September, 2006



Answer: As with most of the executive level searches my firm handles, we (and our clients) have a well-defined set of experiences that we expect communications professionals will have in their arsenal of skills. These criteria are based in both technical qualifications that pertain to the role, and they are also based in a broad set of intangible leadership qualities that need to be highly developed in order for the candidate to be considered qualified for an executive level position. We use laser sharp analytical metrics to evaluate a professional’s abilities to be successful in a given role, which is the primary reason why the intangible human assets a candidate acquires throughout his/her career takes precedence in hiring decisions. The two most important qualities our clients seek in senior talent is the ability to influence the leadership team’s thinking as a strategic counselor and leverage analytical abilities in order to be considered a critical link in the decision-making process. C-suite level executives always evaluate the “value-add” proposition when making senior level hiring decisions. In my opinion, “value-add” today is defined quite broadly to include both a candidate’s knowledge base and it extends beyond traditional communications into the realm of business leadership traits.

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