In the business world, leadership starts from the top down. Whether the leader in question is a top executive or just a manager on a small team, you need to make sure they will do everything in their power to stay aligned with your organization's central mission. This ideal is particularly important when it comes to filling an open leadership role, because you want to make sure that whoever you end up bringing aboard is also going to understand what you do, why it matters and how best to achieve that end within your existing culture.
With that in mind, there are certainly steps you can take to ensure everyone is on the same page when it comes to what the company's mission and culture look like. These include the following:
Clearly define the role
In today's business world, the number of different job roles — and the terms used to describe them — for people with relatively similar resumes can vary widely between employers. As such, it's important to make sure that the people you're bringing in for interviews actually understand what you would be hiring them to do, according to the Symmetrics Group. Is there a difference between a senior vice president and an executive vice president of sales? If so, what is it? Do they report to a chief sales officer, chief financial officer, or chief executive officer? These are all things that will help you delineate exactly what you're looking for from a given hire.
Get the teams involved
No one knows your company better than the people who have worked within it for some time, potentially even for decades. As such, it's a good idea to get their opinion of various candidates and make sure there's a solid connection between how things work and what you hope to accomplish next. Indeed, a recent Leadership IQ survey of more than 21,000 workers found 29% don't think their current leader's vision for the future is aligned with that of their broader organization, and only a little more than 1 in 4 report having a leader who responds constructively to criticism or issues.
Clearly identify issues — and how to solve them
Here's an all too common problem for organizations of all types: Everyone in a leadership position agrees that there is a problem with some aspect of your work (say, lagging sales numbers) and perhaps even what the end goal should be. But then, Harvard Business Review says, the trouble starts. People don't always want to take resources away from their own teams and therefore you get stuck in place. As such, you want leaders who are willing to share their time or departmental resources to help the greater cause.
Of course, it's not always easy to find and attract the right leader for your team — or entire company — and that's where YES Partners can lend a helping hand. To see some of the roles that we have already successfully placed, click here.
Finding people is easy, but finding the RIGHT people is not. YES Partners helps companies FIND the right people for all company functions, across many industries.
