Author: Joana Botelho de Sousa

This article is for those who are seeking a human perspective on organizational processes. This value-based approach focuses on doing the right thing. What is doing the right thing?

It seems quite simple: it is about establishing a sense of safety and recognition in the organization which enables people to develop their self-confidence, engage in long-term relationships, accept and grant responsibility in order to attain the organizational objectives (and the VN Sustainable Development Goals of course, but these are not the focus of this article). This is about finding the balance between the ‘hard’ organizational and ‘soft’ relational aspects of leadership.
We call this a culture of trust and most of you will acknowledge that this is important. But I rarely see leaders building such a culture! Why do we often fail to establish a culture of trust? And why do we often fail to restore trust once it is broken?
We fail to establish a culture of trust because we only notice the importance of trust once it is broken. Trust is like clean air – you only miss it when it is lacking.
And we fail to restore trust because we do not know what to do when trust is compromised. A situation which will often occur these days, living in a VUCAworld as risk- and compliance professionals call it (VUCA means volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous). To map the needs of tomorrow we have to deal with our uncertainties, anger and anxieties. Continuous learning and change more and more become a way of life. We require new solutions and make the changes we need to survive. Leaders need to create a resilient culture, flexible and based on learning, prepared for this future.

This requires new leadership-skills as new levels of perception and insight into both the realities of the world and into him- or herself. Self-reflection is essential!

Here we find the bottleneck: this learning-path is painful. It requires emotional strength to manage one’s own and others’ anxiety. Leaders must analyze their (cultural) assumptions and understand how to involve others and elicit their participation. No longer a ‘command and control’ approach but genuine interest and an open attitude, the power of vulnerability.
Once these skills are mastered, a culture of trust can be established when leaders display exemplary behavior, doing the right things. The steps to follow are:

• Creating clarity through defining a vision, mission, values and a clear strategy
• Organizing clear goals, tasks, delineating responsibilities and competences.
• Giving real attention to people: applying skills for communication clearly and conducting effective conversations on difficult subjects, ensuring that collaborators feel supported and experience a participative organization climate which leads to positive results.

Probably you think as a leader that you have these steps in place. And here I want to challenge you: are you sure your staff-members experience this participative and learning climate?

The challenge of our time is to create a culture of trust. Be prepared as a leader and start putting it into action!

By Pauline Voortman – INAC Netherlands

Being visible as a leader is not just about physical presence. It is not just about saying good morning every day, giving praise often or listening closely when you talk with your employees.
These things are not unimportant. But visible leadership demands much more than just small behavioural adjustments that can be measured in minutes and eye contact.
For your employees to truly experience you as a visible leader, you need to be prepared to step forward on all the parameters contained in your leadership. This means that you will have to take a greater variety of factors into consideration than you might think in order to improve the experience of your visibility. It also means you need to contemplate your specific management role; you need to think about how that specific role should preferably be visible in your organisation.
In this article, we summarise the topic of visible leadership in a hands-on way. We will touch upon:

1. The effort and gains of visible leadership;
2. Visible leadership in a corona context;
3. How to be visible in different management roles; and
4. The importance of organisational differences.

Hard work, great gains

In a broad perspective, visible leadership is about good leadership characteristics in general. And as with everything else pertaining to development, it takes self-knowledge and active reflection to move forward.
It entails hard work but brings about great gains. Highly visible leaders create more trust in a department. They also foster greater independence and more initiatives from the team as well as an increased sense of well-being among the employees. All of this happen because you are visibly taking the lead and being very present or available in areas in which your employees need you.

Visible leadership during the corona crisis

Most recently, the corona crisis has shown that the demand for visible leadership only grows as physical contact with employees decreases. Conversely, the crisis has also demonstrated that it is possible to succeed in being a visible leader even though you do not frequent an office space on the daily.
On one hand, the current prevalence of long-distance management and working from home confirm the value of easy practices such as the daily good morning. At the same time, the altered conditions show that visible leadership goes beyond regular intervals of ordinary contact.
Right now? Well, there is certainly more reason than ever to work on your visibility as a leader.

How to actually become more visible?

