data, they ask for feedback on their thought processes and they contemplate the responses. What they don’t do is suggest that they can succeed in any job, anywhere, anytime. What they do not do is claim to be experts in addressing every business context out there. And they do not dismiss feedback as the ranting of an idiot.
But henceforth, here is my pledge. The next guy who comes in to see me and announces that after 20 years of being a loyal foot soldier in a large multinational military force, he has decided he wants to be the general of a Canadian startup commando force, (because he has come to realize that he hates bureaucracy and he has really always been entrepreneurial within that massive corporation), I hereby promise to give him two thumbs up on that great idea, and to give him a call just as soon as I get the perfect opportunity for him. Honestly, I promise. Now if he will just leave…
Looking for a dynamic HR role? Stay away from the entrepreneurial tech sector.
January 1, 2012
In a recent survey of HR graduate students, the technology sector rated among the most coveted destinations to ply their trade. It is viewed as a world of innovative people, technologies and approaches where progressive talent management, OB/OD and related HR work awaits.
The Cry to Replace RIM's CEOs – A Truly Dumb Idea
October 13, 2011
Leaving aside the recent service outages, the shellacking of RIM in the press is a tad surreal to behold.
For the few Luddites not familiar with the firm, Research in Motion is the successful Canadian smart phone pioneer with revenues of $20bb per year, no debt and cash in the bank. They manufacture products that remain popular around the world and continue to boast technological innovations unmatched by any competitor. Their most recently launched smart phone devices have been well reviewed and appear to be selling well. And though the company's first version of its new tablet, the Playbook, has room for improvement, it is a promising piece of technology.
Context: When Companies Confuse Start-up Experience for Start-up Experience
October 7, 2011
I had the occasion this week to chat with an entrepreneur still licking his wounds from a stalled startup venture. His tale is a reminder of how easily companies misunderstand organizational context when hiring. For startups, such a misunderstanding can be fatal.
The CEO Hiring Practices at HP
October 3, 2011
The press tells us that Hewlett Packard is the largest technology company in the world with revenues of $126bb. Impressive as those numbers may appear, they do not seem to impress HP's Board of Directors. You see they do not believe that any of the firm's 324,600 employees are capable of leading it. Not one person. Not this year or last year when CEO changes were made. In fact they were apparently not capable six years ago or even eleven years ago when CEO changes were also made. But before summarily indicting the firm's succession planning/leadership development programs, it is useful to consider the track record of the external candidates who were considered better choices than the firm's internal candidates. This analysis decidedly shifts the spotlight to the competence of Hewlett Packard's Board of Directors.
The Folly of Believing What You Read
September 19, 2011
Some time ago we posted a blog titled ‘So you REALLY want to be a CEO?' which looked at the human costs of climbing the upper rungs of the management ladder. The blog was based on a series of articles immediately following the ‘resignation' of Pfizer CEO Jeff Kindler. All of these articles presented a cautionary tale of life in the fast lane, the long hours, the extensive global travel, and the shareholder pressures that accompany an uncooperative stock price. They also spoke poignantly of the physical and emotional toll that such unrelenting pressure took on the Pfizer CEO who eventually resigned in order to attend to his family and health. As it turns out however, much of this narrative may not have been true
Before sending us your resume (and then getting frustrated with us) ask who we work for
July 25, 2011
A friend of mine is a trustee in bankruptcy. As his title suggests, he and his firm serves those contemplating the ‘cleansing' process of personal bankruptcy. Potential customers compare service providers, select one, and then pay the chosen firm a fee to initiate and manage the ensuing process on their behalf. However, as soon as the relief-seeking customer signs on the dotted line, the trustee's allegiance shifts to the creditors for whom they then seek to maximize debt recovery. This shift in who works for whom must be a tad unsettling for people who already have a heap of problems and stress on their hands.
What Dating Services Can Teach Companies About Hiring
June 1, 2011
Executive-level hiring is a decidedly aspirational endeavor. Organizations idealize their workplace cultures, select for attributes that will fit into those romanticized environments, and then immerse unsuspecting hires into their ice-cold reality of their works-in-progress.
How to Survive a Startup - by Jill Ram
April 20, 2011
If you're an executive and you're thinking of joining a start-up, know what stage of a start-up to join. If the company is in its first year or so, don't expect to make significant changes. If you join after the company is somewhat established and mistakes have been made and learned from, you'll likely be more successful from the outset. If the founder has stepped aside, well, by then, the company is likely not considered a start-up anymore. It won't be functioning like a big company yet, and it won't have all the structure in place that it needs, but it will be run with more practicality and with less emotion. Timing is everything so choose it well.
Good News for the Old, Overqualified and Overlooked
March 18, 2011
It is expected that a significant percentage of the baby boomer generation will drive right past the Freedom 55 highway exit. For many the goal of early retirement will have proven to be unattainable hype, while for others the ups and downs of working will appear more attractive than the prospects of working up and down the local lawn bowling leadership board.
Pressed for time? Blame those Benedictine Monks.
February 24, 2011
It is among the principal reasons candidates tell us they are open to consider a change in employers. They are tethered to it, yet somehow it still flees. It is time, the most precious of resources, and for many harried executives they want some of it back.
Though their relationship with time may be strained, it is worth pointing out that it was not always this way. In his fascinating book Time Wars, Jeremy Rifkin chronicles the evolution of our modern relationship with time. He points out that in traditional agrarian and pastoral cultures, time was a very naturalistic notion maintained in cyclical, repetitive, biological and even sacred terms. The ‘passing of time' was cued via the changing seasons, biological lifecycles and lunar patterns and thus, the cadence and tempo of those societies were finely tuned to the cyclical rhythms of their physical environments. As he states, "Our early ancestors coveted the circle, perceiving time as eternal return, a ceaseless repetition of an endless cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth". Since these cyclical rhythms could neither be accelerated, nor altered, the cadence of these societies' was natural and harmonious.
Self-Awareness and Courtesy Interviews - The Pledge of a Ranting Idiot
September 1, 2008