Hiring executives

Hire the right executive and your business will proper. The wrong one can ruin a company.

In a big company hiring an executive can take months. These positions are important to the overall operation and health of the business. In a small or mid-sized company, you often don't have the time or flexibility to vet literally hundreds of candidates. So how do you hire the right person for the job?

Like everything, it begins with the needs of the business
If you're hiring someone to take over the entire operation of the business, that is, if you are hiring a new president of the company, you should address how the new person compares to the outgoing. Even in the biggest of companies, changing the president can bring about a culture shock, for the small and medium business it is a foregone conclusion. You of course want to hire the right person for the job, but many factors must come in to play. .

Where is the fit?
Hiring someone to take over the business from a single point of leadership is perhaps the most challenging fit. The new president will need a transition period no matter who you chose, but how do you chose the right person? The fit will require a scorecard approach. In larger businesses weaknesses among candidates can be mitigated by strengths of other executives and you can go for the most skilled in the business domain the executive presides over. In smaller and mid-sized companies you rarely have this option. You are going to have a mixed bag of candidate strenghts and weaknesses. Trying to find the perfect executive may be a lofty goal, but it's more likely that the perfect candidate will be someone who grows in to the role.

What traits should you be looking for in an executive?
If you said "confidence" go to the back of the line. Intelligence is the number one assett, and very intelligent people don't often display the false confidence that is so prevalent in many mid-level, average performance managers. Intelligent people (not always, but usually) solve problems. This is most important for COOs and other executives who are not the president of the company. The CEO solves problems at a very high level, and only as a small part of his job. He is more of the risk assessment analyzer and the person who should set the vision and tone of the business. The second most important trait is a calm approach to solving problems. If you can rattle someone in an interview, you sure don't want that person in front of your most important customer. .

The summary:
Perhaps nothing is more important to a small or mid-sized business than selecting the right executive. The key is in balancing all of the positives and negatives of all of the candidates, and the going with the one who logically has the best chance for success. This is not a time when you should fall prey to sob stories of job hoppers who may have impressive resume's from five big companies. More often than not, your best approach is to actively recruit the candidate.

The John Galt approach to business.