Situational Overview

An early-stage MedTech company needed to hire a VP of Marketing to grow its early commercial business. The CEO had a process-driven mind, and innovation, product development and R&D were his strengths. But interviewing candidates for the critical position was a challenge.

BACKGROUND

The CEO had a solid board and mix of investors. His natural tendency was to manage up, yet the leadership team felt he was unapproachable, as they had experienced a lack of support on other issues.

He needed to hire a leader with marketing expertise, but he also needed a trusted confidant, someone who would be straightforward and tell him honestly how he was perceived by the leadership team. He needed someone who could help him find ways to move the business forward with refined leadership. The CEO liked and agreed to this approach, and he trusted Allen Partners to identify candidates who possessed these skills and innate qualities.

CHALLENGE: AN UNAPPROACHABLE CEO

After building a plan designed for the needs of the business, Allen Partners presented three excellent candidates, each of whom had the qualifications and subjective characteristics in line with his needs.  We invested 7-8 hours with each candidate before discussing the opportunity with them, and we were confident in our knowledge of each person overall, as well as for this particular opportunity. We were excited, and the passion showed when we presented the candidates to the CEO.

The CEO interviewed the person we felt was the leading candidate. After a 30-minute interview, the CEO stated he didn’t feel the candidate was right for him. We were shocked. We then debriefed with the candidate who told us that he likely wouldn’t “fit”with the CEO. Again, shocked and stunned, we peeled back the layers on this onion and discovered that the CEO kept the interview extremely formal. It was staged, planned and rigid. During the interview, the CEO didn’t invite discussion, so the interview fell flat.

SOLUTION

Allen Partners followed up with the CEO, asking “did you explore this?” and “did you discuss that?” and “what did you think about that?” We realized the interview lacked so much. We then coached both sides, and suggested that they meet again to discuss things in a deeper, more personal way.

RESULTS

When the CEO and the VP candidate met again, the outcome was completely different. The CEO was enthusiastic about the candidate, even “selling” us on all of the candidate’s attributes. Afterward, the candidate said, “I was really glad to have met him again through your coaching. Now, we can laugh about things and I would really like to work with him.” An offer was extended and accepted.

TAKEAWAY

The company successfully built a marketing platform that enabled global revenue growth. Today, that CEO (who also was the company founder) is at another company. And, to this day, the he uses our formula when interviewing candidates. He tries to be more open and conversational with his team. And he attributes these learnings, and the fact that he hired an excellent leader, to our success working together.