By Luke Morgan, Senior Executive Recruiter at Weles Group
After 15 years in executive recruitment—the last five spent at Weles Group—I’ve watched the landscape transform beneath our feet. Let me be blunt: the war for leadership talent isn’t just heating up; it’s fundamentally changing.
Remember when the “perfect CV” meant Oxbridge, Big Four consulting, and a steady march through prestigious companies? Those days are over. I’ve seen too many “perfect” candidates fall flat when faced with real leadership challenges.
The Old Playbook Is Dead
In 2024, I’m having radically different conversations with boards and investors. They’re no longer asking, “Where did they work?” but rather, “What can they actually do?” The data backs this up: 76% of boards now rank demonstrated leadership competencies above traditional credentials.
This shift isn’t happening in a vacuum. Nearly half of CEO appointments between 2020-2024 underperformed expectations—many of these were “safe” choices with impeccable pedigrees. I remember one particularly painful search where we passed on an unconventional candidate with exceptional turnaround experience in favour of an industry veteran. Six months later, the board was quietly looking for a replacement.
Beyond the CV: Spotting Real Leadership
So what are we looking for now? I tell clients to consider three dimensions:
Competencies, not credentials: Can they make tough decisions under pressure? Do they influence diverse stakeholders effectively? Have they demonstrated digital fluency? Just last quarter, I placed a CFO who had never worked at a Big Four firm but had masterfully led a mid-sized company through a complex blockchain integration. The board initially hesitated—until they saw her 90-day plan.
Transformative experiences: Has this person navigated significant change? Built something from scratch? Managed through a crisis?
One of my favourite placements was a CEO who had rebuilt operations after a devastating natural disaster wiped out his company’s primary facilities. His resilience and creative problem-solving proved more valuable than his competitor’s Oxford MBA.
Results that matter: I don’t want to hear about titles. Tell me about measurable impact. Did you increase market share? Improve retention? Reduce costs whilst enhancing quality?
The Diversity Imperative
Let’s talk about the elephant in the boardroom: traditional hiring approaches have systematically excluded diverse talent. When we look beyond conventional paths, something remarkable happens—we find leaders with fresh perspectives and unique approaches to problem-solving.
The numbers don’t lie: gender-diverse executive teams are 25% more likely to achieve above-average profitability. But this isn’t just about gender or ethnicity—it’s about diversity of experience and thought.
I’m particularly proud of placing a manufacturing CEO who came from tech, bringing desperately needed digital transformation expertise. The company had interviewed six “safe” industry veterans before taking a chance on my recommendation. Two years later, they have doubled their market cap.
My Chess Obsession and Leadership Insights
Those who know me roll their eyes when I start with chess analogies, but after 30 years playing competitively, I can’t help seeing parallels:
It’s not just about the king: In chess, I might sacrifice my queen to position a seemingly modest bishop for checkmate. Similarly, the flashy CEO isn’t always the most crucial hire. I recently worked with a company where the unassuming COO was the true difference-maker, executing flawlessly while the CEO served as the public face.
Think beyond the obvious move: Average chess players see the immediate capture; masters see the position ten moves ahead. When I interview candidates, I’m probing: “How would you handle a sudden 30% budget cut?” or “Walk me through how you’d approach entering an emerging market with regulatory uncertainty”.
Don’t be afraid to sacrifice: Sometimes winning requires giving something up. The “perfect” candidate on paper might lack the adaptive thinking of someone with a less conventional background but tremendous learning agility.
Real Challenges in Implementation
I won’t sugarcoat it—shifting to skills-based hiring at the executive level isn’t easy. I’ve faced resistance from boards who equate experience exclusively with tenure. One board chair told me bluntly, “We can’t risk an outsider for this role”.
My response? Data. I shared case studies of non-traditional leaders who transformed their organisations—Satya Nadella at Microsoft being a personal favourite example.
Another challenge: defining leadership skills objectively. Unlike coding or financial analysis, how do you measure resilience or strategic thinking? We’ve developed rigorous assessments including:
- Structured behavioural interviews focusing on specific past challenges
- Reference checks that go beyond “Would you hire them again?”
- Simulation exercises where candidates address actual company scenarios
The Weles Group Approach
After many executive placements, we’ve refined our methodology to five key elements:
- Deep discovery: Before we even think about candidates, we spend days understanding not just current needs but future challenges. What will success look like in three years? What cultural dynamics need to be navigated?
- Competency-based assessment: Our structured interviews probe past experiences with questions like, “Tell me about a time when your strategy met significant internal resistance. How did you respond?” We’re looking for patterns, not rehearsed answers.
- Real-world testing: Candidates tackle actual business challenges—presenting 100-day plans, role-playing difficult board conversations, or analysing company data. One COO candidate completely reimagined our client’s supply chain during this exercise, essentially earning his job offer on the spot.
- Cultural contribution: Technical skills matter, but so does fit. We evaluate how a leader’s communication style, values, and decision-making approach will complement the existing team.
- Transition support: Finding the right leader is just the beginning. We provide structured onboarding support, including connecting new executives with industry mentors to accelerate their impact.
Looking Forward
The next decade will demand leaders who can navigate unprecedented complexity—from AI disruption to climate adaptation to multi-generational workforce challenges. Traditional hiring approaches simply won’t identify these leaders.
I challenge boards and investors: Re-examine your leadership requirements. Are you actually hiring for the future, or just replicating the past? Consider what unconventional candidates might bring to the table.
In my 15 years doing this work, I’ve never been more convinced: the future belongs to organisations brave enough to prioritise skills over credentials, potential over pedigree, and demonstrated capability over familiar backgrounds.
At Weles Group, we’re committed to finding these leaders. Your competition already is.
