Title	Excerpt	Author	Date	Total Comments	Recent Comment
One Reason Interviewing Candidates is So Difficult	I was browsing in my local bookstore on the weekend when I came upon a small book titled ‘Toughest Interview Questions’. Always interested in this subject I quickly leafed through it and put it in the pile to buy. This morning, as I started to read it carefully, I noticed…	Robert Hebert	07/13/10	37	09/03/10
Strategies for those wanting to make a career or sector change	Many transitional executives contemplate career changes. It may be a career auto or general manufacturing sector executive questioning its future, or a large-company type who covets the chance to work in a smaller organization. Often, it is simply individuals longing to shed unfulfilling careers for exotic destinations as yet unknown.…	Robert Hebert	06/24/10	22	09/08/10
Executives in Transition -  Why a rifle beats a shotgun in nabbing that perfect job	As a headhunter I am an obligatory stop on the networking circuit of many executive job seekers. I hold the promise of a barometer on the employment market, contacts, ideas, and even suitable ongoing searches. I am always happy to participate in courtesy interviews as I neither envy the job…	Robert Hebert	06/21/10	19	09/07/10
The Perils of the Successful Matchmaker	What is a successful matchmaker? Last week, the Wall Street Journal published an interview with Patti Stanger who runs The Millionaire’s Club, a Los Angeles-based “elite” matchmaking service and reality television program. In it she confides that the secret to her success is going beyond run-of-the-mill matchmaking to actively coaching…	Robert Hebert	06/14/10	24	09/05/10
Interviewing: The Quest for Patterns and Themes	Last week, two seemingly unrelated articles caught my attention. The first was a magazine obituary on C.K. Prahalad, the management thinker best known for his work on core competencies. The article spoke extensively of his ‘big ideas’ and noted his habit of traveling the world “prying useful information out of…	Robert Hebert	05/14/10	21	09/07/10
Checkers vs. Chess: Why Most Candidates Play The Wrong Interview Game…and Pay the Price !	I often join my clients when they conduct candidate interviews. I moderate, participate, listen and learn. They are fascinating glimpses into how candidates and companies alike play the complex game of talent acquisition. Each time without exception, I observe competent candidates eliminated from contention, not because they are less qualified…	Robert Hebert	05/04/10	18	09/08/10
The superhero hiring game and why everyone loses	When it comes to recruiting leaders, companies continue to search for those Steve Jobs-like characters that can single-handedly turn around a company’s fortunes, blaze paths of innovation and market their wares like no other before them. From well-established firms to small angel-backed start-ups, and from up-and-comers scaling the walls of…	Robert Hebert	04/05/10	15	09/08/10
Why candidates should expand and prep their references	As headhunters scramble to match candidates with their shapeshifting clients, process and painstaking due diligence rule the day. To some candidates such rigor may feel intrusive or simply unnecessary. It shouldn’t. In fact, rigor should be embraced and used to all candidates advantage. Consider the use of references as an…	Robert Hebert	02/03/10	16	09/08/10
The Unwanted CEO Job …and the one individual who thought otherwise	Several recent articles have lauded the success of Ottawa-based Bridgewater Systems. With skyrocketing revenues, a growing market, and money in the bank, the firm’s prospects have never been better and the street appears to love the story. It was a much more difficult story to sell in 2003, with one…	Robert Hebert	01/08/10	17	09/08/10
Hiring Executive Talent: The Sheepish Canadian Startup	Much is written about the state of the Canadian tech startup sector and why it lags the US, Israel and other countries in producing a richer community of world-class companies. While I am not qualified to comment on many of the contributing factors I am witness to how Canadian startups…	Robert Hebert	12/29/09	14	09/08/10
To The Candidates I Will Offend Next Week	As a condition of being released from custody, the brilliant yet troubled title character in the movie Good Will Hunting must meet regularly with a counselor. Determined to sabotage the process he torments and is dismissed by a series of psychologists until he is sent to ‘Sean’ played by Robin…	Robert Hebert	12/03/09	14	09/08/10
