Most executive searches start badly, and not because of the candidate. Start with the brief.
The search does not begin with the candidate. It begins with the decision: what leadership does the company need to execute better?
The pain
The brief is rarely the role. It is what the organization thinks it needs, written in the language of a previous position. It does not say what the team that person is going to lead is like, how demanding the direct boss is, what decisions are on hold waiting for someone to arrive, or what culture welcomes or rejects a new leader. All of that, which is what determines whether the hiring works, is left out.
The risk
Hiring the wrong manager does not cost the search fee. It costs the adaptation curve of a team that distrusts, the decisions that are postponed while the new leader gets into the topic and the signal that it sends to the rest of the organization. Between replacing and searching again, months of productivity and, often, the people who mattered are lost.
The gaze raises
We do not fill vacancies. Before looking at a single CV, we spend time understanding the organisation: the business, the moment, the culture, the current team and the direct manager of the role. Only then do we build the real profile, which is often not the one requested. We evaluate cultural fit, not just trajectory, and we accompany the integration until the decision begins to be translated into management.
Let's talk
If you have an open critical position, the conversation should not start with the CV. I should start with the business.