Executive search, it’s a team game!
Executive search can appear to be accessible only to an elite group of recruitment professionals. Recruitment professionals who have graduated from the fee-chasing agency world and into the more prestigious arena of retained and exclusive search. As Katrina and I both started as agency recruiters, we were interested to learn from this weekâs guest, Lewis Maleh, if the myth was actually the truth or did we simply have a massive agency-induced inferiority complex about this haloed ground of recruitment.
Lewis, like us, started his career agency-side before he established his own Executive Search company in 2010. It is intriguing to learn why he set-up his own business and that he was âkeen to start my own business againâ. Lewis decided on Exec Search because âyou tend to start a business in something you are good atâ.
In the first part of the show, we also cover why a client should select Exec Search as opposed to a contingent supplier. We discuss why Lewis thinks âthe hidden cost in recruitment is candidate retentionâ and how âincentives govern behaviourâ. He also explains why itâs a fair exchange if âThe client commits money, I commit my timeâ. Lewis encourages his clients to think of the partnership as a âTeam gameâ.
Itâs all about storytelling!
It was also really interesting to discover how he made the transition from agency to Exec Search, and how he framed his new proposition in the eyes of previous clients. He tells us âall the people that knew me before, wouldnât use me for Exec Searchâ because âyou get known for certain thingsâ. Persistent and confident in his proposition, Lewis continued, âitâs all about approachâ and being able to ârepresent a client to the marketâ through effective storytelling.
Focusing on Lewisâ comments about storytelling, he tells us how important it is as âpeople buy into me, my story, my values, and my journeyâ and then reframes this in the context of a candidate and his understanding that âthey want to know, is the next chapter of my career going to be in this company and whatâs the story going to beâ. So itâs important for him to âstructure everything around storytellingâ.
To close, Lewis tells us âI think of my business as generating contentâ, âI donât sell anything, advertise. I just create content that I think my network and community would be interested inâ.
If that wasnât enough, youâll hear Lewis talk about:
- The definition of Executive Search
- Why confidence is key when pitching retainersÂ
- Why continual learning leads to successÂ
- Where to start on your content-generating journeyÂ
- Interviewing for emotional intelligenceÂ
- Gamification of psychometric assessmentÂ
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