Selecting a New CMO

Situation: An international consumer goods company was selecting a new Chief Marketing Officer.  Their search process had identified a number of highly qualified candidates.  The CEO and other senior executives met with the candidates and selected one who seemed to them to be an excellent fit.  They were pleased to have found this leader and were ready to hire him, but they decided to include a psychological assessment in the selection process as a final data point to help them make their decision.

Action: A management psychologist from Gail Golden Consulting interviewed the CEO to determine the critical success factors for the CMO role at this time in this company.  She met with the candidate for an in-depth, behavior-based interview, focused on determining whether he had the critical leadership abilities and qualities to succeed in this role.At the end of the interview, the consultant was uneasy.  Although the candidate had the experience and technical qualifications for the role, his interpersonal skills were surprisingly inept.  He did not listen well, instead dominating the conversation with long comments which were not on point.  He was not collaborative or responsive to feedback.  She found herself wondering how he had made such a good impression on the company executives..The consultant met with the CEO and the SVP of Human Resources the following day to provide feedback and followed up with a detailed written assessment report.  As a result of her concerns, they decided to do a more thorough reference check on the candidate.  They were disappointed to find that the candidate’s reviews from previous employers were quite negative, revealing precisely the same deficits the consultant had identified.

Outcome: The company did not hire the candidate.  They continued their search process, utilizing the GGC assessment as part of their screening, and subsequently hired a candidate who was a much better fit for the role and their organization.