How To Hire the Wrong Leader

The proclamation that 2009 has been a tough business year is hardly a revelation. And the prophesy that 2010 will be difficult is not news. When was the last year that owning or running a thriving business was easy?

The real issue is not the current environment. Rather, it's getting positioned for the coming opportunities, and having the right leaders to seize them. Whether you’ve engaged the best executive search firm or are finding and selecting right new leaders on your own, the focus is usually on how to hire the right leader.

Yet business too often hires a wrong leader. How do you do that?

To start, allow yourself to be won over by a candidate’s appearance, presence intelligence or affability. Be wowed by education or the reputation of a former employer. Don’t focus on their track record.

Look at the job titles they held and the job descriptions, not what they did with the opportunity they were given or how they actually impacted their organizations.

See how quickly you can fill a key job. Don’t examine the whys and hows of candidate claims or take the time for your colleagues to interview them. And checking references or doing background checks is time consuming. Don’t test the candidate to see whether they’d actually leave their current employer, or whether they (and their family) would actually relocate. Select the first candidate that looks good and don’t search for others for comparison to find the best for your organization.

Alternatively, take all the time you want. Believe that you’re the only one pursuing a great candidate who must be waiting only for your offer. Give them time to consider signing on with another organization. And don’t sell your opportunity to them. Be confident that they should be able to see that yours is the best or only great opportunity.

When it comes to making an offer, you decide what they’re worth. Try to get them as cheaply as possible. Don’t be concerned with what they’re earning or what the market may command for their expertise. And you shouldn’t worry about relocating their spouse or their children – that’s not your problem.

If skills and pedigree look right, you shouldn’t be concerned with how they will fit your culture or how they might go about changing it. Can they do the job or can’t they? They’ll just have to fit in, or their new employees or colleagues will just have to change to fit with them. Don’t worry about the disasters that culture misfits usually leave in their wake. You can assume that anything that’s wrong with the candidate you can fix after you get them.

Hire only from companies your size. If you’re driving to double your size, don’t be concerned that that talent you hire will not have the experience to grow to or lead a larger enterprise.

Recruit from within your narrow industry segment. Looking for unique ideas, viewpoints and perspectives would only be disruptive.

And assume that your organization is not good enough to attract the best talent to lead the growth or transformation you want.

Finally, ignore your gut. If there’s something about a candidate, their claims, their background or their fit that just doesn’t feel right, hire them anyway. They make a good impression and they look great on paper.

As for any great leaders you do hire, assume they’re not going anywhere -- no need for you to work on their retention. True, they may be among the top candidates pursued by the best retained search firms. But you wouldn’t want to make our work more difficult. Would you?