When working on your visibility, you can draw inspiration from what characterises the three typical management roles in an organisation: Team manager, middle manager and executive manager. This division should not be taken as completely separate steps. Instead the three roles should be viewed as clusters of traits that exist on all levels but are more pronounced in some roles than others.

For the team manager

In this role, you need to direct most of your energy into being visible and present in everyday work. This role is probably the one most reminiscent of the classical mantra “make time and listen” as a manager. You become visible as a team manager when you succeed in demonstrating through words and actions that you are personally committed to your team and when you spend time discussing problems with them, great and small. Be clear about when you are available to the employees and set aside time to get to know each member of the team.

For the middle manager

If you are in charge of other managers or operate at some similar level, it is important to consider your position in relation to other types of management. In this role, you will become a visible leader when you convey the same narrative as the rest of the management group and are able to defend and drive execution on decisions from strategic level. It is paramount that you make visions and decisions relevant to your department by way of communication and translation into meaningful contexts for them. It is also important that you communicate enough and well to different stakeholders and make yourself available during larger scale debates and problems. In short, your visibility often stems from your competence in building bridges within the organisation.

For the top manager

When it comes to C-level management, the focal point of your visibility should be strategic decision-making and the communication of these decisions. You are visible when you present and explain the overall vision to the employees, when you have opinions and give messages close to your heart, as well as when you outline or maintain a course through difficult times – the last point being especially relevant during the current circumstances surrounding the corona crisis. It is important that you act with utmost consequence and step into full character when needed. It is also important that you immerse yourself in the company culture and it will probably be beneficial for you to involve yourself in some of the informal activities of the organisation as a whole in order to present yourself as a strong, visible and engaging executive.

The last piece of advice

There are lessons to be learned from the three above-mentioned management roles and the parameters for visibility they typically contain. But another crucial point to consider would be the specifics of your own organisation. You are very likely to encounter frameworks or cultures which call for different types of visibility in different positions or which approach the managerial tasks in a way that hardly conforms to traditional organisational models.

Our last piece of advice would therefore be to always keep an eye on the context of your current company or industry. You can utilise this insight as a starting point. You can also use it to continually compare and reflect upon your role as well as the demands placed on you from different parts of the organisation.

By Thomas Secher – INAC Denmark

How the Corona virus shakes up the headhunting world.

“Are you still kissing your partner? Of course! Are you still shaking hands with your candidates? Of course, not!”

Since March 2020 recruitment has quickly turned to video interviews and home offices. Is it possible to hire a manager without meeting him/her, without a handshake? I am Austrian. Austria has a huge culture of shaking hands. In normal office life, you shake hands with your colleagues every day! Twice! Coming and going! You also shake hands with family members and friends. It all seems so distant now.

In recruitment the handshake is a major tool of judging and evaluating somebody. Is the handshake firm or soft? Is it wet or dry? How long, how intense? Is there eye contact during the handshake? It is a vital part of the crucial first impression.

My wrong hiring decision

Pandemic time, no handshakes anymore! Can you recruit managers without a handshake, just with a video interview? Yes, but you miss this important element. One year before Corona I hired a student for a project just through a video interview, because there was time pressure. He was perfect on the video. On the first working day we shook hands and literally there was a shock. Alarm bells were ringing in my ears. His handshake was super soft, virtually not existing. I would not have hired him, but it was too late, he already had been hired. So, we went along, gave it a try and started our cooperation, until it eventually failed and we had to separate rather soon. It had been a wrong hiring decision.

Handshake is one key element of personal interviews, but there are several others. Eye contact is another one. Where is the eye contact in a video interview? Are you looking at the other face or are you looking into the camera? By definition this cannot be an authentic eye contact, because the camera is in a different place. Body language is the next missing item. Movement of hands, legs, the way somebody is sitting? It is all gone! There is just the face. What about the personal “aura”, when somebody enters the meeting room. Is this a leader, whom you want to follow? Not much evidence in the video interview. In senior recruitment the major focus is on all these personal chemistry elements. The hiring decision is about mutual trust. The goal is to make an optimal match between company culture, a future colleague and his/her future boss.

