What to Consider When Hiring an Executive Search Firm

In the aftermath of the Great Resignation, the hiring frenzy at all levels has employers tearing their hair out. It is expensive and time-consuming to find candidates who have proven they can deliver your specific desired outcomes.

Moreover, hiring for senior-level roles requires greater expertise to recruit the right leadership. Hiring the wrong person for a leadership position is costly, and often downright disastrous. Most people simply do not have the training, tools, experience, or bandwidth to tackle the intensive process of a high-stakes search.

This is where partnering with an executive search firm can add tremendous value, as they manage the difficult work of candidate research, engagement, and vetting.

However, you need to be vigilant when choosing a search firm. The firm must be worth the investment - proven in their processes, tools, how they represent their clients, and in their outcomes.  Ultimately, do they deliver a diverse pool of proven leaders who are a good fit for your organization, its culture, and the skills, experience, and personal attributes the role requires for success?

Here are the top considerations when selecting an executive search firm.

Is the search firm invested in understanding you?

You cannot identify candidates that are a fit for your organization if your search firm does not fully understand the environment into which the candidate must successfully fit.

When a firm invests in discovering the unique aspects of their client and a role, they know the type of candidate to look for on behalf of their client. This is why the best search firms spend time conversing with stakeholders to understand the nuances of the role and the culture of the organization.

Make sure the firm you are considering is providing you with a search plan that includes a “getting to know you” phase. Once completed, ask them to share with key leaders the information they have collected to ensure accuracy.

How much searching will the firm actually do?

Is the firm you are considering recycling candidates from an established database or are they conducting fresh candidate research based on each client’s unique profile and requirements?

Delivering the same shortlist of candidates for similar roles does not require much effort. To make your investment pay off, partner with a search firm that entices candidates you would not have been able to bring to the table on your own - individuals you may never have dreamed would consider your opportunity.

The best candidates for a position are likely happily employed and not looking for a new role. Skilled firms use their expertise and a broad network to identify these hidden gems and pursue them on the organization’s behalf - convincing them to engage in the interview process. 

Does the firm build trust with the candidates?

Good executive search firms look for candidates who meet the stated qualifications. The best executive search firms are genuinely interested in candidates and their success.  The best executive search firms perform many rounds of holistic conversations to build rapport and develop trust - allowing candidates to reveal their true selves, aspirations, challenges they have encountered as leaders, the candidate’s needs, or challenges an organization would have to overcome in order to make their hire possible.

Is your search firm investing the time to make each promising candidate feel comfortable? Are they building authentic connections with key candidates?  Once a foundation of trust is built, the search firm is able to probe into performance history, discuss uncomfortable circumstances, and ask difficult questions that often deliver the most valuable insights.

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Selecting a search firm as a partner is an investment. It is essential to be discerning about the firm you choose. The more attuned the search firm is to your organization and the role, and the greater their emphasis on identifying and meaningfully vetting candidates, the better they will be at providing a pool of leaders who are aligned with the needs of your organization and the outcomes you require.

If you’re looking for phenomenal candidates who match your team’s energy and enrich your organization, be certain you select a search firm based on these recommendations.

3 Things to Look for When Hiring Faculty for Your University

The post-pandemic era has changed the hiring landscape for colleges and universities.

Employees at all levels of higher education are leaving jobs in the wake of the Great Resignation. This means that colleges and universities are left with the difficult work of quickly hiring an influx of new faculty.

Despite the sense of urgency, university hiring teams need a strong succession plan that looks beyond simply replacing people who left during the pandemic. Now more than ever, higher education leaders must be prepared to hire the right faculty members - those who will advance the organization. 

There has been a great deal of discussion about reinventing university life post-pandemic. Students are wondering: What is the return on their investment and how can they maximize it? To keep up with the demands of evolving student expectations, the skills and attributes of university leadership and faculty must change, too.

So, what should institutions look for when hiring the right leaders and faculty members? What are key attributes that make a candidate invaluable in this new climate?

1. Bridging the gap between faculty and administration

In higher education, tension can arise between faculty members and administration. This might be due to differing opinions on how to best run an institution or simply because communication is limited or siloed between colleges, departments, or individuals.

When hiring faculty members, particularly those in leadership roles, look for candidates who are skilled at genuinely listening to and acting upon the interests of a variety of stakeholders. Their experience should demonstrate that they strive to acknowledge and understand the challenges and opportunities that exist for various constituents. 