The Talent Game in Venture-Backed Firms	Last week I met the CEO of a recently funded tech firm (yes, it still happens) who described at length his plans to build his business. As he spoke of his young executive team, its successes to date, and his plans to lever the new funding round to conquer the…	Robert Hebert	11/13/09	6	09/08/10
What it takes to Climb to the Top – The Case for Grit	If intelligence is the best predictor of achievement what accounts for the wide range of achievement among individuals of equal IQ? Professor Angela Duckworth studies this question for a living and believes she has the answer. It is ‘grit’, a quality she defines as ‘perseverance and passion for long term-goals’.…	Robert Hebert	10/15/09	7	09/08/10
Why Recruiting from the Best Companies is Perilous	If you long to be taken to Shangri-la, that fictional, mystical, utopian oasis of harmony and love, what kind of person do you hire to help you get there? Do you recruit a lifelong resident, intimate with the ways of the land, or someone trained in navigating the treacherous jungles…	Robert Hebert	09/28/09	3	09/08/10
Creativity: Hardwired or A Skill We Can All Develop ?	This week the Globe and Mail published an article titled “How to Shine Again After A Year of Gloom” in which employees as well as candidates looking for jobs are urged to emphasize their creativity as a means of differentiating themselves in the marketplace. This is great advice, provided you…	Robert Hebert	09/17/09	3	09/08/10
Why Best Practices Can Be So Dangerous	I recently dusted off Jim Collins’ book Good to Great. For those who have forgotten, the book compiles a list of companies that have achieved ‘greatness’ over a period of 15 years and then analyzes them in order to “discover the essential and distinguishing factors at work”. The resulting best…	Robert Hebert	09/10/09	7	09/08/10
This Week’s Leadership Changes at OLG and NHLPA	Two high profile firings took place this week. Both shed light on how boards of directors and the big-named international headhunters who advise them make questionable decisions. The first involved the CEO of Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation who was dismissed along with the majority of the firm’s board of…	Robert Hebert	09/03/09	6	09/08/10
How to Spot Talent	The CEO of a small firm asked me this week for tips on spotting talent. Here’s a quick take on a very generic question. First, talent comes in a great many varieties, perhaps even more than the 31 flavors at your local Baskin-Robbins store. And this is fortunate for the…	Robert Hebert	08/20/09	6	09/08/10
Looking for a search consultant?  Go For a Real Fox !	The philosopher Isaiah Berlin wrote that there are two kinds of experts; hedgehogs and foxes. Hedgehogs have figured out how the world works. They boast a focused central view, strong convictions and ideological leanings. They are certain about what they know and prone to argue in black and white terms.…	Robert Hebert	08/05/09	2	09/08/10
What are your chances of entrepreneurial success?	A study out of Harvard University found that first time entrepreneurs have only a 22% chance of succeeding. This likely won’t surprise many people unless of course you are one of the countless dreamers who parade their sure-fire business plans on CBC’s Dragon’s Den each and every week. Simply stated,…	Robert Hebert	07/28/09	3	09/08/10
“I Forgot to Sign”... and Other Misadventures From The Messy World of Non-Competes	This past week, we found ourselves in the middle of a tricky negotiation concerning a ‘non-compete’ clause in an offer of employment. Both the client and candidate had valid though polar opposite positions on the necessity of the clause, its language, term and restrictions. In the end one party made…	Robert Hebert	07/15/09	2	09/08/10
The Unemployed Need Not Apply	There is always someone offering fanciful or overly simplistic solutions to complex problems. And the press is all too willing to put them forth as fact or trend. A recent Wall Street Journal article suggested that companies looking to hire executives are turning their backs on unemployed candidates in favor…	Robert Hebert	07/10/09	35	09/04/10
Candidate Alert !!  It’s NOT over when you get the offer	We were recently involved in a search assignment in which our client extended an offer of employment to a candidate only to withdraw it after the candidate asked ‘a few innocuous clarifying questions’. The incident illustrates a key misunderstanding about employment offers. Hiring exercises are courtships in which the parties…	Robert Hebert	06/26/09	4	09/08/10
