Post by BOB Search - THE Aerospace, Defense and Space Executive Search Firm

A private equity client recently approached us with a challenge. Their CEO had just resigned to take another opportunity, and the business was suddenly running without a leader. We'd worked with this group before on other assets, but never with this particular company. The first thing we did wasn't start the search. It was stop the bleeding. We found them a strong interim leader, someone open to consulting who could step in and steady the ship while we ran the process. We did that at no additional cost. A business without a CEO can't afford to drift for three months, and the search runs better when the client isn't operating in crisis mode. Then we ran the search. Four strong finalists. One from a direct competitor, three others with differing functional and background experience. The client had two people they would have been thrilled to hire. Here's the part I appreciated most. Going in, the client worried the role wouldn't be attractive enough to draw top people. It turned out to be the opposite. Multiple excellent candidates wanted it. When a leader leaves unexpectedly, the instinct is to rush. The better move is to stabilize first, then run a real process. Panic hires lead to additional headaches down the road. Patient ones end them.