Definition before search
Every credible mandate begins with the board, not the market. The first two weeks are spent with the chair, the chief executive, and key stakeholders agreeing what the role must deliver in its first eighteen months, what the culture will reward, and what compromises are genuinely available. A search launched on a vague specification ends with a shortlist that pleases no one.
Mapping the entire field
Researchers then map the complete relevant market — by sector, by geography, by adjacent industries where transferable leadership exists. For a typical C-suite mandate this produces a longlist of sixty to one hundred and twenty individuals before a single approach is made. This document is the search's spine: it is what separates 'we know some people' from genuine market coverage, and boards should always ask to see how it is constructed.
The approach
Candidates are approached personally and confidentially by the consultant who will assess them — never by an anonymous researcher reading a script, and never through a job advertisement. The best senior leaders are almost never actively looking; they move because a trusted intermediary describes an opportunity precisely enough to be credible. That first conversation, handled well, is worth more than any database.
Interested candidates then pass through structured assessment: competency-based interviews, track-record verification, referencing taken from individuals the candidate did not nominate, and where the mandate warrants it, formal psychometric and leadership assessment.
Shortlist to appointment
A shortlist of three to five candidates reaches the board with a full evidence pack per individual — not a CV and a hunch, but interview findings, reference synthesis, assessment data, and an honest account of each candidate's risks. Weeks ten to fourteen cover board interviews, negotiation, resignation support, and notice management. The search is not finished at signature; a rigorous firm stays engaged through onboarding, because the first hundred days are where appointments are actually won or lost.