What do owners of successful companies do differently when filling executive positions?
Expert interview with Klaus Mayerhanser
Successful companies are often characterized by particularly high-performing executives and employees. But how do the owners of successful companies manage to attract the right people for key positions?
Key Points at a Glance
Why do some entrepreneurs consistently make the right decisions when filling executive positions – while others end up with the wrong hires despite impressive résumés? The answer often lies not in the candidate pool, but in the selection process.
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In this interview, Klaus Mayerhanser, CEO of DELTACON Executive Search AG, explains the mistakes owners often make during the selection process, how to identify true leaders, and how to reduce the risk of a poor hire in the long term.
Mr. Mayerhanser, you have been helping entrepreneurs – particularly those in small and medium-sized businesses – fill executive positions for many years. What distinguishes successful companies from less successful ones right from the start of the hiring process?
Klaus Mayerhanser: Many entrepreneurs initially look for the “perfect resume” and professional expertise. While these are undoubtedly important, they are not enough. A resume and track record say a lot about a candidate’s past – what they’ve achieved – but nothing about their future leadership potential. Personality, leadership, adaptability, and a good fit with the corporate culture or the phase the company is currently in must be thoroughly examined.
What are the three most common mistakes you see when filling executive positions?
Klaus Mayerhanser: Owners fall for individual candidates too soon. I often observe that an emotional decision is made after just one very good initial interview. After that, the rest of the selection process serves more to confirm that decision than to critically scrutinize it. Another critical factor for success is thorough preparation. How much time do you set aside to evaluate the ideal profile, the critical success factors, leadership expectations, or cultural fit? If you don’t invest enough time here, you won’t find the right candidate. Another key issue is the quality of the interview process. At the executive level, I recommend at least four rounds, two of which should be in-person interviews. In addition to the hiring manager and HR, peers from other departments should definitely participate in the interviews; this is valuable for both sides. And an informal conversation, such as over dinner, also helps in understanding the cultural fit with the company.
And if I may add one more “bonus mistake”: The importance of personality is often underestimated. The best owners ask these questions much earlier: How does the person make decisions, how do they lead people, how do they react under pressure, and will they be able to get the shareholders on board? The quality of an executive appointment is determined long before the first interview – namely, by the clarity of the requirements.
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During the selection process, how can you tell that a candidate can truly help a company grow – and not just that they’ve successfully performed in their previous role?
Klaus Mayerhanser: I believe that many companies ask the wrong question during the selection process. They ask, “Was this candidate successful?” But what’s far more important is, “Why was he successful – and can he replicate that success under different circumstances?” In the interview, we don’t ask what the candidate did; instead, we focus very closely on how he did it. What challenges or crises did he have to overcome? How did they get employees on board? How did they initiate change or successfully restructure organizations?
To shed light on these skills, we, as a recruitment consulting firm, naturally use multi-stage interviews, competency-based interviews, and diagnostic assessments.
Many companies place a strong emphasis on experience and professional expertise. In your view, what role do personality, values, and cultural fit play in a successful hire?
Klaus Mayerhanser: In my view, personality, values, and cultural fit are not “soft factors.” After all, they often determine whether a CEO can effectively apply his or her professional expertise at all. Especially when it comes to CEO positions, it’s never just a matter of asking, “Can the candidate fulfill the role from a technical standpoint?” It’s always very much about asking, “Will he be able to successfully lead this company in this specific context?”
Every day, a CEO makes decisions under conditions of uncertainty, must convince his or her employees, resolve conflicts, and actively shape change. How successfully he or she does this depends only in part on professional expertise. Just as important – if not more so – is how he or she communicates, how he or she builds trust, and whether he or she can rally people around shared goals.
For this reason, successful entrepreneurs carefully assess whether their values align and whether the way changes are implemented fits with the company culture.
In my experience, CEOs fail less often due to a lack of professional competence than because they are not a good fit for the organization and the people they are supposed to lead.
Success involves four key leadership dimensions:
- About the owners and shareholders – Expectations, Decision-Making Style, and the Foundation of Trust.
- The company’s stage – Growth, Transformation, Stabilization, or Succession.
- About the Leadership Team – Complementing existing skills and collaborating as equals.
- Corporate culture – Values, communication style, and leadership philosophy.
What advantages – but also what disadvantages – do you see in using a recruitment consulting firm to fill an executive position?
Klaus Mayerhanser: I am convinced that not every executive search requires the services of a recruitment firm. If a company has an excellent network, can invest sufficient time, and can reach the right candidates directly, an internal search can also be successful.
In my view, there are four key reasons to work with a professional HR consulting firm:
In my view, there are four key reasons to work with a professional HR consulting firm:
In contrast, there are three points that companies should take into account:
Ultimately, it’s the quality of the recruitment consulting firm that matters.
Not all recruitment consulting firms operate the same way. What matters most is how deeply they understand the company, how thoroughly they analyze the market, how critically they evaluate candidates, and how professionally they manage the entire selection process.
“The best recruitment consulting firm isn’t recognized by the fact that it presents as many candidates as possible. Rather, it’s recognized by the fact that it has the courage to consistently weed out unsuitable candidates – even if that means the shortlist gets smaller.”
What do particularly successful owners or shareholders do differently from the average person during the selection process?
Klaus Mayerhanser: Successful entrepreneurs first define their goal – and only then their profile
Many companies start by asking, “Who are we looking for?” Successful business owners ask a different question: “What does our next CEO need to accomplish over the next five years?” And they listen more than they talk. In excellent interviews, business owners talk surprisingly little about their company. They want to understand how the candidate thinks – not just what he or she has done. They give the candidates space.
Furthermore, the quality of an executive appointment is not determined by interviews with the candidates, but by the discussions among the shareholders themselves. The most successful owners therefore invest a surprising amount of time before they even meet the first candidate.
If you could give an entrepreneur just one piece of advice on filling his next executive position – what would it be?
Klaus Mayerhanser: Don’t just fill the position – secure your company’s future.
Those who look solely for the best résumé are focusing on the past. Those who, on the other hand, prioritize strategy, personality, and potential for growth lay the foundation for sustainable business success.
Filling an executive position is one of the most important strategic decisions for the coming years. That is why it is worth first defining exactly where the company should be headed – and only then considering which leader can successfully chart that course.
And once a position has been filled, successful entrepreneurs invest again – in onboarding, support during the first hundred days, and integration into the group of shareholders. Hires don’t fail because of the selection process, but rather in the first nine months after they start.
Executive Search Consultant for Telecommunications, IT & Consumer Electronics
Klaus Mayerhanser is a founding partner and Managing Director of DELTACON Executive Search. With his team, he is responsible for the telecommunications, information technology and consumer electronics sectors and heads our office in Munich. In addition to his Executive Search Consulting activities, he has ten years of operational management experience in sales and marketing functions within the ICT industry.