Dr. Doug Barber on why tech firms fail	Doug Barber knows a thing or two about building a successful technology firm. He was one of the founders and the long time CEO of Gennum Corporation which he built into one of the most successful and best managed tech firms in Canada. Though some might disagree, the firm was never quite the same after he retired in 2000 and frankly is a shadow of its former splendid self today. Dr. Barber has also had a long illustrious teaching career at McMaster University and so is familiar with how and what young people are taught at the post-secondary level. Finally, experience aside, Dr. Barber has always impressed me as a very wise man who rarely offers opinions that are ill-considered. Several years ago Dr. Barber took it upon himself to study why so many R&D intensive startups fail, or perhaps better stated why so few thrive long-term. He looked at some 18 tech firms which were founded in Canada and gave it the old college try before being subsequently sold or folded. He presented his findings at a breakfast talk I attended this morning in Hamilton.  Dr. Barber had many interesting findings. Of the 18 firms he studied, 17 disappeared in between 3 and 14 years of existence (the average lifespan was 7.2 years). Also, of the 18 firms studied, 8 never secured a single sale, while 7 never even engaged with a customer during their entire existence. Among Dr. Barber’s many observations: 1. No customers, No sales, No business - Many, many of the firms examined were na�ve about the critical importance of customers. They failed to understand that they were in business not to innovate technologies but to create value for customers. Enterprises start and end with customers, not technology. External financing breaks the value exchange between customers and suppliers as it negates or delays the need for customers. It also distorts the viewpoint of startup businesses who come to rely on external funding and the artificial metrics on which it is dispensed. But no customers, no sales, no business. Dr. Barber goes so far as to suggest that there are elements of a customer averse culture cutting across this country. For example, governments in their various initiatives value technological innovation but undervalue the necessary business acumen, training and skills to do anything with them. 2. Enterprise Incompetence (governance, finance, management, culture, planning) - Dr. Barber observes that many of these firms had management that lacked enterprise competence, funded by investors who lacked enterprise competence, and advised by lawyers and accountants with little enterprise competence. He also noted that planning has sadly devolved into a pure financial tool rather than enterprise focused discipline for success. Dr Barber argues that more balanced learning needs to be introduced into schools, that experiential learning needs to be emphasized and valued, and that faulty beliefs about how commerce works in the tech sector needs to be corrected. Better mechanisms need to be developed so that knowledge can flow and better businesses and leaders can be built These are a few of the many cogent points he made this morning. I look forward to reading his report when it is eventually released.	Robert Hebert	06/10/09	9	09/08/10
Hiring Leaders - Nortel’s Board of Directors	Everyone has a theory on the Nortel’s descent from first to worst. Many start and end with the murderer’s row of CEOs at its helm. I cannot even offer an opinion on the degree to which Nortel’s demise was a function of any one of a hundred different factors. But…	Robert Hebert	06/09/09	4	09/08/10
Managing your Reputation	Reputations are built over time, easily damaged and difficult to mend. A great reputation yields an army of volunteers happy to speak glowingly on someone’s behalf. A poor reputation can sideline an executive’s career forever. And while we may all long for sparkling reputations most of us have the odd…	Robert Hebert	06/01/09	2	09/08/10
The Benefits of Knowing your Reputation	Reputations are built over time, easily damaged and difficult to mend. A great reputation yields an army of volunteers happy to speak glowingly on someone’s behalf. A poor reputation can sideline an executive forever. And while we may all long for sparkling reputations most of us have the odd performance…	Robert Hebert	05/22/09	4	09/08/10