This skill set helps build bridges and ease tensions across the institution, which leads to more rewarding experiences for students and other stakeholders.

2. Bringing people to consensus

Candidates must have strong experience in cooperation and team building. 

Faculty members may not have had extensive experience in collaboration or developing cooperative programs unless they have actively sought out opportunities. Faculty members who have assumed a leadership role and who have successfully brought people together and inspired them to work toward a common goal will be great assets to your organization. 

These candidates are more likely to initiate the creation of connections between groups of people, programs, disciplines, and colleges—connections that are becoming more essential to the success of colleges and universities.

3. Integrating across programs and disciplines to offer more value to students

With so many competing institutions offering virtual and in-person education programs, universities must be very mindful of what they can offer that will entice students to enroll despite the rising cost.

In this new integrated world, prospective students realize that expertise and skill in a single discipline no longer make them competitive. This is why faculty who value interdisciplinary work, whose experience demonstrates collaboration across colleges and campuses, and those who engage in programs offering dual degrees, are particularly invaluable. 

Make sure candidates are willing to consider how their program or discipline can be coupled or integrated with others. Those candidates who understand their responsibility to add value for students will bring the most value to your institution.

In Conclusion

The landscape of higher education is changing more rapidly than ever before, and both administration and faculty must evolve in order to operate on the leading edge. 

While the rush to hire new faculty to replace people lost in recent years may tempt leaders to cut corners, it is important to thoroughly research and connect with candidates to ensure their experience elicits the traits vital to success in this new environment.

Hiring key leaders is an important task. It takes time, energy, and the resources necessary to identify the individuals who will be a great fit for your institution. Dreading the impossible task of searching for, vetting, and evaluating the fit of hundreds of candidates? Visit www.leadexec.com to learn about how LeadExec’s targeted and thoughtful executive search strategy can make the process simple and successful for you.

10 Critical Traits When Recruiting Higher Education Leaders

While higher education has evolved throughout history, for a variety of reasons, we have witnessed exponential changes over the past 10 years – changes that have elicited a double-take from many college and university leaders, regardless of their organization being large, small, public, or private.  The changes are significant enough to require the reevaluation of the required skills, experience, and personal attributes of leaders charged with positioning institutions for success throughout the second quarter of 21st-century academic environments.

LeadExec partners with colleges and universities across the country – asking stakeholders the strategic questions that reveal their institutional aspirations, challenges, and the critical qualities required in their executive leadership hires.  Transformational Leaders.  Strategic Leaders.  Servant Leaders.  Higher education desires and needs these types of leaders and so much more.  We have seen the checklist of critical qualities grow and evolve for chancellors, presidents, provosts, vice presidents, deans, and other key senior-level leaders. Our higher education executive search experience provides a vantage point for observing this evolution.  We have identified what we believe are the most critical qualities for today’s most impactful academic leaders.

What are the Most Important Executive Candidate Qualities for Higher Education?

Most higher education leadership searches - whether for a chancellor, president, vice president, provost, dean, or other key leadership role - regularly involve identifying leaders with skills and talents in the following key areas:

1. Entrepreneurial Mindset

   Contemporary academic leaders must now possess more than the ability to lead the operation of a college or university. Today’s leaders must have an entrepreneurial mindset, vision and strategy that includes innovation and capitalizing on leading-edge opportunities across an ever-changing academic landscape. Just as important, these entrepreneurial leaders must also have the ability to organize and execute in a manner that brings vision to fruition.

2. Marketing, Branding, Public Relations

   While vision and innovation are important skills, a leader’s understanding and personal commitment to effective marketing and public relations - including social media platforms and branding - is critical to the differentiation of academic institutions. Leaders with a marketing mindset bring an asset that not only increases student enrollment and raises awareness of the nuances and impact of an institution, but it also inspires and motivates, enhances learning, encourages new ideas, and ultimately broadens institutional commitment and partnerships, and enriches fundraising.

3. Integrity, Humility, and Authenticity

   While great leaders inspire and motivate others to act, they must do so in a manner that creates alignment and engagement throughout the organization. As a leader, this alignment and engagement is typically the result of building trust. While a variety of qualities engender confidence in higher education leadership, higher ed leaders must also build trust on a foundation of unwavering integrity, humility, and authenticity. Authentic leadership, integrity, and humility are not new to higher education, but stakeholders are looking for these leadership qualities now more than ever.

