Headhunter's Edge

9780375505430

0375505431

It's a Talent Economy Not long ago, I set up a meeting between a CEO with a big job to fill and a talented manager I had interviewed who seemed a perfect match. I made arrangements for the candidate to fly in for a meeting with the CEO at his office. Simple, right? Not when the CEO refused to pay for a limo to transport him to the company's offices. The candidate ended up taking a taxiand getting lost. And as if that weren't bad enough, when he finally arrived at the company's offices, he had the pleasure of sitting and waiting, and waiting, in the reception area. A half hour past the appointed time, and with no sign of the CEO, the job candidate rose from his chair in disgust and walked out the door. And thus my client lost the one person available who was, in the opinion of his high-priced search professional, perfect for the job. Why did my client lose Mr. Right? Because like too many CEOsand general managers of engineering, vice presidents of sales, directors of marketing, and managers of whatever with hiring responsibilityhe had not committed his brain, his heart, and the future of his company to what I call the Talent Principle: The company with the best people thrives. What about the best product? What about marketing or sales? Strategic thinking? What about all those wizard business models coming out of the B-schools? They do not drive business. Talent does. In fact, there is no such thing as "sales" or "marketing" or even "product" without people. If, for example, you have a marketing problem in your company, then my advice would be to hire a more talented person to run the marketing department. The real art of building a successful company is to bring together so much talent that no one would want to work anyplace else, and that those who do will want to be part of your winning team. I would even go so far as to argue that you can build a major career in business simply by surrounding yourself with the best people you can find. Talent will draw more talent. It is the kind of virtuous circle you want in your career and your company at every level, from CEO right down the pyramid. If you are at the beginning of your career, attach yourself to the best people in your company; find mentors. If you're already in a position of power, recruit the best people you can possibly find and keep them at your side. If you hire talented lieutenants, they'll tell you what to do. All you have to do is listen. It's that simple. Finding all those talented people is a bit more difficult. So is interviewing for talent and persuading the best people that their future is with you. The most difficult challenge of all can be to keep the great talent you have from accepting another job offer. How do you get the best people and keep them? How do you create a career so that you will be identified as "talent"? You have to learn to think like a headhunter. That is the goal of this book. If I can help some of the most successful companies in the world find the smartest, most creative, and hardest-working talent available, then I think I can help you, too. In 1980, I founded Christian & Timbers, the first search firm specializing in information technology. Our work has affected thousands of companies, ranging from such Fortune 50 legends as IBM, Microsoft, and Apple Computer to such Internet and e-commerce pioneers as Lycos, Netscape, Cisco, Amazon, and Yahoo. When Hewlett-Packard's chairman, president, and CEO, Lew Platt, decided in 1999 to replace himself, HP chose us to do the search. I brought them one of Lucent's rising stars, Carly Fiorina, who as HP's new president and CEO has injected new life into one of America's great companies. Today, Christian & Timbers