Expanding the Word Diversity to Be More Inclusive
In the past several years, executive search firm KPIs relied heavily on efforts made in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), but we have been making progress in the wrong way, and this isn’t what you are expecting. Of course, we should be monitoring success in these areas, but the DEI efforts I am suggesting we track should be more inclusive rather than just the small…
F1 Racing and the Insurance and Finance Industry: A Comparison of Trends and Challenges
I’ve never had a strong interest in F1 racing, mainly because I didn’t know much about it. Recently, NETFLIX released its sixth season of the popular streaming series Formula 1, Drive to Survive. I began watching the series and immediately got hooked. My appetite for fast cars driving around city streets and oval-shaped tracks has since changed, and in many ways, I saw clear parallels between the…
How Leadership Team Coaching Benefits More Than Executives
Executive leaders are masters of their craft. These world-class subject matter experts include members of advising boards, CEOs, and senior executives who are pioneers in their industries and make waves in their spaces. But even those sitting at the top need to identify ways to optimize themselves, bettering their work and diving deeper into their highly specialized skills. For that, executives…
Purpose-Driven Board Leadership; What to Consider in Your Next Board Recruitment
Today's boardrooms look less and less like the boardrooms of the past few decades. Boards are increasingly visible to their organizations, stakeholders, and the public. There are high standards for how boards uphold their fiduciary responsibility today and contribute to a future-proof organization for tomorrow. Board accountability is in the spotlight, and diversity in the boardroom is more than…
Key Governance Issues in Board Level Search
What's happening inside the Boardroom has never been more crucial to business outcomes and more visible to interested parties. In today's uncertain economic conditions and fierce market competition, everyone from shareholders to regulators closely monitor how boards perform and if board members are upholding their fiduciary duty. Because of these factors, board governance continues to be critical…
Bigger is Not Always Better When Selecting a Search Firm to Partner With
Kelli Vukelic, CEO of N2Growth examines the nuances that distinguish boutique search firms from their larger counterparts. Here are some key insights into selecting the right executive search firm to partner with. Senior leadership hires can make or break an organization. Various studies show that the failure rate of executives coming into new companies is 30 to 40 percent after 18 months. In a…
Executive Coaching Company Breakdown: How to Get the Most Out of Coaching for Strategic Change
Executives are the best business leaders in the world. They are subject matter experts in their field, the brightest minds, and equipped with the immense technical skills and experience to be at the helm of the world's most powerful and disruptive companies. The truth is that even these world-class leaders have room to grow and can find ways to identify their weaknesses, optimize their…
Executive Hiring For a P.E. Portfolio Company – Tangential Opportunity
Part Four –Tangential Opportunity; a Balancing Act in P.E. Hiring In the previous three parts of this series, we realized the challenging factors around searching for and placing an ideal candidate to lead a private equity portfolio company. This series's final part will balance needs with compromises, float tangential opportunities to expand horizons, and extricate from myopia on that elusive…
Two Executive Personality Traits To Focus On As An Effective Leader
"Self Awareness" Does Your Potential Executive Hire Have It? Each year I debrief leadership assessment results with hundreds of C-Suite candidates as an Executive Coach & Consultant at N2Growth. Assessments are an excellent tool for understanding a candidate's self-awareness regarding their personality traits and help identify how one is "naturally inclined" to act, based on five inherent…
How Startups Can Revamp Their Executive Leadership Talent for Growth
Organizations, particularly startups, require changes in executive leadership talent in the business lifecycle to capitalize on growth potential. Sometimes CEOs are late to make the necessary executive team changes, which comes at a cost. Today, I’d like to share some examples and critical considerations for companies that fit in this category. NerdWallet is an example of when the rapidly growing…
Tech-Savvy Youth and the Future of C-Suite Leadership
Did you know that American youth spend an average of six hours or more a day on screens? As a result of increased social media use and continuous screen time, young adults have become more reliant on the internet for information, learning, working, communication, and entertainment. Today I will share my thoughts on our youth and their relationship with technology and its potential impact on the…
Transition Coaching After Executive Search Placement Increases Success in India
Executive coaching was nearly unheard of in India 15 or so years ago. Today is much different. Now there are thousands of certified executive coaches and multiple ICF chapters engaged in helping executives and their organizations succeed. Indian companies are engaging this skilled cadre of coaches to help nurture and develop leaders ripe for transitioning to senior roles, they are improving…
Doing Well By Doing Good With Darrin Williams, CEO Southern Bancorp
Darrin Williams, CEO of Southern Bancorp, may have been a little surprised when a world-class business school professor came knocking at his door. He wasn’t used to that kind of attention deep in the heart of Arkansas. Yet, he could no longer fly under the radar. Professor Rebecca Henderson, an esteemed professor of management at Harvard Business School and a world-leading expert in reimagining…
What Will Female C-Suite Leadership Look Like Post COVID?
The composition of C-suite leadership across the spectrum is notably different than it used to be ten or so years ago. Recent stats from Deloitte show that females in the C-suite now account for 28% of the overall composition, a marked uptick from 18.6% a decade ago. But as the world emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, it has become clear that the pandemic's economic and social tolls have…
When a CFO’s “Head In The Cloud” Is a Good Thing
Having a CFO with a "head in the cloud" might be a good thing if we're talking about cloud computing, cognitive technologies, and AI that has significantly influenced this role. The evolutionary path of the Chief Financial Officer continues with assuming the driving seat in companies' digital transformation. Still, although they've come a long way, these professionals face a relatively steep road…
Stan Van Gundy: The Soft Stuff Is the Hard Stuff—Especially When Leading in the NBA
At the age of 19, Zion Williamson was drafted number one by the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2019 NBA Draft. Many experts immediately compared the young star to LeBron James, who had already cemented his place in history on the Mount Rushmore of basketball, alongside Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. Those are some big shoes to fill. Pelican team owners likely realized they needed a new coach to…