Change your job – work in the kitchen instead of the living room
Can headhunters still recruit successfully with all these handicaps around? Yes, because the experience of thousands of interviews still is a huge asset, but it is clear that the risk of misjudgment has increased during Corona times. It is also obvious that more responsibility has shifted to the hiring manager, who will finally meet the candidate in person. However, even this does not happen always nowadays. There are many cases when somebody is hired from the kitchen into the living room, from home office to home office by video interview alone. A good headhunting friend told me that he recently assisted in the following scenario. A CFO candidate was in the final interview round with several board members. A video interview was scheduled, but for some reason the video did not work. So it turned into a normal telephone interview. The CFO was hired. Nobody saw anybody. A blind recruitment! Certainly an extreme example. It will be funny when they will finally meet one day in person, “Oh, you are our CFO!”

Well, these are the compromises we have to live with now. Most likely some people are hired now, who would not have passed a normal personal interview process. On the positive side, there is also less personal discrimination involved. Arguments like, “Did you notice the shoes, the watch, the finger nails, the smell…?” do not count anymore. The current pandemic is teaching us the benefits of technology, but it is also showing us its limits. Recruitment of senior managers remains a people business despite all technology involved. Managers, who will lead, motivate and inspire teams need a personality that one can feel and trust…in person.

By Klemens Wersonig – INAC Austria

With 2020 now behind us, many of us have taken some time to review the events and impact of the last year. And what a year it was! An unprecedented year, bringing unexpected upheaval and change, requiring businesses and individuals alike to adapt rapidly to an entirely new reality. Many of the changes will remain with us in 2021 and even longer, changing the way we live and work forever.

One of the most impactful changes experienced by most companies and employees globally was the rapid transition to the remote work-from-home model. Remote working has been a growing trend for many years, but the Covid19 pandemic has certainly accelerated the adoption of the work-from-home model, even in industries or regions where this was previously not particularly prevalent. This large scale adoption of a new way of working is likely also one of the changes which will remain a key factor in the World of Work as we move into 2021, and beyond.

After adjusting to the initial rapid change to working remotely, and as the prospect of working exclusively from home started to stretch into many months, it was interesting to note in our own teams how long term remote working was a vastly different experience for different team members, not only depending on their personal circumstances, but also depending on their different personalities and preferences. People inherently have different needs when it comes to personal interaction which in turn affect their ability to remain motivated and productive. Some are content to work entirely remotely indefinitely. Other team members need or prefer to break up the monotony of a work-from-home routine with the option of occasionally spending time in the office.

Choice is only really valued in its absence, as our collective experience during the pandemic has shown all too clearly. The ability to choose, at least some of the time, whether to work remotely or in the office, will be a fundamental need for employees going forward.

It is inevitable that companies will adopt broader remote working practices in 2021 than ever before. It would however be wise to consider the growing body of research which points to the pitfalls of taking a ‘one size fits all’ approach, without considering the preferences of individual employees.

The Global Work-From-Home Experience Survey conducted by Dr. Anita Kamouri, Co-Founder of Iometrics, and Kate Lister, President of Global Workplace Analytics, found that 76% of global employees indicated a preference for continuing to work from home post-pandemic, with the key being that they would want the option to choose to work from home some of the time. The preference for the amount of time spent working from home differs slightly depending on country, with choosing to work from home 2 to 3 days a week being the average.

Similarly, as Nick Routley writes, companies who do not adopt a flexible work location approach may find themselves at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to attracting talent in the future. 70% of candidates say that having a choice in their work location is a key consideration when evaluating a potential employer, and more than half find this more important than working for a prestigious company, or having an increase in holiday allowance.

This strong need to exercise personal choice, a need for self-determination if you will, has never been as relevant in the work environment as it is now, and will be even in a post-pandemic world. This will require a fundamental shift in mind set when it comes to designing Human Capital strategies and policies. Where the HR function has often focused on standardization, the focus will now be on customization. In pursuit of fair and equitable treatment of all employees, standard policies use to make sense. But to retain and attract talent in the future, a flexible remote work policy which allows for some level of personal choice will be essential.