4. Sound Financial & Commercial Acumen

   Financial and commercial acumen are among the most important skills for senior leaders in higher education. Especially in these financially challenging times, educational leaders must be mindful they are operating a business. Higher education leaders must ensure their decisions have an overall benefit across all aspects of the business and weigh the impact of a variety of factors, including human resources, processes, and strategies, while accurately assessing the impact of financial decisions over the long term.

5. Genuine Interest in Student Success

   The healthiest colleges and universities continually display a genuine interest in the success of students. The most effective leaders, however, have a proven history of removing barriers and providing the resources necessary to ensure access to education and academic success for all students. Additionally, leaders who attend to student access and success offer a competitive advantage for their institution.

6. Proven Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

   A proven commitment to developing diverse, equitable, and inclusive environments is critical for today’s higher education leaders. Further, diverse and inclusive organizations grow and innovate faster, and retain employees at a rate five times greater than non-diverse organizations. Fostering an organizational culture committed to DEI is leadership that makes a strong social impact and business case.

7. Partnership and Collaboration

   Effective academic leaders possess a proven history of developing, advancing, and fortifying alliances with business, industry, government, academia, and community groups – locally, regionally, statewide, nationally, and internationally. Through thoughtful collaboration, these leaders magnify and advance unique and impactful opportunities for their institutions, do so more cost-effectively, and more expeditiously.

8. Mature and Tested Judgment

   Often, candidates may meet the requirements of a role, yet not possess the maturity of experience or proven judgment required of those who lead complex institutions in complex academic environments. When screening prospective leaders, we are intentional in our efforts to ensure that candidates have effectively led through difficult scenarios - moments that have tested their ability to make critical decisions under pressure. What difficult situations have they faced and how did they respond? Did they make well-informed decisions that considered all stakeholders, projected long-term impacts, potential risks, and opportunities? The strongest leaders consistently demonstrate they are prepared to lead effectively amidst a variety of circumstances and possess the self-awareness, humility, and accountability to learn from the errors they have made along the way.

9. Effective Navigation of Complexity and Uncertainty

   Understanding the evolution of higher education and the beliefs and attitudes of a variety of audiences about the role of colleges and universities is a critical quality in higher ed leadership. Navigating the complex interplay of strengths and challenges already in place across an institution, the changes in political and societal issues of the day, and the zeitgeist, in general, requires experienced leadership and guidance. Ideal leaders possess the experience and foresight that enables them to identify and define complexities and their potential impact on an organization, so they may engage the collective intellect and experience of the institution’s team in order to develop forward-looking strategies that meet the demands of a changing and challenging environment.

10. Fundraising Prowess

    Beyond the other necessary financial skills, successful leadership of a college or university demands fundraising prowess. Unlike other businesses, colleges and universities are increasingly dependent upon private and corporate resources to meet budgetary demands. Shifts in funding and changes in enrollment continue to establish effective fundraising as a critical trait among the best higher education leaders.

How Do We Find the Ideal Match for Your Institution?

The higher education search consultants at LeadExec prioritize understanding what makes your institution unique and what skills, experience, and personal attributes are required of your leadership at this particular point in its history.  Additionally, our team is gifted at identifying, engaging, and enticing those individuals who are proven, successful leaders that elicit the qualities your organization requires. Unlike recruiters or headhunters, who may specialize in locating opportunities for individuals seeking employment - as an executive search firm we serve the institution or organization. We are not promoting a portfolio of candidates, but rather, we conduct fresh research for each assignment in order to identify exceptional leaders whose current skill set and career accomplishments prove they are an ideal fit for the unique needs of our client.

LeadExec Recruits and Places the Most Effective Higher Education Leaders

Opportunities are palpable when colleges and universities are preparing to hire key leaders. LeadExec is the strategic partner that thoughtfully guides institutions through the process of defining the critical leadership qualities necessary to maximize those opportunities. LeadExec is the executive search firm that will uniquely engage on your behalf a diverse cadre of impactful leaders who understand the evolution of higher education and who have proven they possess and elicit the qualities your institution most requires, desires, and deserves.

LeadExec is a boutique, woman-owned executive search firm recognized for incomparable processes, tools, technology, customer service, and outcomes that meet and exceed the expectations of clients and candidates alike.  We value relationships and would consider it a privilege to learn about your organization, its vision for the future, and how we are able to be your partner.  Contact us by calling 616.438.6688 or emailing contact@leadexec.com.