Hiring Executives: If You’ve Never Done the Job, How Do You Hire Somebody Good?

In addition to technical competence I also look for a high level of intelligence and commitment in people, and personality wise, people that I can work well with and that can work well with me as well as work well with the team.

In the article it said, "It’s also possible for an executive to be highly effective and profoundly influential while being totally despised. The latter is far better."

With me, this type of person would never make the final cut for two main reasons. 1. My concerns about team productivity and unnecessary turnover (most people vote with their feet when working for someone like this). 2. I believe that with a little extra effort I can find people who can do just as good of a job (or better) who will not be despised, making it a lot easier to attract A-Level talent to the company.

People talk, twitter, and post online about things like this. Word gets around. How many A-Level top performers would choose this type of atmosphere when there are better alternatives. Why put in a game room and other perks and then hire someone who the team will despise. That amounts to shooting yourself in the foot.