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FLŌ

Before defining the leader, define the future they are expected to build.

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One of the less visible risks in executive search does not arise from candidate selection alone. It arises when a carefully executed search is guided by a mandate that no longer fully reflects what the organization will need next. A candidate may align closely with the defined role while the appointment creates a different impact than anticipated. This does not necessarily mean that the candidate or the search was unsuccessful. The context surrounding the role may simply have evolved beyond the assumptions on which the mandate was based.

The candidate is only part of the decision.

Executive search is often framed around one central question:

Who is best suited to lead this role?

That question matters. Drawing on 308 studies, Wang et al. (2016) found relationships between specific CEO characteristics and firms’ strategic actions. Their analysis also found that those strategic actions were related to subsequent firm performance. But leadership does not operate independently of its environment. Oc’s (2018) systematic review brings together research on the role of context in shaping leadership and its outcomes. Experience developed in one setting may therefore have different relevance when the strategy, operating model, authority, or organizational expectations change. Research cannot define the mandate for a particular organization. It does, however, indicate why leadership should not be evaluated apart from the context in which it will operate. The appointment is therefore more than a selection decision. It also reflects how the organization understands its future.

The mandate should describe what comes next.

This becomes particularly important when an organization is changing. Strategies evolve. Decision rights move. Capabilities gain or lose relevance. Technology changes how work is performed and where human judgment creates value.

Existing responsibilities and familiar credentials remain useful reference points. But they may not fully describe what the role will need to enable next. An executive hiring strategy should therefore begin with questions that precede the candidate profile:

What is the organization seeking to become?

Which outcomes must the role enable?

What decisions should the leader own?

Which capabilities will the future strategy require?

The leadership question is no longer only:

Who has done this before?

It is also:

What future is this leader expected to build?

The candidate profile should follow from that understanding.

Why FLŌ exists

FLŌ was created around a simple conviction: before defining the leader, define the future they are expected to build. Each search begins with a Future Leadership Mandate. It translates the organization’s direction, relevant market developments, and changing leadership requirements into a clear view of what the role must make possible. That mandate informs the candidate profile. It is not treated as a fixed specification. During the search, market intelligence and candidate conversations can test its assumptions and, where appropriate, refine them.

FLŌ connects executive search with research-led perspectives on leadership, organizations, markets, and technology. The objective is to connect present role requirements with a clear view of what the organization will need from leadership next - and identify the person best placed to build it.

Closing thought.

Every leadership mandate contains a view of the future, whether that view is explicit or implicit. Before considering experience, credentials, or candidates, executives should ask:

Have we defined what this leader must build?

The candidate profile is not the starting point. It is the result of making that future visible.

by Anastasia Rettig I FLŌ
References

Oc, B. (2018). Contextual leadership: A systematic review of how contextual factors shape leadership and its outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly, 29(1), 218–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2017.12.004

Wang, G., Holmes, R. M., Jr., Oh, I.-S., & Zhu, W. (2016). Do CEOs matter to firm strategic actions and firm performance? A meta-analytic investigation based on upper echelons theory. Personnel Psychology, 69(4), 775–862. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12140

Comments

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