The importance of choice is also unlikely to remain confined to the matter of work location. We expect to see a ripple effect, with employees increasingly valuing greater autonomy and preferring to exercise personal choice in more and more aspects of the work environment. Some examples may include greater flexibility in choosing their model of engagement with an employer, choosing the benefits and incentives which suit them, choosing to work solo or in a collaborative team depending on their own preferred work styles, and choosing which projects to take on depending on their existing skills or the skills and experience they wish to acquire. Whilst these are not entirely new concepts, the degree to which organisations will need to accelerate their adoption of these trends will be unprecedented, just as we could not have imagined the speed with which remote working was adopted in 2020. This will have far-reaching consequences for the HR function, across all aspects of the organisation including work design, organisational development, and culture.

The changes brought by 2020 are far from over, and as we head into 2021 the successful companies of the future will recognise and prepare for the importance of choice, and incorporate this as a core value in their organisations.

By Ilana Erasmus – INAC South Africa

We can’t think of a better way than kicking off the year with our very beloved “On The Spotlight Series”. René Johnson, our partner in INAC Australia is our fourth guest. With an impressive track record, René has a lot of stories to share with us all, and from what we have discovered, he is quite the adventurous one.

Why Executive Search? And if you didn’t end up in Executive Search, what would you have ended up choosing instead?

My career started in audit at PwC. From there I moved into various GM, Company Secretary and Board roles in advertising, film production and finally magazine publishing. With memories and anecdotes to last a lifetime (picking up the phone one night in the film company office and Sean Connery was on the other end of the line…. I didn’t need to ask who was calling when I heard his voice!). I wanted a new challenge, and that saw me embark on a new journey. Executive search is the culmination of all that.
I think search consultants need colour and variety in their background to be able to add value to clients and relate to candidates. I believe in investing in people, helping candidates get great jobs and helping clients get great employees.
I had my chance to follow the pro-surfer dream in the late 70’s and early 80’s, but my fascination with business was too strong.

The pandemic has dramatically changed the way Executive Search professional and firms operate, it has led to huge changes and accelerated some of the trends that were already in the horizon. What do you think Executive Search will be like in the future?

I may have more grey hairs than some, but I truly believe you cannot replace the authentic connection you make with a face-to-face interaction. Virtual meetings have, in a way, revolutionised the workplace for a large percent of the population. It has made meetings and collaborating more accessible and time efficient. However, in the future I hope Executives and Board members don’t get lazy by defaulting to doing meetings via video. You see so much more when you meet with someone in person. Appointing a candidate via a completely virtual process can desensitise the process. The value add of search consultants being able to understand and get a sense of someone’s personality and style in real life, is irreplaceable.
Technology will continue to play a significant part in the search process (definitely in the research stage) into the future… But I hope we continue to interview face to face… I honestly think it’s where we add value.

In 1978 and 1979 I took some time off after University to surf my way around the world. Highlights being, surfing all the classic spots in Hawaii, Indonesia, France, Spain and Portugal (my friend and I surfed the now famous big wave spot Nazaré in Portugal in 1978… Long before it became famous and now infamous)… And on my travels I took a 6 week job as a lifeguard right back where I started my journey, on the beach at St Ives in the UK.

Besides surfing, how do you find your balance between your professional life and your personal life?

It will come as no surprise that I try to catch a wave or two whenever the surf conditions are good. And when the waves aren’t right I like to play golf and travel. Prior to COVID, I would travel on average once a week, somewhere in Australia to meet with clients and candidates. Australia is a big country and it’s an ongoing adventure getting to explore new corners of it.

You have helped so many finding their dream job, do you feel that they have helped you find something in life as well?

Working with such a diverse array of clients has helped broaden my horizons. I feel like I get educated every day. We are so lucky to be doing a job where we are stimulated by new challenges and opportunities on a daily basis. There are many people out there that are not so lucky.

INAC has been part of your life for so many years now. How has this “relationship” shaped your professional path?

