The quality of a hire is set by the leader, not the candidate.
The industry sells the opposite story, that candidate quality is the lever. We don't think it holds up. A leader's read of a candidate is bounded by their read of themselves, so the real work sits on our side of the table as much as the market's. The five beliefs below all follow from that one.
Our five beliefs.
Self-awareness is the foundation.
A leader's read of a candidate is bounded by their read of themselves. We work both sides of the table.
Foundation Read: The real lever is the mirror →Leaders own the underwriting.
We don't fill seats, we help leaders hire. Every hire is a multi-year bet against a written thesis, and the scorecard is that thesis. The candidate is downstream of the decision-maker; without one, we are not underwriting. We are guessing.
Underwriting Read: Hiring is underwriting, not sales →Haste kills.
The pressure that produced the open seat is the same pressure that will produce the wrong hire. We push back on speed, every search, every time.
Discipline Read: Haste is the most expensive word in hiring →People are not inventory.
Candidates are not assets to be sourced and closed. They are leaders weighing their next decade. We treat them accordingly, and the right ones notice.
Respect Read: People are not inventory →Fit is bilateral, and requires cultivation.
Fit is not a candidate evaluation metric; it is a relationship that must be built and tended on both sides. The leader has to fit the candidate as much as the candidate fits the role. Day one is the start of that deep work.
Fit cultivation continues past the offer. Without investment and maintenance, the best match drifts. We design the search so the relationship has somewhere to grow into and leaders must continue the good work.
Relationship Read: Why the landing plan is where hires are won or lost →