Companies spend months sourcing top leaders for their executive teams – at great cost – yet often these newly appointed leaders fail to perform to expectation, which further impacts on the morale and bottom line of an organisation. In many cases, the fault can be traced back to the hiring brief, which is often informed by outdated ideas of what makes a good leader, an expert says.
“After 20 years sourcing senior leaders, executives and CEOs, and having taken more than 2000 briefs from boards and hiring managers, we continue to hear the same descriptive words and phrases used time and time again, which points to a common belief system that hiring managers have about what a successful leader looks like,” says Debbie Goodman-Bhyat, CEO of Jack Hammer, rated one of the top 3 executive search firms in South Africa.
