How to Choose a New CEO?

Discussing the difficulties and challenges enterprises face, we discussed the role of the first person in the company. Without his involvement, indifference, and direct participation in the company’s development, it is impossible to achieve the desired result. Therefore, the selection and appointment of a director by the company’s owners is a difficult task. And although the criteria and required competencies are formally known, mistakes are often made in this area that can cost the enterprise dearly.

Requirements for a director

An executive director must be disciplined and organized, be able to analyze large amounts of information, easily cope with stress and find a common language with any company employee.

Also, the director should like to maintain order in the company. For example, some people depend on inspiration. When they are inspired, they start new projects and grab any job, but then the mood disappears, and they quit everything. Thus, an endless cycle of unfinished business is born. In a company where such a director works, nothing will ever be realized. Therefore, one of the main requirements for a director is stability. There must be order in his affairs, and he must be able to bring everything he has planned to the end.

In this case, all company employees will be sure that this person will lead them to the goal and help the company reach a new level. As a result, the director will become a leader of the team; the team will support all his ideas and enthusiastically take on their implementation.

What to ask at an interview with a future director?

Simple questions from the category “What did you work for?” are nonsense. They won’t give you any valuable information about the candidate.

To find out what a person is capable of, ask, “What were your results?” After he answers, please find out how he achieved these results, what tools it used in his work, and what role he played in the workflow. For example, sometimes leaders list what their team has achieved, but at the same time, there was no contribution from them, just hardworking and talented subordinates were caught. Only when the candidate begins to describe the work of each implemented tool will it clear to you whether he interacted with it and applied it in practice.

For example, a future director tells you: “We have implemented a CRM system.” Ask whose initiative it was, who implemented it, what results in it gave, what changed, whether there were failures and errors during implementation, etc.

Hire an executive director or grow in a company

You can hire directors from outside but then set up a long probationary program for them: let them work a little at all positions and see what each process looks like from the inside. Then, when he tries himself in all roles, he will understand how the organization is built, what to expect from each employee, what difficulties departments face, and other nuances of work.

It is impossible to find a ready-made director who will come and immediately take control of your company into his own hands; this does not happen. Even if, before that, a person worked in the system and knows what functions the executive director is responsible for, it is not a fact that he adapts this knowledge to your company and will be able to integrate it into the workflow quickly.

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