A few conversations still decide most senior hires. After thousands of interviews since 2006, I think that is the weakest evidence you have, and here is what I would use instead.
Fee and speed are how headhunters usually get compared. Those are the wrong tests. Four questions that tell you far more about whether a search will actually work.
Six in ten interviewers decide within 15 minutes and spend the rest of the meeting proving themselves right. Four biases that quietly cost you good hires, and what to do about them.
Persuading people is the job, so of course they present themselves well. A great interview tells you less than you think, and sometimes it hides the very thing you needed to know.
The typical Director spec describes a perfect person who doesn’t exist, and quietly put off the real people who would be brilliant.
“Would I enjoy a pint with them?” is a fine question for a friend. As a hiring test for a Director, it quietly filters for people like you.
Enthusiasm feels like commitment. Sometimes it is. Often it is a sign that the move matters more to them than the role does.
Money can stop a resignation. It rarely fixes the reason behind it. Why accepted counter-offers so often unravel, on both sides of the table.
The problem is rarely that good leaders can’t be found. It’s that too many businesses can’t keep them past the second year.