Executive Hiring For a P.E. Portfolio Company – Soft Skills
Part Two – Core, Soft Credential Constituents In the second part of this series, we will continue this theme on executive hiring for a private equity portfolio company by examining parallel soft skill essentials and core, soft credential constituents. In case you missed it, please see part one of this series on P.E. portfolio company hiring, highlighting portfolio company executive core…
Gaining Strategic Advantage by Connecting Your Corporate Team with Sales
For over 18 years, I have been leading sales teams through the trenches of sales war. I have experienced corporations deeply connected to what was “actually” happening in sales, and other situations where it was quite the opposite. Throughout my professional career, I have navigated multiple industry segments from professional services to consumer goods and served a decade+ stint in the…
Stefania Mallett, Founder of ezCater Creates a $1B Unicorn
The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. At least, that’s how my grandmother used to describe it. Maybe there’s still something to this adage. Stefania Mallett turned this old idea into a billion-dollar tech unicorn called ezCater. Along the way, she learned some valuable lessons about leadership and culture. ezCater is a global marketplace for business catering. Their strategy is to…
2020 Top CHRO List – The People Leaders To Watch
N2Growth and Stanford Graduate School of Business are pleased to congratulate those individuals recognized on the 2020 Leaders25 Top CHRO List. These Human Resource leaders represent the top 25 human resources leaders shaping careers, culture, and talent at the world’s most innovative people driven companies. See the current list. History The inaugural version of our Top CHRO List was published…
Feedback Is a Funny Thing with Gerard Coops Ph.D.
On a recent visit to our N2Growth EMEAA headquarters in Rotterdam, Netherlands, I visited with my new friend Gerard Coops, Managing Director of HuReMa Consulting, to discuss his views on leadership as it relates to giving feedback and providing coaching. Interview Summary JH: Leaders providing proper feedback to their team members has been a topic of conversation for endless amounts of time. Why…
Direction, Alignment, and Commitment with Gerard Coops PhD.
Gerard Coops, Managing Director of HuReMa Consulting in the Netherlands, discusses the fact in a recent survey 80% of CEOs revealed they do not have the talent within their organization to execute on their current strategies. Because I found this disturbing, I wanted to dig deeper into what Gerard believes we can do to correct this leadership failure. JH: Gerard, let us attack the obvious first…
The Secrets of Employee Engagement with Stef du Plessis
Stef du Plessis is a thought leader in employee engagement and workplace culture space. There are very few professionals in the HR advisory field with depth, brevity, and perspective than Stef. He is a leader in the coaching and consulting industry and speaks articulately on what it takes to get engaged employees in the workplace with authority. Interview Summary JH: Employee Engagement has…
Maintaining a Winning Resume that Sells YOU
Job searching can be stressful and overwhelming; add in the COVID-19 pandemic, and it can be downright paralyzing. Maintaining a winning resume that sells YOU has never been more important, so I'd like to share a few tips to help. Most of us can agree that putting your professional experience on a piece of paper is daunting for any professional, whether you are newly entering the job market or a…
Executive Level Hires
Today's question comes from the president of a technology firm that asks: "I don't have the best track record when it comes to making executive-level hires. Do you have any specific suggestions that might help?". Since I have written often on the subject of talent management and have covered the basics of recruiting in previous posts, I'm going to share a few secrets that can help separate the…
Private Equity and Operational Value Creation Through Human Capital
Unprecedented growth of the Private Equity industry over the last decade made it stronger and better resourced, whereas an increased focus on improving the operating capabilities of portfolio companies is continuously impacting its value drivers. Operational value creation models in Private Equity have been historically focusing on the following levers: sales and margins’ improvement, cost…
The Neuroscience of Learning With Rapelang Rabana
The future of employee engagement can be influenced by how a company incorporates modern learning techniques into their own leadership development programs, training scenarios, and various other offerings that will bring a learning value to employees. In a recent conversation with Rapelang Rabana, founder of Rekindle Learning, we discussed how to pull learning techniques into the future.…
Digital Hiring: What Are You Worried About, Exactly?
In my last article, I spoke about the importance of managing candidate relationships while searches are on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As we figure out how to navigate from here, I’d like to think outside the box a bit about digital hires. Let’s assume, for the purposes of this article, that important hires will still have to be made while almost 90% of the country is under lockdown.…
Leadership Interview: Mehdi Tazi, CEO at Beassur Marsh Shares His Perspective on Talent Gaps
I recently had the privilege of speaking with Mehdi Tazi Chief Executive Officer at Beassur Marsh, a Morrocan based insurance brokerage during our global leadership tour. We discussed the global issue of talent gaps within organizations and what he believed was the cause and possible solutions to the problem. Interview Summary JH: In a recent international leadership survey, over 80% of CEOs…
Candidate Management During a Crisis
I am no stranger to the challenges of candidate management during a crisis. I started my career in executive search right out of college over 13 years ago, so recruiting is work that I've always done and always loved. While in the second year of my profession the great recession hit and had a significant impact on my area of expertise including venture capital, and private equity-backed…
The Impact of a Great Leader
I am always surprised by the impact that just one person can have on a team or an organization. In particular, the speed which that effect takes place. I have seen examples in multinational enterprises, where the appointment of a new CEO resulted in a change of atmosphere within a few weeks. This phenomenon happened not just to the people working closely with the CEO, but also with people who had…
Leadership Interview: Connecting With People is The Key Competency
I recently sat down with Dudu Hlatshwayo, CEO and founder of Change EQ Corporate Advisors in Johannesburg. I think you will find her answer to be thoughtful and full of insight, everyone reading this should take heed of this simple advice. Interview Summary JH: What is the number one leadership competency required in this fast-paced, unpredictable world we now find ourselves in? DH: Connection…