Abhijit Bhaduri, the Chief Learning Officer of Wipro has written a book called "Don't Hire the Best" on how to hire CXOs.
Have you wondered why when certain leaders who have been tremendously successful for a long time in a company and are recruited into a new company cannot repeat their success and actually quit soon?
Abhijit says that most hiring decisions at the critical senior positions are still assessed subjectively by hiring managers. The real issue is that the predictor of success is not knowledge that the new employee brings, but the cultural fit with the organization's culture and values that are the real predictor of success.
Using tools like DDI's Success Profile and Hogan Assessments, Abhijit explains the various ways in which organizations can save time, money and employee morale by hiring the right fit rather than running after "stars". Drawing an analogy, he says it's like buying a great shirt without testing whether its your size.
The most insightful part was the chapter on "derailers" or what causes people to fail. These are deeply ingrained personality styles that affect leadership behavior, and flare up during times of stress. People with more than 3 high risk derailers would be very problematic to handle.
The book is written for recruiting leaders, but I think it is very useful for even people who are looking at joining a new job. It shows what are the various kind of organizational cultures also and what kind of behavior is expected in that - and one can assess a company in that way and think whether one's own personality would fit into a culture like that.
So if you're in a leadership role or trying to get into one - go ahead read this book. It might save you a lot of money and bad experiences!