Australia is physically so far away from Europe, North & South America, being part of a strong network of overseas search firms helps us feel connected.
INAC as an organisation constantly changes and morphs, and there’s no better example than the way INAC has, during the COVID situation, been highly proactive in engaging members in interesting issues that help re-shape our own businesses.
There’s an exciting yet challenging job ahead of us to continue to build the network.

What has been, so far, the biggest life lesson you received?

Quite a few along the way I must confess!
The one that resonates most with me is that “there’s a gift in everythin”… Sometimes you have to look hard to find it, but be assured it’s there…. Out of adversity springs hope and new opportunity.

Laís Passarelli is our third guest of our The Spotlight Series and our Partner in INAC Brazil.
It is with an immense joy that we have her on board, not only because of our long lasting relationship, but also because of her larger than life personality, that we cherish so much and that has given so much to INAC.
Laís has a 32 year long extensive and solid track record in Executive Search and Talent Management Advisory and is a proud member of INAC for 23 years. In 2012 she was given the INAC Honorary Member Award for her tremendous work on the Executive Board of INAC, where she sat for 10 years leading the network activities in Latin America. Laís is also a member of AMCHAM – American Chamber of Commerce in São Paulo, where she is part of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and since 2004 a member of the Strategic Committee for People Management in São Paulo. This AMCHAM group brings together 40 of the most influential HR executives in Brazil and Latin America.
She has been an inspiration and a professional beacon for us all and it is a privilege to have her as a colleague and a mentor.

Why Executive Search and If you didn’t end up in Executive Search, what would you ended up choosing instead?

I was working as a Human Resources Manager in a Tech company when I first got “in touch” with Executive Search. At the time, the late 80’s, only a few companies in Brazil offered that specific professional service, and I was responsible for hiring these consultants to look for executives with a very specific experience and profile. When I started interacting with these consultants was when I fully understood the work that they were carrying out, and I instantly realized that I had found the career I was so much looking for! What drives me the most is working with people, following their life and careers. The commitment of acting as a “bridge”, attending the interests of both client companies and executives, was the key motivation to open my company and follow this path. To search, to evaluate and to present the best executive to act in a strategic position in a client company, was always very enticing and challenging for me.

With such a long, intense and fulfilling career what have you learned about the human being?

I’ve learned that we are constantly evolving, that we all want to succeed and be happy: this is unanimous for all human beings. And also, that the main skill for a leader is to manage people.

You have helped so many finding their dream job, do you feel that they have helped you find something in life as well?

Yes, without a doubt! I learned and gained a lot of knowledge regarding the market, as well as a strategic worldview thanks to the people I met, whether they’ re candidates or clients.

INAC has been part of your life for so many years now. How has this “relationship” shaped your professional and personal path/growth?

I see INAC as gift, it’s a privilege to be part of it. These last 23 years allowed me to learn with colleagues from different countries, from all over the world, that not only taught me a lot and offered me a different way of thinking, but also showed me the peculiarity and richness of each country and local culture. The exchange of experiences, as well as conversations about strategies for conducting our business, have always helped me a lot to reflect on our business here in Brazil. And above all, INAC has allowed me to get to know other realities and has given me great friends for life.

What has been, so far, the biggest life lesson you received?

In these 32 years working as a professional in Executive Search, the greatest lesson that I take from it is that each person is unique and special. I have always tried to explore and know not only the professional path of each executive I interviewed, but also the person that sat before me in an interview. It was important for me to understand and know their personal path, their life story, values, principles, and knowledge. Getting to know the story of each interviewee has always been a key evaluation factor to select the best executive for an assignment.

Santiago Silva is our second guest of our “The Spotlight Series” and we are thrilled to have him with us today. Santiago is partner of INAC Colombia, which recently won the “INAC Global Business Exchange Award 2019” (an award dedicated to those with exceptional results regarding business exchange performance throughout the year and within the network).

Santiago has extensive experience in top human talent management, reengineering, strategy and process optimization training in the United States, as well as in Colombia. He spent 13 years working for top consulting firms in Colombia before becoming partner at Talent Partnership, INAC Colombia member firm.

Why Executive Search and If you didn’t end up in Executive Search, what would you ended up choosing instead?

I’ve always considered that building successful teams is one of the most beautiful aspects behind Executive Search. I’ve been passionate about it from a young age.

Early in life I understood the importance to develop and grow respect for teamwork. I was a boy scout and I attended a high-school that instilled love for the different professions and jobs that structure our societies. Later, throughout my career, I witnessed that the power of successful teams lies on the diversity of approaches that complement each other. Those teams are the ones that achieve different goals.
I strongly think that this is why I felt in love with this job.

I’m a builder that loves people and likes to extract the best from them. When I understood that, I found that Executive Search was the perfect job for me.
I’m currently starting a coffee farm where I’m applying the lessons learned in Executive Search. I look forward to invite my clients to taste the extraction of my best beans which will be the product of the work of my farm’s team.

Your firm has won for 2 years in a row the INAC Global Business Exchange Award. What is the secret behind such an amazing track record?

Once again, the key is teamwork. We’re a global network of more than 40 valuable firms, I consider each one of them as a key part of my team, they’re also my friends and partners. I’ll like to think of our network as members of one global and powerful firm. Also, at TalentP we like to think globally and act locally, but always thinking about us as members of something greater than ourselves.

What are your main advice for candidates that are contemplating a shift in their professional path?

Be unique, be unique, be unique…
It is really important to be sure to stay in the place in where the future of the organization is holding hands with your future, alongside with the development and enrichment of your skills and your happiness.

For those who are starting their journey in the Executive Search world, what would you say to them?

My advice for those who are starting is to differentiate from others and to start by opening their minds, their eyes and their ears.

You have helped so many finding their dream job, do you feel that they have helped you find something in life as well?

Yes. Without a doubt. The satisfaction of seeing the right person in the right position.
They’ve all helped me in my own development of skills and values, and they’ve made me a happier person. They also helped me find new candidates and clients, allowing me to constantly build and grow networks and making relationships stronger.

INAC has been part of your life for so many years now. How has this “relationship” shaped your professional and personal path/growth?

On the professional side INAC helps me with enormous backing and support internationally, also with best practices. On the personal side, INAC allowed me to get to know really special people, which have become close friends and partners.

What has been, so far, the biggest life lesson you received?

No matter how hard the path is, we have to be perseverant, always be humble and respect others as guiding values.

Leaders are distinguished by being charismatic, visionary, strategists, etc. These elements are robust when leaders have the talent to communicate their ideas. In leadership, there is no greater talent than the ability to communicate ideas in such a way that they are understood by their interlocutors in the way they should be understood.

The leader’s vision does not transcend if he cannot convey his ideas to others. Communication then becomes a common thread to all successful leaders. To achieve this type of communication, we need to start by understanding that communicating is not only an exchange of opinions between people but one to trigger an action or a set of actions. Also, the leader must have the capacity to communicate his ideas and in turn, must understand the ideas of others to address them, that is, to have the ability to combine speaking with listening.

Relationships are often complicated due to communication issues: either because of the inability to share the message adequately or the inability to understand it correctly. Communication is not easy, it is a talent that needs to be developed. It demands much more than just the exchange of ideas described in words; it is also an exchange of moments, feelings, attitudes, and emotions.

Understanding others, being able to read their emotions, perceive and understand their behavior and motivations, is part of the talent that is required to communicate and to capture what the other is meaning, even if they do not agree with it or their views are not fully accepted. When you can surpass emotional, behavioral, motivational barriers, and individual interests, communication becomes possible.

The leader should always try to use adequate vocabulary for each audience, so that he can encompass most of it with language that allows almost to be direct, customizing the process with each individual, that is communicating.

The communication process takes place in two ways: listening becomes a talent itself and plays an important role in the process of communicating. On the other hand, leaders must master the skill of using the right words to express the correct ideas that then evolve into a set of expected actions, but at the same time, they must become skillful in listening and taking the time to hear others. To do this, leaders should seek to be more aware of the background than the form, that is, to be aware of ideas. They always get the best out of what they hear, they end up hearing to capture all the ideas and take the time to reflect, they gather what they hear and use it for the benefit of their vision.

By Francisco Silva Betancourt – INAC Colombia