Foreword xiii
Introduction 1
About This Book 2
Foolish Assumptions 2
Icons Used in This Book 2
Beyond the Book 3
Where to Go from Here 3
Part 1: The World of Executive Recruiting 5
Chapter 1: 3, 2, 1, Blastoff! Getting Started with Executive Recruiting 7
What Is Executive Recruiting? 8
Ace of Case: The Business Case for Executive Recruiting 9
A Demanding Supply Issue 10
Oh, Grow Up! The Growth of Executive Recruiting 11
Chapter 2: Talent Show: Why Talent Matters 13
Value Pack: Redefining Value in the Knowledge Economy 14
Paradigm Shift: Understanding the New Recruiting Paradigm 15
Triple Play: Three Steps for Tapping Top Talent 16
Step 1: Figure out what you're looking for 16
Step 2: Find people with the knowledge and qualities you seek 18
Step 3: Hire the person who best matches your needs 18
Chapter 3: Rock and Role: The Role of Recruiting in Business 21
That'll Cost You: The High Cost of Poor Hiring 23
Hocus Focus: Putting the Focus on Hiring 25
Fitty Cent: Fitting In and Fading Out 26
Chapter 4: Key Club: Identifying Key Personal Characteristics 29
Work Your Core: 28 Attributes of Successful Executives 30
Character 31
Intellect 32
Business intelligence 33
Leadership 34
Emotional intelligence 35
Super Fly: Avoiding Superficial Evaluation Factors 36
Flew the Coop: Building a Cooperative Culture 37
Part 2: Planning Your Search 39
Chapter 5: Plan Do! Devising a Plan 41
Plan Up: Putting Your Plan Together 42
Sharing your plan 45
Looking at a sample plan 46
You SLA Me! Hammering Out the Service-Level Agreement 48
Defining expectations in an SLA 48
Looking at a simple SLA 49
Chapter 6: Team Up: Assembling Your Search Team 51
Who's on Your Executive Search Team? 51
The hiring team 52
The recruiting team 52
The support team 53
Search Me! Assembling a Solid Search Committee 54
Chair-y Picking: Selecting the Search Chair 55
External Affairs: Choosing an External Recruiter 56
Budgetary considerations 57
Retained recruiters versus contingency recruiters 58
Niche recruiters versus generalists 59
Big firms versus boutiques 60
Critical questions for external recruiters 61
The recruiter scorecard 65
Chapter 7: Dividing to Conquer: Parceling Out Your Process 69
Analyze This: Performing a Needs Analysis 70
Confirming the need 70
Defining the requirements 71
What's Up, Doc? Generating the Necessary Documentation 71
Research Engine: Researching the Market 72
Source Code: Sourcing Candidates 74
Recruit Pursuit: Recruiting Candidates 74
The Big Short: Interviewing Your Short List 75
Point of Reference: Checking References 76
Sound Off: Making an Offer 76
All Aboard: Onboarding the New Hire 77
Get Your Kicks: Hosting a Kickoff Meeting 78
Here Comes Trouble: Troubleshooting Your Hiring Project 80
When your search hasn't yielded enough qualified candidates 80
When your hiring process takes too long 83
When good candidates drop out after the first interview 83
When good candidates refuse the offer 84
Chapter 8: Don't Be a Tool: Exploring the Tools of the Trade 85
Daily Digest: Our Everyday Tools 86
Tools for connecting with professionals 86
Project-management tools 87
Assessment tools 87
Communication tools 88
Recruitment Rock Stars: Following Top Thought Leaders 89
Even More Recruiter Tools 90
Leading social networks 90
Recruiter associations 94
Mobile recruiting apps 95
Miscellaneous recruiter resources 96
Part 3: Doing the Pre-Search Prep Work 99
Chapter 9: Resign of the Times: Reacting to a Resignation 101
Lizard Warning: Getting Control of Your Lizard Brain 101
What not to do 102
Reprogramming the simulator 103
Next Steps: Key Decisions after a Resignation 104
Do we really need a replacement? 104
Can you use the succession plan? 105
What level of competency is required? 106
Chapter 10: Documentation Station: Generating the Necessary Documentation 109
First Things First: Who Is Your Client? 110
Order Up: Writing the Job Order 112
What is the job title? 114
Where is the job located? 114
Who will the new hire report to? 114
What does the position entail? 115
What kind of compensation are we talking? 116
Why is the position open? 116
What type of educational background is required? 116
What type of experience are you looking for? 117
What type of management style would you prefer? 118
What personality type would be the best fit? 119
How important is executive presence? 119
What is the pattern of growth or decline for the company, division, and/or group during the last two years? 120
How quickly does the client expect the new hire to make a contribution and what results does the client expect? 120
What is the key to success for this position? 120
Detail Work: Detailing the Job Description 120
Performing a SWOT analysis 121
Drafting the job description 124
Comparing apples to apples 127
Finding wiggle room 127
Soliciting input 128
Styling and Profiling: Composing the Position Profile 129
Ad It Up: Writing a Solid Job Ad 132
Bad job ad 132
Attention-grabbing ad 133
No Resume? No Worries! Collecting a Confidential Candidate Brief 138
Building the form for a confidential candidate brief 139
A sample confidential candidate brief for a CFO 140
Reviewing a confidential candidate brief 143
Guidance System: Creating a Detailed Interview Guide 143
Contents of the interview guide 144
Sample questions 145
Chapter 11: Research Party: Conducting Candidate Research 147
