There are many growing trends on LinkedIn. Humble bragging, middle class parents trying to find internships for their little darlings, political polemic – the list goes on. IMHO, most of it is a million miles from what LinkedIn is for, but hey, it’s a user-generated platform so people can do what they want with it.
Many users, myself included, use LinkedIn to talk about the world of work, make connections and discuss career opportunities. Amongst this community, I have noticed a trend for hiring managers and TA professionals to describe their target candidate as ‘the new type of CFO/CHRO/CIO…’. The posts then explain that the role isn’t just about doing accounts, personnel or ‘keeping the lights on’. What is required is someone who is commercially minded, adds value to the wider business, and not just in their discipline, and, above all, contributes to the strategic direction of the business.
However, this isn’t a fresh perspective on the characteristics required by successful executives. I know this as a fact because it is exactly the same way I described the finance opportunities I recruited for NHS Trusts in the early 1990s. ‘Newness’ is, of course, a relative term, but surely something can’t be described as a new trend in talent acquisition when I was discussing it when John Major was Prime Minister and no-one had heard of the internet!
If it still feels ‘new’ it’s because something has gone seriously wrong with the way businesses have hired their permanent leaders in the intervening years. Could it be that while the stated ambition is to hire broad, commercial strategic thinkers, recruiters’ preference for matching CVs to job specs – both of which emphasise the what rather than the how and why – has limited their ability to hire real leaders?
Interim Managers are frequently dropped into situations where a change in emphasis, activity and performance is required. They are often, therefore, the ‘new kind of leader’ the business requires despite being hugely seasoned professionals. How is it that such experienced people can flex to situations where the permanent leadership hasn’t delivered?
It could be because Interim Managers measure their fit for a role by assessing the client’s required outcome and how they will deliver against it? Less about what you want me to do, and more about what you want me to achieve. This creates a greater opportunity for the Manager to cut through the noise and deliver. As an Interim Management Provider, I never ask the question, “what kind of person are you looking for?” The really important thing is to understand the current situation, the desired outcome and to create a workable plan to get from one to the other.
For businesses who are serious about hiring a new kind of leader, Interim Management provides an innovative solution….30 years in the making.
Steve
