Yes, the executive search business is one of the surest ways to meet the best and brightest professionals, on the top of their game…but as the law of averages suggests, there’s never a shortage of counter-balancing examples that leave us questioning the basic intelligence of humanity. Here are a few recent encounters that left us shaking our heads, and wondering: “Why???”

• Everyone has their own unique story, and part of that story is ...

As businesses continue to expand globally, it becomes imperative to conduct oneself in line with the customs of different countries.  American business men and women are sometimes blamed for committing blunders in etiquette when traveling abroad. In business transactions, this could mean the difference between a successful deal and a wasted trip. Even President Obama was oblivious to foreign customs when he gave former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown a set of DVD’s ...

It is a common and somewhat justified belief among executives closing in on their 60th birthdays, that their age is working against them.

They typically respond by revising their resumes — leaving off their college graduation date, preparing a topical resume (don’t get me started on my distaste for those) or picking an arbitrary date to start their career history on their resume, hoping the reader will think they fall within the coveted 45-50 years ...

It’s almost May and I’ve racked up 65,000 miles so far this year on United alone. Yes, I'm that tired looking man by the shoe shine place (by the way, I am now officially the Mayor of the Houston airport shoeshine kiosk on Foursquare). Many people ask me:  “What do you think of the merger of United and Continental?” Well, pull up a chair, sit back, relax (without fastening your seat ...

In United Airlines’ pre-flight welcome video, President Jeff Smisek, announces that United’s employees and customers are “treated with dignity and respect.” “Treat others as you want to be treated,” he says. While I have no insight into United’s culture beyond the smiling faces ensuring that my seatbelt is fastened and my Blackberry is turned off, as an executive recruiter I’ve learned a lot about how company cultures can impact the business. Indeed ...

We have been conducting executive searches for not-for-profits for nearly 25 years. In the early days, there was very little crossover of executives from corporate America to not-for-profits. And that was just fine with not-for-profits, because they felt executives from the corporate world would not fit in nor understand their culture. This has changed over the years for several reasons. With internet sites like GuideStar and Charity Navigator, many potential donors evaluate charities to ...

Visions of pulling your own "Greg Smith?" Before you walk out in a blaze of glory, stop and think about an exit with elegance.

Greg Smith’s loud, public and angry resignation from Goldman Sachs [GS  122.71    -2.19  (-1.75%)   ] in the op-ed section of The New York Times sent shock waves throughout corporate America, not because he left, but because of the way he left.

Can he live to work another day ...

Last week we blogged on what separated good executive recruiters from the not so good and commented that most of us stumbled into the executive search field.  Many times I meet people who comment, “I bet I would be really good at executive search because…” and give a reason.  I hate to dissuade them but if any of you are reading this blog, save yourself a lot of pain and a visit to a halfway ...

Executive search is not an easy gig – as we say, it is a business with an unstable product – but the best recruiters make it look easy. When hiring a search firm, the most frequent question we get is “How many CFO (or fill in the blank) searches have you done?” There are far better ways to assess an executive search partner, and ensure you are working with the best.

The truth is that most of ...

 “Always be, never appear to be”. Sage advice from my mother that elicited groans as a teenager, but that I can now appreciate fully in the executive search world, where it is particularly applicable. How you present yourself should always be the best – but still factually accurate – version of yourself, and as fact-checkers go, there is none better than Google. As a hiring manager, Google can be your best friend. It’s an extremely useful ...

Last week’s blog focused on the need for providing mentorship to professional women. Since we just celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8th, it seems timely to address an area of inequality that still needs significant improvement: increasing the percentage of qualified women who serve on company boards. Although women currently account for about 48 percent of the work force, they have nowhere near that representation at the executive levels or on corporate ...

Everyone was abuzz when LinkedIn published a study last October revealing that one in five professional women has never had a mentor. Honestly, those aren’t bad stats. Beyond the headline lies the truly alarming data. Of the Gen X and Gen Y women polled, only half reported that they’d been mentored by a more established woman during the course of their career. Another statistic from the study: 67% of women stated that they ...

It’s an election year and one of the major focal points for presidential candidates is the high unemployment rate.  In past blogs, we’ve given our perspective on what to expect for job prospecting in 2012, but let’s take a look at the facts.  While the media and pundits go back and forth over the Obama administration’s effect on the unemployment rate and which economists believe that full recovery will take place ...

With the popularity of books like “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” there is no doubt that if you can inspire cooperation amongst your team, you can more easily achieve greater personal and professional success. Why then, are so many leaders afraid of office politics?  The workplace is a complex environment, shaped by diverse personalities and competing agendas.  Learning to navigate office politics is crucial. While we aren’t running for office at ...

Finding a new position isn't easy. It takes time, more time than any respected profession warrants. In fact, after you reach a certain level of acumen in your chosen field, it's downright insulting to be part of this slow-moving process, waiting tirelessly to land that next, rightful position. But once the deal is done, you are ready. You are pleased with the compensation  package and determined to make a move.  And then what ...

You’ve found your perfect candidate, the interviewers all came back with glowing reports, and compensation expectations seem to line up. All that’s left is to speak with the candidate’s references, so you can verify that this candidate is the dream-come-true you’ve been looking for. The most straightforward approach to references is to ask the candidate for a list. Of course, one can be hardly surprised that references provided by the candidate would be friends and staunch advocates. Last fall, my colleague and fellow TAG blogger Amanda Brady provided great tips on how to get the most relevant and useful information from that list of cheerleaders. But what about going off the list, and speaking with others that person worked with or reported to in the past to get an off the record reference, or “backdoor reference”?

During the course of a year I bet I meet hundreds of executives.  Last year, I noticed a dramatic increase in the number of executives with an iPhone or other smartphone (but mostly iPhones) instead of a Blackberry. Although I initially dismissed it as a novelty, smartphones other than Blackberry have quickly become mainstream. The iPhone has surpassed Blackberry among business users. As many ponder dumping their Blackberries, it is common to see executives carry ...

One of my colleagues constantly admonishes - “people are an unstable product” – and in my experience, truer words have never been spoken.

It’s worth re-emphasizing that while the executive search business is one of the best ways to meet and work with fascinating, high-achieving individuals, there is never a shortage of encounters that leave you questioning the basic comprehension, courtesy, and common-sense of your fellow humans – especially when they are sending emails.

Like most people ...

Houston football fans had something to rejoice about this year.  For the first time in franchise history, the Houston Texans made the playoffs. In a league dominated by high-profile celebrity quarterbacks like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Drew Brees, the most remarkable aspect of the Texans’ playoff run is that they were led by a first year quarterback, T.J. Yates. Five months ago, before the start of the season, few people in Houston, let ...

2012 has arrived full tilt and along with it comes new goals for personal and business success.  Just as personal resolutions abound, business leaders are following suit, resolving to relentlessly and purposefully move their companies forward.

As noted in our blog last week, hiring is expected to increase this year. We have already seen evidence of this as the unemployment rate has recently dropped to 8.5 percent. Add to this mix,  CEO turnover among ...