There are few people who understand leadership more than Dan Ryan, global managing partner of client development and coverage at Heidrick & Struggles. He built his career in executive search, placing financial leaders and board members in some of the world’s leading financial institutions, and also ran Heidrick’s Americas region. With business models changing as fast as they are, he believes companies need leaders who can pivot and bring their organizations along with them.

Dan tells So Many Questions host and Moses Singer CEO Rebecca Goodman-Stephens how the search for senior leaders has changed, including why Heidrick now assesses leaders for what comes next instead of relying only on their track record, and why more boards are looking outside their companies for CEOs.

The two also go back and forth on hiring leaders from outside an industry and executives who prefer interim work. Dan also shares how he leads his own teams.

In this Episode

04:18 – Executives Who Choose Interim and Project-Based Work 07:08 – Why CFO Searches Now Take Longer 08:50 – Balancing Homegrown Leaders With Outside Hires 13:32 – Moving Beyond Backward-Looking Leadership Assessment 18:36 – Bringing the Team Along on a Decision 20:39 – Giving Associates Room to Make Mistakes 21:57 – Being More Open-Minded About Where Talent Comes From 23:50 – Boards Turning to Outside CEOs More Often 28:54 – The Capability Gap in Boardrooms and Executive Ranks 33:41 – Stepping Into a Bigger Mentorship Role

Relevant Links

• Moses Singer: www.mosessinger.com
• Heidrick & Struggles: https://www.heidrick.com
• Connect with Rebecca Goodman-Stephens on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-goodman-stephens-b702665/
• Connect with Dan Ryan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-ryan-689b06/

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