The pitfalls of getting it wrong and how you can prepare to do it right.
I have been a part of many growing teams in my career. And there always comes a time when the Board and the CEO decide the C-Suite should have more weight. The workloads and the span of control are simply out of control or the needs of the business have simply outgrown the current C-Suite.
Speed can be your enemy
"Great vision without great people is irrelevant." - Jim Collins
If you are in this position almost certainly someone has talked with you about how important it is. Revenue is not hitting expectations. The books are a mess. Security is a top concerns of our best clients. Each of these is crucially important to address. But if you address it with speed as the only concern, you will fail.
In my conversation with CEO's of recruiting companies, they explain to me over and over that their biggest concern is expectations. That the CEO's that hire them expect that the C-Level recruitment will be complete in 30 days. I have never seen that happen. 66 months for great hires. That reality does not make the CEO concerns any less valid. They need some help now. And interesting it is almost certain that the urgency that led to the Board conversation is pressing enough that the following will happen:
You will recruit a great executive. Due to the urgency you might have short circuited the reference checks. Or you may not have had all important board members do in person interviews. Or the CFO had a small concern but not one big enough to stop the process. You bring them in and ask them to skip the normal break between gigs to hit the ground running. Of course, they comply.
The promise was exceptional. This woman can run circles around your current sales program. They have run teams three times the size. They helped one company scale exactly how you want. But the short circuit of interviews left critical questions unaswered. She didn't know she would need to establish a forecast call and methodology. She never met the Ops person, who was woefully unqualified. The CFO didn't get to discuss the weakness in the West and she spent the first four weeks analyzing and diagnosing it. And then another 2 months finding the replacement RVP. When she dug in to compensation plans there was massive misalignment with corporate strategy, which was causing much of the weakness. There was no QBR. She would need to fix all of these things first. It would take six months. And she would not focus on growth until the basics were covered.
The Board blames you. How could you hire someone who cant improve things in two quarters?
The answer? Speed.
You moved the recruitment process too fast for her and for the firm. Critical questions weren't asked and answered to ensure she was the right answer short term and long term. And you didn't give the existing sales team to adjust the basics and get things prepared for her, so her focus could be where it should be, on growth. None of the challenges were difficult, but they take time and focus. In about the time that it takes to do the recruitment the right way, many if not all of these issues could be identified and resolved. When the new CRO shows up on Day 1, she understands all the issues, what is already resolved and what is identified but not yet resolved. She can focus on what the Board sees, a challenge of growth, not foundational operational issues.
Quickly procure a Fixer.
What you will need to complete the tasks is someone focused on short terms. With agreed to goals. With no long term challenge of pushing difficult changes. Someone who can fix problems, be they new or long term, and create a transition for the new leader. Someone who can advise the CEO and the Board so they can fine tune the recruitment and get it right. And can also let the CEO know where the true strengths and weaknesses are in the organization. We call those fixers Bricks.
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