Why Your Reputation Matters	Headhunters are paid to find candidates who will thrive in their client organizations. Certainty is elusive so the promise of success is always weighed against the probability of failure. Risk is the key variable to be controlled. Headhunters manage risk in several ways. They journey to the past to predict…	Robert Hebert	05/15/09	2	09/08/10
Why some executives are simply more effective	Recently I was asked to interview several candidates competing for a senior management role. The company in question had acquired several firms and was looking to align the disparate, distributed and increasingly dysfunctional engineering teams behind a common direction and leader. All of the candidates knew the others setting up…	Robert Hebert	05/08/09	2	09/08/10
Resist the temptation to hire the opposite of what you fire	Generally, companies are not particularly adept at ridding themselves of underperforming executives. Rather than get on with the unpleasantries, firms procrastinate, waffle, rationalize, or simply put their collective heads in the sand. They do so in part because the issues surrounding a ‘problem’ executive are rarely black and white. Good…	Robert Hebert	05/08/09	1	09/08/10
Attributes of a Leader - Nadir Mohammed (and me) at the Airport	Like many people, I followed with interest the succession drama following the recent death of Rogers Communications founder/CEO Ted Rogers. The process was delicate with selected family and management apparently vying for the top role. After several hand-wringing months, the well-liked wireless business unit head, Nadir Mohammed, was anointed as…	Robert Hebert	04/08/09	4	09/08/10
Glengarry Glen Ross and the CBC	Few movies are more frightening than Glengarry Glen Ross, and few characters more haunting than the burnt-out salesman Shelley Levene, played by Jack Lemmon. Everyone who sells for a living can resonate with the former sales great who is now perennially down on his luck. Tired, frightened, yet defiantly proud,…	Robert Hebert	04/08/09	2	09/08/10
Looking for an industry that’s growing, stable and secure?	This past week I visited our nation’s capital. Amidst the bad news on Nortel, a start-up community hanging on for its very life, and a softening aerospace/defense sector, were a series of upbeat headlines on the city’s true economic cluster, government. One headline announced, ‘Government buys 30 acres at St.…	Robert Hebert	03/08/09	7	09/08/10
Tough Market? Must be time to reflexively dump your head of R&D/Engineering.	Judging by the number of resumes we are receiving, it is not a good time to be a senior R&D/Engineering executive. Tough times are forcing tough decisions and many companies are reducing R&D/engineering spend, or minimally the high-priced help directing those activities. Some of these organizations may have little choice…	Robert Hebert	02/08/09	1	09/08/10
Think You’re Intelligent?	It is almost axiomatic that all other attributes being equal, the intelligent manager will outperform his or her less intelligent counterpart in the workplace. In fact, according to industrial psychologists intelligence outranks any other attribute as a predictor of workplace success. When most of us conceptualize intelligence, we conjure images…	Robert Hebert	02/08/09	76	09/09/10
Interview Mistakes: You are a Buyer and a Seller	Is the candidate a pure seller in an interview exchange, or are they also a buyer? While some might raise their eyebrows at the obviousness of the question, you would be surprised how many people get this wrong. And I am not just talking about junior people but very senior…	Robert Hebert	02/08/09	3	09/08/10
Great Jobs Guaranteed! The ‘Executive Marketing Firms’ and ‘Agents’.	Sound intriguing? If it does, give your head a shake and forget about it! The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article on the current challenges of finding executive jobs. It noted that many job seekers are turning to a new breed of professional executive marketing firms, executive agents and…	Robert Hebert	01/08/09	5	09/09/10
An Effective Job Search - Use a Rifle or a Shotgun?	Last week I received a resume from an executive in the women’s fashion business. The email was copied to over 100 headhunters. When the executive followed-up with a phone call, I commented that while I respect the courage it took to call me, a cursory glance at our web site…	Robert Hebert	11/08/08	1	09/09/10
