“The power of what Kaplan DeVries does is in their depth of knowledge, the research precision, the preponderance of evidence, and the strong viewpoint on the executive and the fit with the job to be done. Their reports are the gold standard.”
Select leaders
Our top priority in evaluating a candidate, especially an external candidate, is to find out what could wrong.
Certainly, we will take stock of the candidate's leadership as a whole. What is the individual especially good at? In what areas are they lacking, functional and otherwise? How does the person compensate for their weaknesses and, for that matter, counterbalance their too-strong strengths? Based on our Leadership Versatility Index and in-depth interviews (confidential), you can count on us to deliver a balanced perspective—do justice what’s good as well as what isn’t.
But because hiring from the outside is dangerous, we go to great lengths to discover what could go wrong:
- We interview as many as 20 people because only a small minority give you the whole story.
- We plan to talk to off-list coworkers, cleared with the candidate. One way we identify promising off-list people is to scrutinize the person’s career path.
- We administer two psychological tests that capture reactivity/dysfunction.
- We ask interview questions like: (1) Does this person's ego ever get in the way, (2) Do this person's emotions ever get the better of them, (3) Do other people walk on eggshells around this person, (4) Do people come away from a meeting with this person with more energy or less energy? (5) What's the worst thing ever said about him/her? (6) On balance, how well suited is this person to be a CEO? Note: we will also use the Net Promoter Score.
- We'll interview the candidate on formative influences, with an emphasis on adversity that shaped or misshaped the person. The child is parent to the adult.
- We’ll ask for performance appraisals and 360 reports.
- We give the candidate a high-level summary of our findings, in part to gauge defensiveness.
Two Calibrations
First, we will calibrate among ourselves. Each of us will have collected data in a vacuum. A former CEO will interview the candidate in isolation. Separately, experienced leadership consultants will interview coworkers. Not privy to the interviews, an expert will interpret the psychological tests. Then in a summit meeting we will calibrate—cross-validate as well as reconcile differences.
Second, having submitted our report, we will calibrate with you, using a scorecard based on what will be required of the next CEO. We will define those requirements with you. Fit will be high on the list of requirements.
Transition Management
To mitigate the risk of a failed transition, we coach the new hire using a spot-survey or two. The pre-hire feedback meeting will have laid the basis for that. If there's time, we would also do full-fledged 360-based coaching. Different from the data collected for selection, this data would be unfiltered—another useful set of inputs for the hiring party.
If need be, we will also help the host be even more hospitable.