This has been a busy year for TSG with a number of large leadership searches for Executive Directors, CEOs, and top development people – and we’ve even consulted on a number of other positions not usually in our wheelhouse! With the benefit of hindsight, we thought we’d share a few lessons learned as we work to bring organizations and candidates together.

  1. Create a search committee to lead this process. The search committee does the leg work and involves the full board again to interview the final candidate and make the hiring decision.
  2. Search for the person you want, not the person you’ve had. It’s easy to look for a carbon copy of the person who’s been in the seat, but being open to change is important. To do that, conduct an assessment of your organization’s strengths and opportunities by talking to your staff and board, and create a robust job description with a salary reflective of the competitive market.
  3. Plan your outreach. Your goal should be to target the market so that you receive quality applicants over quantity in number. There will be some expense involved here.
  4. Take time for the process. Use a rubric to score candidates fairly across multiple parameters. Conduct preliminary interviews, first and second, maybe third interviews, and do reference checks. Importantly, don’t rush. Don’t take shortcuts. Do develop a timeline for deliverables and checkpoints.
  5. Expect this to cost money. There may be travel, food costs for entertaining, and/or consultant costs if you use a search firm.
  6. Do not settle. Don’t get caught rushing to fill the seat because you have a timeline to meet. Better to have a plan B in place than hire the wrong person.
  7. Focus on onboarding. The real work begins on day 1 and continues for weeks and months after your candidate starts in order for a successful transition. Be sure to plan for a yearlong strategy with 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month goals, and natural check points along the way.

Interested in learning more about how TSG does leadership searches? Reach out to us at info@thestrategygroupllc.org today.