“Most of us have seen so-called “shooting stars” – amazing streaks of light sometimes seen in the night sky; the short-lived trail of light is caused by bits of dust and rock called meteoroids falling into the Earth’s atmosphere and burning up. It’s not uncommon to see organizations hire “Star Hires” who arrive with a veritable ‘sound and light’ display, only to splutter out into non-performance and make an embarrassing exit.
Is this evoking a feeling of déjà vu? Already? Then you are one of the many organizations that have celebrated hires whose arrival is announced through glorious Organizational announcements, Press releases, and a considerable stir in the market with Executive Search firm claiming credit for having clinched the deal – got the Star to agree to sign on. This perhaps flashbacks to several months of a painful search with possibly other contenders with not as many star associations – such as experience with leading organizations, international exposure, associations with professional fora (reflection of networking ability not Manager’s capability to deliver results) or the fact that the Manager has worked in similar positions in the past, make it quite a straight forward reason to conclude, that the Star’s skills are easily transferrable to the new assignment. ‘Been there, done that’ – ‘Seasoned Professional’! This is often accompanied with a fantastic display of Marketing and PR by the representing Search Firm which announces with much aplomb that the candidate has ‘agreed to meet across the table for an exploratory conversation’. There is much celebration when the deal is clinched – all return happy.
