Our Blog
Insights, tidbits, musings, and hard-learned lessons during my years in business and recruiting all written and cataloged to hopefully, provide assistance.
Insights, tidbits, musings, and hard-learned lessons during my years in business and recruiting all written and cataloged to hopefully, provide assistance.
The right leadership team can transform a business.
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As one of my clients put it: "I can teach someone our business. I can't teach them leadership."
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Professional treatment of candidates isn't just the right thing to do—it's a competitive advantage.
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The best hiring managers force themselves to make tough decisions upfront about what they really need.
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In times like these, you need your top performers more than ever.
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The pendulum has swung all the way back. Now, employers are firmly in control
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You can't learn anything while you're talking
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Uncertainty is coming from all directions
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There's only one right way to let someone go
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Conditions appear right for a meaningful uptick
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Get back to candidates promptly once you have decided they will not win the job
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It turns out that the phrase “rock star” means very different things to different people
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The vast majority of candidates have nothing to worry about
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Stay professional, always, no matter what
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Most executive level jobs are filled through personal connections
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To nail your next interview, resolve to be a great listener
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When done well, references are as important as the interview
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Running a company with a dysfunctional board of directors is impossible
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The best recruiters I know are grinders
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Brains, work ethic, and education are never enough.
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Are you making an effort to grow your relationship equity?
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For candidates, calibrating the right balance of buying and selling can be tough
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Is your company taking advantage of this buyer’s market?
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Clients range in size from raw startups to $2B+ and are located all over the country
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Referrals and networking will continue to be the best was to hire and get hired
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Running a subsidiary company can be interesting, fun and extremely rewarding
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AI will make high touch professional services even more highly differentiated and valued
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Finding a healthy balance is essential to long term success
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Looking for an executive level job is still all about leveraging personal relationships
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The Wizard of Oz: That's what I call a prospective candidate who's impossible to pin down for a meeting.
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Houseplants stop growing when they reach the limits of the pots in which they are planted.
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A psychology degree does not guarantee its holder has any special insight into people.
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Leaders who churn employees are chaos agents
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Owners who focus on control always hit a ceiling
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Without exception, the CEOs expressed deep dissatisfaction with hybrid work
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One sector continues to thrive, while another is severely depressed
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Sooner or later, we are going to have a recession. When that happens, young office workers will be in for a very rude awakening indeed.
Read MoreThere are several paths to the top job. I outline them in this 1.5 minute video.
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If you are dragging your feet, you will lose most of your candidates.
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We’re in the early stages of a historic change in how work gets done.
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Many people think they want to work in a startup. Most of them are wrong.
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How can you land that first board seat? It’s a lot more difficult than it looks.
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Starting at the beginning of the second quarter, however, I foresee a rapid acceleration of executive hiring as the coronavirus is brought under control and companies dial up spending.
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Companies that don’t treat candidates well eventually earn a reputation that repels talent.
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When it comes to teams, superstars aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.
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With the end of the pandemic in sight, businesses will spend more freely in order to position themselves for the recovery.
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All of my European clients wrestle with that question. Usually it becomes a question of East versus West.
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Yes, remote work brings some advantages, but they are far outweighed by the downsides.
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How do you come up to speed when you can’t meet colleagues in-person or go to the office?
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Look at your own executive team. Is this the group you need to lead your company through the coming years?
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Not long ago, the market for medical device executives was red hot. Things have changed a lot in the last 8 weeks.
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Why have so many managers failed to master this fundamental skill? It's simple: they're never taught how to do it. Most companies don't realize their employees need help. On the surface, interviewing looks like a simple skill that doesn't…
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There's universal agreement that diet and exercise are the key to good health, but few people have the discipline to change their habits. Similarlt, everyone agrees that references are critically important to the hiring process, yet very few people…
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In today's challenging business environment companies must exploit every competitive advantage. One of the most important is having a skilled and engaged board of directors.