Hope Is Not a Strategy: The Importance of Candidate Research 147
Texas Hold 'Em or Fantasy Football? 148
Your Step-by-Step Research Guide 150
Meeting with the search committee 151
Meeting with individual committee members 151
Seeking help from former candidates and from colleagues 154
Scouring public databases for candidates 154
Researching companies 155
Researching industries 157
Chapter 12: What Is This Sourcer-y? Sourcing Candidates 159
Back to the Future: Modern Sourcing 160
Sock It to Ya: Sourcing's One-Two Punch 161
High-level sourcing 162
Ferreting out the details by phone 164
Wooly Boolie: Using Boolean Logic to Simplify Sourcing 164
Sample Size: Conducting a Sample Search 166
Searching on LinkedIn 166
Searching on Google 170
Keep It Going: Sourcing on an Ongoing Basis 172
Cruising alumni networks 172
Reaching out to your extended network 172
Keeping track of the competition 172
Building your brand 173
Stacking your bench 173
Powering up HR 174
Part 4: Locating and Evaluating Candidates 175
Chapter 13: Recruit Reboot: Recruiting Top Candidates 177
Passive Aggressive: Passive versus Active Candidates 177
A-Listers: Paring Down Your List 180
Assessing your farm team 180
Sifting through resumes and online applications 181
Evaluating referrals from your network 181
Checking the hot list 183
Following up on your targeted list 184
Bench Press: Benchmarking Your Search 184
Choosing the benchmark candidate 186
Approaching and interviewing the benchmark candidate 186
After the interview 187
Head Case: Headhunting Prospects 188
Making initial contact 188
(Dis)qualifying the candidate 192
What's next? 196
Chapter 14: Interview Interlude: Interviewing Top Candidates 197
Stage Right: Understanding the Progressive Two-Stage Interview Process 198
Stage 1: Identify, evaluate, engage 199
Stage 2: The five-part robust interview 199
Preppy Handbook: Prepping for Each Interview 201
Sending the itinerary 201
Reviewing documentation about the candidate and position 202
Getting the hiring team up to speed 203
Preparing documentation for the candidate 203
Afterburner: After the Interview 204
Face Time: Conducting the First Face-to-Face Interview 205
Getting the candidate's story (again) 205
Fact-checking the candidate's story 208
Closing the interview 209
Chair Up! Conducting the Search Chair Interview 209
Getting the candidate's story (yet again) 210
Assessing whether the candidate can deliver the desired outcomes 210
Determining whether the candidate has solid interpersonal skills 212
Answering the candidate's questions and wrapping up the session 212
Closing the interview 213
Next steps 213
Hire Rise: Handling the Hiring Manager Interview 213
Assessing the candidate's systems thinking 214
Gauging the candidate's creative thinking 214
Evaluating the candidate's leadership style 214
Closing the interview 215
Finishing the Search Committee Interview 215
Prepping for the interview 216
Conducting the formal interview 217
Meeting informally 217
Next steps 217
Present Tense: Carrying Out the Candidate Presentation Interview 219
Candidate as Customer: The Importance of Candidate Experience 220
Chapter 15: Point of Reference: Checking References 223
Identifying the Two Big Questions Reference Checks Will Help You Answer 224
Can the candidate do the job? 224
Is the candidate a danger to others or to your company? 225
Who Should Do Reference Checks? (Hint: The Hiring Manager) 226
Formulating a Plan 227
Who You Gonna Call? 228
Direct references 230
Indirect references 233
Steering the Conversation 234
Chapter 16: Happily Ever After: Sealing the Deal 239
Pay Up: Calculating Compensation 240
Compensation tips 241
Assembling a compensation checklist 242
Everything's Negotiable: Negotiating Like a Pro 245
Preparing for negotiations 246
Choosing the negotiator 247
Projecting a positive attitude 248
Breaking an impasse 248
Special Delivery: Delivering the Offer 249
Counter-Intuition: Dealing with Counteroffers 250
Agree to Agree: Composing a Solid Employment Agreement 252
All Aboard! Onboarding 253
Finders Keepers: Retaining Top Talent 254
Challenge 254
Communication 255
Compensation 256
Part 5: The Part of Tens 257
Chapter 17: Ten Key Principles of Effective Executive Recruiting 259
Remember It's Always a Seller's Market 259
Sell First, Buy Later 260
Be Opportunistic 260
Use a Boutique Search Firm 260
Be the First to Walk Away 261
Build a Farm Team and Draft Only A-Players 261
Seal the Deal with Psychic Cash 261
Leverage Your "Manning Factor" 261
Qualify for Integrity 262
Don't Hire a Liar 262
Chapter 18: Ten Keys to Working Successfully with the Search Committee 263
Identify a Clear Agenda for the Board 263
Agree on a Prioritized Sourcing Strategy 264
Articulate the Organization's Return on Investment for Recruiting 264
Set Realistic Expectations 264
Do a Reality Check 265
Be Consistent with the Messaging 265
Create an Emotional Link 266
Conduct a Discerning Candidate Analysis 266
Negotiate a Successful Offer 266
Let the Search Chair Close the Sale 267
Chapter 19: Ten Reasons to Use a Professional Recruiter 269
Satisfying Stakeholders 269
Easing Your Burden 270
Reducing Opportunity Cost 270
Being Nimble 270
Building Trust 271
Being Discreet 271
Inviting Continuous Improvement 271
Bringing Competitive Intelligence 272
Increasing Retention 272
Getting Your Money's Worth 272
Glossary 273
Index 281
