The Right Leader

A trailblazing approach to choosing executives who both match the needs and fit the cultures of the organizations they will lead

Leadership failures damage or even destroy companies every day. To reduce the costs of leadership failure, the author has developed a revolutionary process for selecting executives based on his years of consulting for some of America's largest corporations. The Right Leader details this new approach and how it eliminates the leadership failures that plague so many companies around the world today. When executives don't address the right needs, or can't lead the organization because of a poor fit with the corporation's cultures, the company loses competitive advantage, talented people, and momentum. The Right Leader introduces the revolutionary Match-Fit Model and explains how it reduces the risks and costs of executive failure by changing the factors that are considered and by taking into account the cultural dynamics at play in any organization.

Nat Stoddard (New York, NY) is Chairman of Crenshaw Associates, a New York-based consulting firm specializing in career and transition management for senior executives. Claire Wyckoff (New York, NY) is an accomplished writer and editor, who has held executive positions in both the corporate and nonprofit sectors.

List of Illustrations xi

Foreword xiii

Acknowledgments xv

Preface: The Why’s and Wherefore’s Behind This Book xvii

1 Introduction 1

Part One: The New Paradigm for Leadership Selection 21

2 Design for a New Selection Model 23

3 The Abilities Bucket 41

4 The Personality and Energy Bucket 61

5 The Character Bucket 73

6 The Company’s Needs 97

7 Corporate Culture 111

Part Two: Fixing a Flawed Selection Process 137

8 The New Hiring Process—‘‘Hit My Smoke!’’ 139

9 Changing the Way Candidates are Vetted 149

10 The Missing Links to Selecting the Right Leader 167

11 The FAC Process at Work: The Case of SDI, Inc. 197

12 Putting It All Together: A Recipe for Success 211

Part Three: Conclusion 235

13 Why Boards Should Care 237

14 ‘‘You’re Cleared in Hot’’ 259

Notes 279

Appendix A. Assessment Tools Matrix 293

Appendix B. Cross-Cultural Virtues 297

Appendix C. Book Figures 303

Bibliography 307

Index 317

NAT STODDARD is Chairman of Crenshaw Associates, a New York–based consulting firm that special-izes in career and transition management for senior executives. He is the former CEO of a leading kitchen products manufacturer and former chairman, president, and CEO of GE's Canadian appliance affiliate, Camco, Inc.

CLAIRE WYCKOFF is an accomplished writer and editor who has held several corporate and nonprofit executive positions that included the direction of three highly regarded business book initiatives. She currently serves on the faculty of NYU's Center for Publishing.

THE RIGHT LEADER

One of the costliest problems any organization can face is a failed executive transition. When a new top executive doesn't fulfill the expectations of the board or owners who chose them, it costs companies a bundle—in terms of severance packages, replacement costs, lost market capitalization, stock price volatility, bad decision-making, organizational inefficiencies, and the loss of confidence that turnover often engenders.

Today's excessively high rate of executive failure—reliable surveys estimate that up to forty percent of all new leaders fail within eighteen months—costs the business community dearly and proves the old executive hiring model is flawed. In The Right Leader, Nat Stoddard and Claire Wyckoff present a revolutionary process for stemming the tide of executive turnover and making sure companies find the right fit in a leader.

This new model, the Match-Fit Model, fits the pieces of the selection puzzle together in an entirely new way. While the traditional selection process focuses almost exclusively on a candi-date's abilities, it fails to account for the substance of the candidate's character, particularly the values, beliefs, and personal philosophies that drive behavior. Nor does the traditional process effectively explain the hiring company's real needs and, most importantly, the cultures through which results must be delivered.

The Match-Fit Model closes that gap with a modern examination of the way leaders relate to organizations and new, real-world selection criteria that the traditional model lacks. It gives anyone involved in executive selection the tools they need to determine whether and how well a candidate's abilities, personality, energy, and character align with the company's real needs and cultures.

For any business, finding the right leader is a matter of vital importance. Finally, there's a proven, systematic method for selecting leaders that takes into account more than just their traits—a way to measure and define their compatibility with the company's cultures. If you want to match your company with a qualified leader who shares the values and understands the culture of your business, The Right Leader is the ultimate guide to a perfect hire.

For more information, visit www.therightleader.com.