leadership
SUCCESSFUL LEADERSHIP
TODAY CAN BE
DEMONSTRATED IN A VARIETY
OF WAYS, AND THE JOURNEY
TO BECOMING A LEADER
CAN BE VERY DIFFERENT
FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL.
There are countless studies and reports that speak to the
challenges organizations of all sizes are facing in recruiting
senior level talent. And when they succeed in finding candidates,
employers are equally challenged to retain them.
HR is now functioning in an environment in which leaders
are constantly on the move. The average tenure of an executive
in a specific role is 2.3 years. Add to this fact the increasing size
and pace of venture capital investment in Canada’s technology
start-ups and that the market is experiencing the highest growth
trajectories ever, intensifying the war for senior talent.
The criteria for what makes for a successful leader have also
changed dramatically for organizations ranging from traditional
enterprises to rapidly growing tech start-ups. Many of the key
attributes for success today are less tangible than they have been
in the past.
A NEW DEFINITION OF SUCCESS
Successful leadership today can be demonstrated in a variety of
ways, and the journey to becoming a leader can be very different
for each individual. A list of credentials and achievements
– while important – are not enough to identify an effective leader.
Recruiters must look beyond the facts before them to uncover
other attributes that will ensure leadership success.
This goes beyond instinct or a “gut feeling” that a person is the
right fit. Rather, there are important benchmarks that can help
HR professionals determine a winning leadership candidate.
THE ART OF A BUILDER
The first is the person’s ability to build something from the ground
up. That could be demonstrated in their work with a fledgling
company, a functional team, revenue models, go-to market strategies
or anything else that shows their abilities to lead and manage.
An effective approach for determining their building skills is to
look at measurable changes and reverse engineer the numbers to
understand how they achieved the results. By way of example, a
potential leader working for a start-up points to an X per cent
increase in revenues since they joined the company. Challenge
those types of bigger statements by asking for details. Was the
growth generated in Series A round financing, through acquisition
or organic growth, or another strategy?
Another important marker to consider is repeated experience.
Have they delivered similar results more than once?
andreykuzmin / 123RF Stock Photo
Finding the Right Fit
LEADERSHIP RETENTION IS ALL ABOUT THE INTANGIBLES
By Jamie Hoobanoff
HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA ❚ JULY 2018 ❚ 25
/profile_andreykuzmin
/HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA