Barry Conchie

A lot of the things that we'll be saying to folks before they even think of taking the assessment is not everyone is cut out to be a leader and not everyone is going to make it as a leader. Be prepared.

A lot of the things that we'll be saying to folks before they even think of taking the assessment is not everyone is cut out to be a leader and not everyone is going to make it as a leader. Be prepared.

Sarah's point about self-awareness and helping people understand more about who they are, recognizing that they won't be brilliant at everything. We do have people in our database, by the way, who think they're brilliant at everything. You might even have met one or two in your career. But here's something really interesting.

Sarah's point about self-awareness and helping people understand more about who they are, recognizing that they won't be brilliant at everything. We do have people in our database, by the way, who think they're brilliant at everything. You might even have met one or two in your career. But here's something really interesting.

Fair enough.

Fair enough.

disconnect is not only worrying to us, but it's also potentially damaging for the individuals who claim that and for the organizations that they need. So we have to spend time unpicking those perceptions of self and saying, look, I think what you really mean is you're pretty smart. But there's a difference between being intellectually smart and being very good strategically.

disconnect is not only worrying to us, but it's also potentially damaging for the individuals who claim that and for the organizations that they need. So we have to spend time unpicking those perceptions of self and saying, look, I think what you really mean is you're pretty smart. But there's a difference between being intellectually smart and being very good strategically.

So a lot of the time we've got to pull people away from low levels of self-awareness and try to shine a light on what they really mean about themselves in ways that is much more helpful to their growth and development.

So a lot of the time we've got to pull people away from low levels of self-awareness and try to shine a light on what they really mean about themselves in ways that is much more helpful to their growth and development.

That might be a good precursor to this book, yeah. I don't think there's any virtue in being always wrong, but never in debt. Those two things worry me. And I think too many people have got an inflated view of their capabilities when it comes to interviews and selecting people. So I'll give you an illustration.

That might be a good precursor to this book, yeah. I don't think there's any virtue in being always wrong, but never in debt. Those two things worry me. And I think too many people have got an inflated view of their capabilities when it comes to interviews and selecting people. So I'll give you an illustration.

One of the questions I often ask the CEOs we work with is, how good are you at recruiting leaders? Nobody's ever said I'm bad. And then I'll say, so what's your hit rate? And they look at me and say, well, what do you mean by that? Of your last 10 appointments, how many turned out to be above average performance? Well, they look at me and they say, well, maybe six.

One of the questions I often ask the CEOs we work with is, how good are you at recruiting leaders? Nobody's ever said I'm bad. And then I'll say, so what's your hit rate? And they look at me and say, well, what do you mean by that? Of your last 10 appointments, how many turned out to be above average performance? Well, they look at me and they say, well, maybe six.

I said, so what you're really saying is you don't know because people don't track this information and we wish they would. You should have a number and you should be able to say, Six of the last 10 people are appointed with above average performance. It's remarkable the lack of specificity that organizations communicate with us about their hit rate when it comes to hiring.

I said, so what you're really saying is you don't know because people don't track this information and we wish they would. You should have a number and you should be able to say, Six of the last 10 people are appointed with above average performance. It's remarkable the lack of specificity that organizations communicate with us about their hit rate when it comes to hiring.

These are people, by the way, who measure widgets to microns of tolerance. They can tell you, you know, with a nanometer of, you know, what the tensile strength of a steel beam is. They can tell you how many widgets are in transit between Indonesia and Cape Town, right? They go into this inordinate detail. Most important thing of all, well, I think it's about six out of ten.

These are people, by the way, who measure widgets to microns of tolerance. They can tell you, you know, with a nanometer of, you know, what the tensile strength of a steel beam is. They can tell you how many widgets are in transit between Indonesia and Cape Town, right? They go into this inordinate detail. Most important thing of all, well, I think it's about six out of ten.

It's as good as they can get that we think it's an embarrassment and we need to change it.

It's as good as they can get that we think it's an embarrassment and we need to change it.