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IN THE NEWS
Carrick Selected as
Americas Council Board
Member for the AESC
Charlotte, N.C. Nancy DeKoven, director of the Americas for The Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC), recently announced the selection of Kenneth D. Carrick, Jr., partner-managing director of Coleman Lew & Associates, Inc., as an Americas Council Board member for a three-year term. According to Carrick, “Coleman Lew & Associates is a long-time member of the AESC. I am pleased to serve on the Americas Council Board and to help the AESC carry out its mission of promoting the highest ethical standards in our industry.”
Carrick graduated summa cum laude with a BA degree from Catawba College and an MBA from Wake Forest University. He began his career as an accountant with Duke Energy and worked for a national insurance company before joining Coleman Lew & Associates in 1986. Carrick has been an active volunteer for service groups and youth sports in Charlotte. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Greater Carolinas Chapter of the American Red Cross, the South Carolina Birth Defects Foundation and the Business Advisory Board for Catawba College's Ketner School of Business. He and his wife have three children.
About the AESC
The Association of Executive Search Consultants is the worldwide professional association for the retained executive search industry. The AESC's mission is to promote the highest professional standards in retained executive search consulting, broaden public understanding of the search process, and serve as an advocate for the interests of its member firms. For more information, or to view the AESC Code of Ethics and Professional Practice Guidelines, go to www.aesc.org. The AESC offers BlueSteps, a career management service for senior executives, and CorporateConnect, a service for the HR community offering industry information and access to the AESC membership.
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IN THIS ISSUE
>> In The News >> More Than a “Rolodex”
>> Leading for the Long-Term
BACK TO TOP
MORE THAN A “ROLODEX”
 The key to being a successful executive search firm is being an effective matchmaker. Good matchmaking requires intuition, creativity, solid research skills, and a little gut instinct. When looking for the ideal candidate, a database of names may be a helpful starting point; however, there is no substitute for individual insight, personal networking, and original research.
Every company has a unique culture. Accordingly, identifying candidates who best meet the needs of a specific client requires a unique approach regardless of the number of times similar positions have been filled for other clients. Finding a college president for a small liberal arts college entails more than simply pulling names from a website or database and stockpiling resumes. Even clients in the same business or industry have different needs.
A good consultant will first research the background and culture of the company or institution and then consider the exact role the position will play within the firm’s hierarchy. Finding the ideal candidate requires gathering and analyzing current information, i.e., basically starting from scratch. The search consultant most likely has an existing database of names and contacts who, on the surface, match the basic requirements for the search. However, ensuring the long term success of a placement will require extensive research, cold calling, and networking. Executive search is more than the outdated, impersonal Rolodex. The most successful consultants are those with strong intuition, creativity, and a sixth sense. A little humor never hurts either.
BACK TO TOP
LEADING FOR THE LONG-TERM
 Many companies have traditionally taken a “weather the storm” approach to managing through tough times by downsizing, instituting across-the-board hiring and pay freezes, and reducing investments in people development. These seemingly prudent acts are often viewed as necessary to help the organization maintain a steady course through turbulent times. Such acts, however, can increase the risk of capsizing the organization due to low morale and the loss of critical talent in the short-term and undercutting long-term competitiveness. Leading organizations recognize this risk potential and make different decisions in the face of turmoil.
A study conducted in the mid-1990s provides some critical insights for today’s leaders. The study sought to understand the decisions and actions of over 400 American-based corporations during the last significant turning point in the U.S. economy: the decline from 1970 to mid-1980 followed by 15 years of rapid growth. The study found significant differences between leading organizations and those that lagged behind in the recovery following the long downturn. Several key findings include:
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- Differences in Mindset: In making decisions about workforce cutbacks during the downturn, organizations that cited cost-control as the primary driver for its decisions both lagged behind when the recovery started and found that they lost the wrong people in their downsizings. Leading organizations made cutbacks driven out of concerns for improved competitiveness and productivity. In taking a more deliberate approach to their cutbacks, leading organizations used hard times to restructure, top-grade their talent, and make well placed investments in developing leaders for future competitiveness. These differences in mindset translated into real differences in competitive position when the market turned.
- Differences in Engagement: Facing immediate and immense pressures to enhance organizational productivity, quality, and services while still controlling costs, many executive teams use a common formula: downsizing coupled with substantial investments in advanced technology and a search for opportunities in the marketplace. In the last downturn, leading organizations broadly defined “technology” and invested much more substantially in “high touch” workplace improvements — work redesign, TQM programs, and employee engagement programs. These investments paid off: leading organizations downsized as much as other firms but retained over 84 percent of their workforce in the aftermath; organizations that lagged behind during the recovery retained only 39 percent.
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Most economists predict a long, slow, and arduous recovery ahead with estimates ranging between 5 and 10 years. While many seasoned managers and leaders will have to work longer to replenish their diminished retirement plans, they will eventually recover their losses and begin retiring in record numbers. Leading organizations are preparing for this eventuality now by refining their succession plans — based on the assumption of continued success. These plans will only be useful to organizations that learn the lessons from history. Those that pare their succession plans with other thoughtful investments will be well positioned for smooth sailing when more favorable conditions return.
To learn more about how Coleman Lew & Associates helps clients develop integrated succession plans, contact Matt Turner, Partner – Leadership Development at mturner@colemanlew.com or 704-222-2091 or 704-377-0362.
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Coleman Lew & Associates, Inc., founded in 1979 and headquartered in Charlotte, NC,
is a retained national executive search firm that recruits board members, officers, and senior level executives for national and international companies, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations. The firm also provides customized leadership development services to organizations seeking to maximize corporate performance.
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