“Executive recruiting is arguably the most important task in the world of business…”

So begins the endorsement by Wharton School management professor Peter Cappelli for Joseph Daniel McCool’s Deciding Who Leads: How Executive Recruiters Drive, Direct & Disrupt the Global Search for Leadership Talent [April 2008, Davies-Black Publishing], the first book in more than two decades to explore executive recruiters’ unparalleled influence on corporate performance, culture and profits. It has already been recognized as “one of the 30 best business books of 2008” by Soundview Executive Book Summaries.

Executive recruiters control access to the world’s most highly paid corporate management jobs. The results of their work have also influenced simmering public debates and Congressional testimony about executive pay, leadership diversity (or the lack thereof), high profile CEO searches and the very definition of corporate leadership for hiring organizations around the world.

In the pages of his new book, McCool exposes how executive recruiters orchestrate the confidential process that ultimately leads to some of the most consequential decisions ever made by any business, large or small. They are decisions about hiring the senior executives who will mold the strategy that drive shareholder value, knit the fabric of workforce culture and set the course that dictates the customer experience, the corporate brand and financial performance.

The US economy is in a slow period. As corporate leaders explain their flat or low growth performance, fingers are pointing to oil prices, lack of job growth and, of course, that sub-prime mortgage business. 

How will the global economy and specifically, US indicators affect your business performance?

Leave us a comment and tell us:

Yes, the economy will affect my business and here’s how:

No, the economy really isn’t worrying me, here’s why:

I’m worrying about other things and they are:


Join the discussion that’s developing in the comments section of this entry:

“I am in the recruiting industry at the senior executive level and despite what the press states about a lack of job growth and a slowing US economy, I expect my business to be solid this year.  I expect my growth this year to be about 10% which clearly is slower than each of the last 2 years which was more like 20-25%.

Others I speak with ask, how can this be.  Aren’t we in some sort of a recession and isn’t the hiring market weak with the job market?

The fact is that many of my client companies in the US are not dependent totally on the US marketplace.  The worldwide economy is still strong even as the US slows and they are focusing accordingly on their growth areas.

There also is still growth in US industry sectors like healthcare, biotech, and energy --even as the financial services & housing sectors, that we read about everyday, deteriorate rapidly.

One suggestion to those small and growing businesses that are wondering what to do as the US economy slows:  avoid being trapped in a no-growth segment.  Look for growth and customers in niches and with companies that are still growing.  Target, target, target!

That is what I do.  Internationally based companies are probably doing better than those serving solely the financial services marketplace.  Even those in financial services that made the right bets on sub-prime are probably doing things differently than those that did not.

One way to survive in a no-growth market is listen to your customers and don’t believe everything you read in the papers.  Reporters typically sell newspapers by doom and gloom or over they over accentuate the upward trend.  There are often hidden opportunities if the “herd is going in one direction”.  Caution:  I do admit that I’ve yet to find it productive to stand in front of an approaching freight train!  Hope this helps.”—Mark Andrews

“Mark, I agree. It’s easy to start believing all the doom and gloom.  Laurence Haughton is a business coach who works with companies to achieve their toughest targets and we asked him whether he thought the economy was going to have a negative impact on growing businesses.  He says it’s actually rare for business results to be affected significantly by external events.  Here’s a quick clip of what he said:

http://www.execunet.com/execunet_ondemand/FTDISC1HAUG_Discussion_1_030608_Haughton.mp3

For a more in-depth view of how to grow your company in these uncertain times, visit the Resource Center and download our hour-long conversation with Laurence Haughton.”—Lauryn Franzoni

“I agree with both of you. Regardless of what is being discussed in the press, anyone is subject to a slow down if we become complacent in any part of their company or specific function in the organization. A refocus on productivity, stronger marketing and development are always keys to success. As the old axiom goes you are either moving forward or you are moving backward. If the economy is truly going to effect a business or industry, effort must be increased and creative opportunities must be explored. Involving ones stakeholders in evaluation and decision making is always a positive opportunity to ferret out the issues.”—Rodney Holt

Is your approach simply focused on reducing costs or have you adopted the best practice from top performers?

The real win when your company decides to outsource IT and Communications services may have nothing to do with cost cutting and everything to do with velocity.

Small to mid-sized organizations are much more likely to benefit from increasing their speed to market and ability to ramp up capacity to meet demand when they outsource Information and Communications Technology (ICT) according to feedback from more than 500 senior technology executives recently surveyed by our colleagues at the Economist Intelligence Unit for its report Technology and growth at mid-sized companies.

You can download the report from the Resource Center to learn how outsourcing can save you headaches in tight labour markets (such as the US) and outperform your peers at the same time.