By the time we reach the executive ranks, we have all participated in assessments: DISC, Myers-Briggs (MBTI), Strengths Profile, etc. The problem with these assessments is that they are Ipsative, and unless the person has a high degree of self-awareness, these...

Remember when you were in high school and became frustrated working on teams selected by a numbering system? Some people understood the project goals and got to work. Others were disruptive, passive-aggressive, quiet, or otherwise in the way. Some simply goofed off....

How do you know you are hiring the very best? To really KNOW, you need to calibrate candidates against a large pool of similar candidates. Some people are very good at selling themselves in interviews, but when it comes to actual work performance they fail. In...

LinkedIn is a great tool for all seasoned recruiters and hiring managers use to identify potential talent. But, like a resume, LinkedIn profiles are a self-promotion tool, not a list of accomplishments, results, failures, and lessons but rather a marketing tool,...

Often, I get asked this by Boards of Directors, and my answer is always: it depends. This decision is dependent on the business hurdles you want to conquer, and what stage your company is at. Are you on a public exchange? Are you turning around an organization?...

When recruiting C-Suite Executive Talent, compensation comes up early. After all, everyone's time is valuable, best not to waste it on someone who is not going to accept an offer that is not in your range. How can you tell if someone has unreasonable compensation...

In this digital-age leaders are already vying for attention from their teams. The digital divide has happened.  People are distracted by social media, glued to their mobile devices for texts, email and calls. Now people are not even in the office anymore - no more...

How we conduct business, this month, and perhaps how we behave going forward is changing - radically.  This includes the in-person interview. The current COVID-19 pandemic has everyone in lockdown mode: working from home, limiting or canceling non-essential business...

No doubt, it is a hot employment market for top talent. Salaries are increasing, traffic is worsening, top talent often has more than one choice, and is likely considering 2-3 offers at once. It is a robust climate for business. Candidates are more educated than ever....

We have all done it. We have an opening for a key executive and get introduced to someone or meet someone at a coffee shop and think ... "that's the person for this job." You decide to hire that individual and everything seems to work out for the next 6 weeks. But...

We are happy to announce that Jeff Mack has joined Potrero Medical as CFO, as the result of an extensive search process lead by Laura Raynak. Congratulations to the Potrero Team!   Jeff Mack joins Potrero with over 20 years of experience as a senior finance...

CEOs have all the answers, right? Of course not. They simply cannot know everything that is happening in the company, in the industry, and with their Board of Directors. They must build a team they trust to fill in the gaps. Why are some executives great...

"Fit" is a small word that can mean everything to the success of a company, a division or a start-up. Of course, candidates need to have skills and capacity to execute, as well, but "Fit" matters.  "Fit" can be nebulous and sometimes is mistaken for chemistry. ...

In recent years, candidates have become far more sophisticated at marketing themselves.  Through LinkedIn and other forms of social media, they have become experts at framing themselves with their resume, interview skills and persona. Unfortunately, that also means...

We have all done it. We have said, "I need to hire a _____________". We put the word out to our network, and find a few candidates to speak with, but no one impressed us or seemed like the right fit. We keep searching or decide to make a hire from our "ho-hum" pool of...

You as a brand is a popular concept.  It seems that people are embracing this concept and communicating their brand in their LinkedIn profiles, Twitter handles, resumes, and other social media profiles.  How does this apply to the selection and hiring of top C-Suite...

Executive recruiters hear from clients nearly every day- "we chose the candidate because we felt he had the right chemistry". While this sounds good, how do you define Chemistry? Our clients seem to instinctively know when the right candidate is interviewed and...

You can't assess a whole person from a LinkedIn profile alone. You only see what people want you to see.  LinkedIn is a great tool to identify potential talent. In fact, LinkedIn is so powerful, leadership candidates now hire consultants to create content for their...

We have all experienced it - make the offer and, boom, your C-Suite candidate declines. WHAT???  How does this happen? After all, you received verbal acceptance, candidate references checked out, the last thing you know the candidate was all in - or were they?...

We have all done it. We have said, "I need to hire a _____________". We put the word out to our network, and find a few candidates to speak with, but no one really impressed us or seemed like the right fit. We keep searching or decide to make a hire from our "ho-hum"...

Frequently, while initiating a search project, we get requests from the client like "We want to hire an 'up and comer' or  a 'high potential' candidate". Generally, the motivations are along this thinking: The candidate will work harder for us, they will not have...