What’s Going on in the Market ? Quarterly Update	Executives call us regularly to take the temperature of the employment landscape. Here’s a quick take…. 1. Despite rumblings of Armageddon, companies are still hiring. Job seekers are reporting that their opportunity pipelines are about half-full and that they remain cautiously optimistic. We also are seeing a number of opportunities…	Robert Hebert	11/08/08	1	09/09/10
What will the Nortel crowd do? If history is a guide, not much!	The current crisis at Nortel is pushing another wave of executives into the frigid employment waters. If history is any guide, many will not transition very well. For many years, Nortel took pride in hiring the ‘best of the best’. They cultivated a competitive full contact culture where high potentials…	Robert Hebert	11/08/08	3	09/09/10
Job Search Strategies: Step One	The first stop in any executive job search should be the closest mirror. While this sounds obvious, even trite perhaps, it actually runs contrary to the urge in many of us to respond to a setback by immediately jumping back into the fray.  I get calls every week from executives…	Robert Hebert	11/08/08	4	09/09/10
The Wrong Way to Conduct a Job Search	A distressing number of competent executives are currently on the job market and if you believe what you hear, a lot more are about to join them. They enter a market that will demand much from those seeking to navigate its unsettled waters. So how do you play the game…	Robert Hebert	11/08/08	1	09/09/10
Ted Rogers and The Burden of Succession	As the Ted Rogers story comes to a close, all eyes turn to the question of succession. Will the Rogers’ empire be professionally managed or will the children assume the mantle of leadership? And if they do, will they fare better or worse than the second generation Aspers or Peladeaus…	Robert Hebert	11/08/08	2	09/09/10
The Return of the Caretaker CEO	There is a pattern to foul times. The press picks up the early scent and relentlessly pursues the trail of woe; nervous companies begin to see the smallest market aberration as evidence of the impending apocalypse; the VC cartel issues warnings of supply interruptions to their funding cocaine and before…	Robert Hebert	10/08/08	1	09/09/10
Why Business Development and Sales Are Very Different Roles - Commandos, Infantry and Police	Emerging companies frequently confuse ‘business development’ with ‘sales’. Though each has elements of the other embedded in it, they are very different roles and using them interchangeably is guaranteed to have a negative impact on a business.  To illustrate, we once worked for an early stage company developing the latest…	Robert Hebert	10/08/08	1	09/09/10
So you wish you were pushed a little harder ... Are you sure?	We all want to be good at what we do, our jobs, our hobbies, the sports we play. And if asked, each of us could put together a wish list of things we would love to master, improve or learn. But the gap between wishing and doing is the proverbial…	Robert Hebert	10/08/08	6	09/09/10
The Folly of Imitating the Great Man (or Woman)	As I walked past the crowded biography section of the bookstore the other day, it occurred to me how fascinated we all are by the idea of the great man (and woman). We lap up their stories of triumph, the adversities they tossed aside and the other-worldly lifestyles that have…	Robert Hebert	10/08/08	1	09/09/10
The State of the Tech Sector Hiring Market…Update	I have been receiving a lot of calls on the state of the executive job market. Our business is considered a good barometer of the health of that market and if we are slow it is reasonable to assume the same of the overall job market. So how are we…	Robert Hebert	09/10/08	12	09/09/10
The Relationship Between Motivation and Success	An implicit consideration in selection is the motivation of candidates. What really drives a given individual? Is it money, power, recognition, excellence, knowledge, relationships or some other group of variables? Equally importantly, where does a given individual’s motivation drive them, and what price are they prepared to pay to get…	Robert Hebert	09/08/08	1	09/09/10
Rural Customer Service: Are these People for Real? Am I for Real?	Last weekend I tasted, well actually I was refused a taste, of the world before consumers took it over. It was strange and frustrating, yet in the end, a wonderful thought-provoking experience. Our family’s cottage is located minutes from a very small village, or perhaps it’s technically a hamlet. In…	Robert Hebert	09/08/08	2	09/09/10