Why I Do What I Do in Executive Search…

This is a question I am asked all the time. Friends and business associates I have known for years call me to catch up, and sooner or later they want to know how things are going in my business. If we’ve never discussed it before, eventually the question(s) will come up.

Do you like what you are doing? “Why did you decide to go into the search business”? “Are you having fun”? “Do you miss the corporate world”? These are some of the more classic questions I get all the time….I actually enjoy the line of questioning, as it gives me a chance to step back and really evaluate the clarity of the answers I give those with an inquiring mind.

Executive search is a lot of things. Clearly, it is first and foremost a valuable service my clients use when they call on me to help find the best possible talent to fill a critical position opening. It’s a relationship business with multiple stakeholders. It starts with my clients. We get the chance to meet them and get to know a lot about them and their company. Many of them call on me for advice or feedback even when they don’t need my services. That’s rewarding. It also continues with all of the candidates we get to know when we profile, screen, interview and evaluate them to determine if they are a potential fit. We spend a lot of time with the candidate’s references to learn more about their prior performance with a previous employer in our search process. That’s just another opportunity to meet a new industry person that probably would not have happened if I were not in the search business.

The independence and freedom of operating my own company is clearly one of the many reasons I do what I do. Let me be clear: It’s not always a ticker tape parade – by any stretch. I make mistakes (on both sides of the table) but I always try to learn something from the experience. Having said that, I truly enjoy solving these challenges every day. In the search business, the highs and lows are absolutely incredible – more so than anything I have ever experienced. It’s a tough business. I, like many small business owners, would be kidding myself if I didn’t feel some level of stress about the current economic environment we are in today. It does force me to take pause and validate all of the reasons I made the decision to run my own executive search business. It also reminds me that you create your value every day by the effort you put forth and on what you deliver. I think Pat Riley defined success as “defining reality on a daily basis”. There is a lot to be said for his philosophy.

Having run sales and marketing organizations within both privately held and public companies, every 90 days was a revenue drill to meet and exceed budgets and earnings expectations. The revenue budget that was in my name was established by the Board of Directors or worse – our CEO communicated “the number” to shareholders and “the street” on the earnings conference call each quarter. They loved you when you met and exceeded expectations – but I can’t think of many positive things about sitting in that “hot seat” I used to occupy when there was a revenue miss. It was just painful. There were times that I would literally not sleep for days and weeks in advance of an earnings call – if I knew there was a revenue shortfall. I took my role very seriously and knew I was responsible for the sales outcome. This was at a time whenPepcid-AC was not available over the counter, either. It was a lonely spot to be in until things turned around the next quarter. Never any rest for the weary. What have you done for me lately? That was usually the corporate mantra for the sales leader.

In the end, there are two main reasons I do what I do and why I decided to leave corporate America. One is a phone call I received last month from a good friend and former colleague that has been incredibly successful as a senior executive in corporate America for over two decades. She just found out a new CEO is taking the helm at her current company and will likely bring in his own executive management team. In other words, the company has big plans and she is NOT part of it! It was the fear she had in her voice that said it all, as she knew in her gut that there was very little control she had over her situation. I never liked that aspect of corporate America at all. I like to control my own destiny and I like calling my own shots. I’m reminded of the dark comedy “American Beauty” when Lester Burnham, who, in his role in this blockkbuster film, was making his own life changes. In one scene, after he left his high paying job, he said “you never get to tell me what to do ever again”. That was just AWESOME!

But the main reason I do what I do is that I have a passion for what I do. It matters being the person that can help make a difference in the lives of my candidates while creating tremendous value for my clients. Nothing gives me greater joy than to get a call from a client to let me know that the VP of Sales we placed has grown revenues by some unbelievable percentage that was never dreamed possible. Or better yet, to get a call from a candidate (even from a candidate’s spouse) to thank me for helping them change their lifestyle, increase their income or change their culture to something greater than they could ever imagine.

In the end: That’s what does it for me!

So…if you ever wanted to know why I do what I do – now you know.