When making our company's first external executive hire, how do we use the Accountability Chart and GWC to test candidates without getting seduced by big corporate resumes?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Small and mid-sized companies often get burned by their first outside executive hire. Founders get dazzled by candidates from Fortune 500 corporations, assuming that a prestigious resume automatically translates into operational excellence. In reality, large-company executives are often used to massive support staffs and struggle when forced to do the actual work.

You prevent this disaster by anchoring the entire hiring process to your Accountability Chart and core values.

Start by defining the seat before looking at resumes. Write down the five major roles for that seat. Do not tailor the roles to fit someone you interviewed. Define exactly what the business requires to achieve its vision.

Next, evaluate candidates through GWC. Do they truly Get the entrepreneurial grind, Want the intense personal ownership of an emerging business, and have the Capacity to execute without an army of assistants? Test their capacity by asking for specific examples of systems they built from scratch, not programs they merely managed.

Then, test for core values fit relentlessly. Put the candidate in front of your existing leadership team in casual, unstructured environments. Ask hard questions about past failures. If a candidate cannot demonstrate vulnerability or shifts blame to past employers, they will fail on your team.

Finally, make it clear that their authority is tied to performance, not their past title. Require them to learn your EOS rhythm, hit their Scorecard numbers, and deliver their quarterly Rocks before making sweeping operational changes.