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Hiring them, however, is easier said than done. The best are rare, difficult to find and hard to attract. Competition for them is intense. When companies need to recruit the best executive talent, they retain an executive search consultant. Executive…
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Everyone knows it’s hard to hit a moving target. In the world of recruiting, there’s a common problem I call Moving Target Syndrome (let’s call it MTS). In the classic presentation of MTS, the hiring company keeps changing…
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Videoconference is great for a call with your mom. But it’s not great for judging candidates, or for convincing them to join your company. I understand why Skype and its peers are increasingly popular for interviewing. Everyone wants to…
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The Wall Street Journal continues to report on the saga of Theranos, the former Silicon Valley darling that continues its epic self-immolation. On March 24, Christopher Weaver and John Carreyrou reported that Theranos is offering investors…
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If you’re a hiring manager, you know the job market is as hot as it’s been in years. Competition for talent is intense. That means it’s harder to attract great new employees, and harder to keep the ones you already have. What…
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The candidate had a solid background, but there were some strange transitions on his resume. He’d landed a big overseas posting with a prestigious company, then abruptly left a year later for a lesser position back in the US. It didn’t…
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Back in September, I attended MassDevice DeviceTalks Boston. As usual, the MassDevice folks put on a terrific program. One of the featured speakers was Jeff Burbank, Founder and CEO of NxStage Medical, the dialysis company. In…
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I’m recruiting a CEO for a medical device company that’s owned by a private equity firm. Last week, I was talking with one of the partners about his phone call with one of the candidates. He said, “The thing that distinguished…
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Networking is easy — except when you make it hard on yourself. Last month I ran into a medical device executive I’ve known for a couple of years (let’s call him Peter). He’s considering a job change and a couple months…
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Business Insider reported on a presentation by Kennedy School Professor Iris Bohnet at the Financial Times Women at the Top Conference in London. She spoke about decreasing bias in hiring. Bias is a real problem, and not just for candidates…
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The Wall Street Journal published an interesting piece on the challenge of finding job candidates who have soft skills. The author, Kate Davidson, writes: “Companies across the U.S. say it is becoming increasingly difficult to…
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Many up and coming leaders aspire to become a CEO. Landing that first CEO job is tough, and I'm often asked for advice on how to do it. It's a tricky question. In my own work on CEO searches, it's unusual to see companies willing take a risk on someone…
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Many up and coming leaders aspire to become a CEO. Landing that first CEO job is tough, and I'm often asked for advice on how to do it. It's a tricky question. In my own work on CEO searches, it's unusual to see companies willing take a risk on someone…
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Many up and coming leaders aspire to become a CEO. Landing that first CEO job is tough, and I'm often asked for advice on how to do it. It's a tricky question. In my own work on CEO searches, it's unusual to see companies willing take a risk on someone…
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Many up and coming leaders aspire to become a CEO. Landing that first CEO job is tough, and I'm often asked for advice on how to do it. It's a tricky question. In my own work on CEO searches, it's unusual to see companies willing take a risk on someone…
Read More
Many up and coming leaders aspire to become a CEO. Landing that first CEO job is tough, and I'm often asked for advice on how to do it. It's a tricky question. In my own work on CEO searches, it's unusual to see companies willing take a risk on someone…
Read More
Many up and coming leaders aspire to become a CEO. Landing that first CEO job is tough, and I'm often asked for advice on how to do it. It's a tricky question. In my own work on CEO searches, it's unusual to see companies willing take a risk on someone…
Read More
Many up and coming leaders aspire to become a CEO. Landing that first CEO job is tough, and I'm often asked for advice on how to do it. It's a tricky question. In my own work on CEO searches, it's unusual to see companies willing take a risk on someone…
Read More
Many up and coming leaders aspire to become a CEO. Landing that first CEO job is tough, and I'm often asked for advice on how to do it. It's a tricky question. In my own work on CEO searches, it's unusual to see companies willing take a risk on someone…
Read More
Many up and coming leaders aspire to become a CEO. Landing that first CEO job is tough, and I'm often asked for advice on how to do it. It's a tricky question. In my own work on CEO searches, it's unusual to see companies willing take a risk on someone…
Read More
Many up and coming leaders aspire to become a CEO. Landing that first CEO job is tough, and I'm often asked for advice on how to do it. It's a tricky question. In my own work on CEO searches, it's unusual to see companies willing take a risk on someone…
Read More
Many up and coming leaders aspire to become a CEO. Landing that first CEO job is tough, and I'm often asked for advice on how to do it. It's a tricky question. In my own work on CEO searches, it's unusual to see companies willing take a risk on someone…
Read More
Many up and coming leaders aspire to become a CEO. Landing that first CEO job is tough, and I'm often asked for advice on how to do it. It's a tricky question. In my own work on CEO searches, it's unusual to see companies willing take a risk on someone…
Read More
Many up and coming leaders aspire to become a CEO. Landing that first CEO job is tough, and I'm often asked for advice on how to do it. It's a tricky question. In my own work on CEO searches, it's unusual to see companies willing take a risk on someone…
Read More