When the markets are frail, it is expected that the “heads” of the company maintain the calm. When the embattled Ken Lewis (CEO Bank of America) left the company amidst chaos, question marks, and uncertainty, we were left with no choice but to reconsider our take on leadership. Somebody with the stature and experience of Ken Lewis, who headed a billion (trillion) dollar company isn’t expected to crumble under “emotional stress”—point taken that we are human beings– but question still remains, are the companies thinking enough before appointing their leaders?

An executive search service is one of the techniques companies employ to hire top talent. It is obvious that top talent cannot be ‘hired’ per say, companies instead attract them, making use of existing relationships and via agencies that specialize in executive search process. Saying that however, executive search is not an “easy pie”, each assignment is a long-term commitment on behalf of both the client and the searching firm.

A search firm that specializes in executive search is expected to:

• To have a superior understanding on clients domain
• Know the client processes inside out
• Know the insides of history of the prospective candidates
• Work on a continuous basis with the clients (something like a Agile methodology adopted in software industry

It is very important for us to realize that companies are looking for people who can make a difference—a lot is at stake. Stock values both plump and rise when there is change at the higher level, and that is precisely the reason that companies are investing and taking help of professional recruiting firms. During the search, it is very important to perform high-level research on the candidate needs and goals.

But is it necessary to wait for calamitous situations to attract top talent? Companies realize this; as a result, more and more organizations are being proactive in attracting top-level candidates who can bring about change.

PS: I wonder if Ken Lewis said “enough is enough, let me talk to my headhunter”, and if he assumes leadership position in some competitor organization, then I don’t think he has given us enough reasons to be surprised.

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