Six Traits That I look For in Successful Executives

When I am interviewing, I like to play a game with myself.  Long before I ask the candidate, but generally within five to ten minutes after starting the interview, I try to guess the candidate’s salary. 

Funny thing is that I am rarely wrong.

So this started me thinking.  What distinguishes the juniors from the seniors, the high achievers from the ordinary?  And what is it about the juniors who I know will be highly successful that distinguishes them from the merely good?

Here is my analysis:

1.    Attitude

Successful executives exude confidence – in themselves, in their jobs, in their business. They are positive.  They are excited about what they do and show it.  Often, their enthusiasm is infectious.

People who interview them know that they are good, simply from the way they carry themselves and from how they phrase their answers.

They speak with authority, even the young, recently graduated students.  They just have that “it” factor.

2.    Record of success

Senior executives, when asked what they are proud of accomplishing, can tick off any number of successful things that they have done.  They are accomplishment-oriented and do things (as opposed the vast number of people who tell you they are proud of their people skills with no specifics).

They are very capable of solving problems and can articulate the role they played in the solutions they have developed.  Even successful young executives can do this.

3.    Self-Awareness

People who are successful understand what has made them successful and what they do well and, in most cases, what they don’t do so well (strengths and weaknesses).  They are able to easily tell you “what makes them good”.  (That is the question I ask).

4.    Awareness of others

Successful people know that they are not effective in a vacuum.  They understand the role that others play in their accomplishments – both subordinates and senior people.  They know how to manage both up and down for maximum effectiveness.

5.    Future vision

Successful executives know where they are going and what they need to get there.  I love candidates who can articulate their needs for the future.  Many people come in and tell me they want to run a business someday. But only a few have thought enough about their goals to tell you what they plan to do to accomplish them.  Each person’s formula for success is individual and different; I knew I wanted to run an advertising agency (which I did), and I had determined by the time I was thirty those elements and experiences which I thought I needed in order to accomplish my goal.

6.    Sense of purpose/Job vision

Successful people have a sixth sense about the job they currently have.  They know what needs to be done and how to accomplish it.  It is amazing when I talk to successful executives – even juniors – that they have both short term and long term goals for their existing assignments. (And when they know that they can no longer accomplish those objectives, they can look for new jobs easily.)  Their sense of purpose is very clear.

Unfortunately, most of these traits are innate and part of the DNA of successful people.  People who have them and don't know that they have them can learn to focus and bring them out.

Five Things Not To Ask An Executive Recruiter To Do

I am constantly being asked for favors.  All executive recruiters receive these request. So I thought I would write a post about the questions/requests you can’t ask a recruiter.

I don’t mean to sound curmudgeonly, it is just that, like most recruiters, I am always busy.   And mostly the favors are such that I cannot accommodate them.  

1.    Asking a recruiter to network them 
The problem with all recruiters is that we meet too many people.  I see on average of three or four people a day.  Many of them are wonderful and I would love to be able to help, but I just can't.  I always think it would be an abuse of my position to introduce them to people I know.  I see dozens of new people a month.  And, after all, how many times can I call my friends and contacts when I don’t have a specific assignment?

There is an exception.  Because I am in advertising and marketing, if someone comes to see me with specific experience which may be relevant to an ad agency which is pitching an account or where I know they are needed, I will call to make the introduction.  But that is rare.

 2.   LinkedIn Introductions

With some frequency, people I know (and people I don’t know) ask me to connect them to people who are my LinkedIn connections.  I don’t do that.  I get paid to make introductions and when I make them, I only connect on LinkedIn with people I actually know or have had contact with.    It is surprising to me how many people, both working and not, ask me to introduce them to some senior executive for the purpose of networking or interviewing.

3.  Freebies

Just recently, a friend sent me job specs and asked if I know anyone who fit those specs.  I asked if I could get paid.  He told me he was doing a favor for a friend.  Recruiters get paid for making introductions.  So, I declined.
   

4. Being A Reference

Occasionally, candidates I have known for many years ask me to be a reference. I always decline because they have not actually worked with me or for me and anything I may know about them is hearsay.  Sometimes those requests are also a conflict of interest  because I am actually working to fill the same job with candidates of my own. 

5.  Putting In A Good Word

Sometimes, candidates call and ask me about a company they are interviewing with; often, they have networked themselves into the company for an actual job. They then ask me to call the people they have interviewed with to put in a good word.  First of all, it is none of my business.  Second, the people I may have been asked to call may be good , but it is a form of pressure which no one likes; forcing references on people may actually be counter-productive. (In the post I just linked to I told the story of a candidate who was rejected because of the pressure.)