Hiring “Will-Impact” Team Leaders
- Apr 10, 2025
- 5 min read
Harvard Group International has been successfully helping clients fill critical and strategic hiring needs for three decades. As consultant in this field, HGI regularly provides analysis and advice to executives and professionals who seek the firm's assistance. The door is always open to employers and individuals for courtesy discussions.
While there is nearly always a good supply of “can-do” prospects with their resumes on various internet sites, the executives who have established impact-accomplishment history, along with the specific credentials sought for a key job are most likely not looking. It most often takes specific targeting, experienced recruiting and some fortitude to dig into the likely sources, providing person-to-person recruiting, in order to gain such candidate’s interest. Forward-thinking, top team building strategists, whether they are CEO’s, CHRO’s or other executives, keep this in mind while planning appropriately to apply needed commitment in conjunction with special resources in order to locate proven WILL-IMPACT Leaders.
From decades of experience, HGI fully knows, embraces and delivers to this concept. While virtually every client expresses desire for a field of top candidates, many really have not yet thought out what that means in a number of ways, while others just hope, expecting speed from postings and AI to fill the opening “soon”. As an executive recruiting firm, there are times when we are not sure if the need has even been fully considered and defined by management. At the same time, from experience, it is certainly acceptable that “can-do” candidates are frequently the right fit for particular needs and circumstances.
The WILL-IMPACT Leader is easily able to introduce themself around the defining accomplishments of their career. Usually, they will draw upon a couple of the most broadly significant goals, achieved or surpassed, when first asked who they are. The most confidence is shown when they simply evidence this in a couple of short phrases, as opposed to extended generalized paragraphs. From the best of them, this is often not due to frequent opportunities or practice interviewing. It’s just confidence. They are likely “not looking” because they are highly appreciated by their current employers. “Post & Hope” search strategies won’t likely uncover them. Still, it does not mean such WILL-IMPACT achievers don’t have career ambitions. And it is also then not surprising that they have been discovered and recruited before, because within their circles they likely stand out.
Key to hiring them then is to first find their circles. Maybe that’s an industry, though more often it’s an employer. And, as a smaller demographic, digging into the right circles can take particular, experience-based skill and technique, when luck doesn’t come to the rescue. HGI has applied this kind of targeted, deep recruiting throughout its history. That’s how CEO’s of major manufacturers were found, or Presidents of distinct process technology manufacturers were hired, or the top business development manager for a global O&G company was located. While stumbling on them can happen, intentionally building a field of such candidates takes a proven process, the best of which succeed in the least practical timespan for such strategic searches, typically.
While it’s clearly not posting jobs with fingers crossed, success at this requires a very well-considered definition of prioritized qualifications that are most often beyond, as in addition to, the list of responsibilities in the typical job description. When an employer seeks the best there is for a specific strategic role, the WILL IMPACT Leader, then the elements which distinguish “best” have to almost take precedence in the consideration of candidates. Of note, from HGI’s experience, hiring managers most often base their final choice against criteria that are not in the job description.
Of course, the job description is fundamental in filling any opening for a client. These most often follow a standardized format and content nature along the employer’s guidelines. Most often they focus on responsibilities as well as general skills and personality traits. In the case where the need is to find someone better than “can-do”, the hiring manager virtually always applies points of criteria that are not in the job description, and at times these even first become criteria over the course of candidate considerations and interviews. In recruiting for specific WILL IMPACT candidates, it’s quite advantageous to a timely outcome to “pull those out” as early in the process as practical, if not prior to the search launch. The early-in-the-search process step of Resume Sampling is commonly beneficial to this need, depending notably on the resultant feedback from the hiring manager.
Hiring WILL IMPACT Leaders starts with identifying probable sources. That is, where do they likely work or in what professional associations they might be active. The former is most often the course taken. Typically, the Hiring Manager and the Executive Recruiter brainstorm such a target list to get started. That list grows as the Recruiter digs out and screens prospects. It is a process of active, well-disciplined searching, digging into sources to find who is in a role with the likely experience required. Then screen for who among them stands out as accomplished contributors to their employer. And that is which of them can articulate how they have been a notable contributor to their employer’s success – which of them are a proven positive ROI member of the company.
It is in this type of strategic effort to bring on accomplished leaders that clients regularly discover other candidates who easily represent “bench strength” hires. Even when not hired, those bench strength candidates lend to the evaluation and decision process in landing the WILL IMPACT Leader.
Therefore, of the typically three levels of candidates that are hired through outside consultants, “can-do” are the most common. In many cases, fields of such candidates can be built via Post & Hope ads or by searching through on-line sites where individuals place their resumes to be found. In the more critical and strategic hires, the decision to build a field of candidates with proven accomplishment, WILL IMPACT Leaders, should involve a decision to engage the process of actually digging, against a target bullseye definition that includes more than just “responsibilities held”. Proof of impact is a must in such hiring situations. Experienced specialists, as in Executive Recruiters, bring critical know-how that results in their firm being part of what is overall assessed afterwords to have been a positive ROI decision.
Keep in mind:
Job descriptions define TARGETS
Hiring Managers specify BULLSEYES
Read more from Harvard Group International
Harvard Group International, Executive & Professional Recruiters
Harvard Group International was founded in 1997 with a primary focus on automotive manufacturers and tier-one suppliers. From its beginning, the culture has been one of providing help and advisory services to clients and candidates alike. As the firm grew, the practice evolved more of a generalist focus, covering almost every industry segment across finance & investment, medical, technology, consumer, and more, to manufacturers and suppliers; US and International. With that history, HGI has helped many of the largest corporations in the world as well as private businesses and start-ups. The key to success is grounded in the firm's process of thoroughly understanding the clients' needs as well as hiring managers' preferences to enable effective 'digging' into likely sources; and identifying accomplished candidates that require actual recruiting before presentation to clients. Along the years, HGI has become known for professional courtesy, confidentiality, and focused urgency. The associates and directors of the firm have reviewed many thousands of resumes, placing thousands of candidates across a broad spectrum of titles, roles, and diversity.
