The 22 Qualities of Top Executive Recruiters

Now, what qualities must we possess as executive recruiters, especially if we want to be the top executive recruiters in our chosen industry or field?  I believe that five are essential.  We must bring these to the table.  They cannot be taught.  They are as follows:

1. Intelligence—Not Mensa membership, but we must be smart.
2. Creativity—Because each phone call, no matter how it starts, may go in a different direction; we must be flexible enough and creative enough, to flow with the call.  We must be noted for our flexibility.
3. Corporate maturity—This is not a function of age, but of maturity at the corporate level.  Having the ability to call the CEO of a client company and not being intimidated if we’re asked to make that call.
4. Tenacity—This is important in any endeavor.  If you want to put a “star” by one of the most important traits, star this one!  The ability “to hang in there” is critical.  This is important in any profession, but especially in ours.
5. Balanced “X” factors—Any changes in your life, even good ones, produce stress.  Stress is a physical, mental, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension.  This tension itself is stressful, often leading to illness or depression.  So we must have this element under control.

After these “have to possess” traits, I like to see the following 11 traits, but I can live without them:

1. Successful failures—People who were successful, but their past employers failed them.
2. Positive hostility—This is the ability to be confrontational, but in a positive way.  Don’t be a “professional visitor” where everyone loves you, but nobody buys from you—but don’t be purely hostile, either, since rapport building is so important to our success.
3. Good sense of humor—This is the ability to not take ourselves too seriously and to be self-effacing.  Humor can go a long way in getting us back on the phone.  Our job is supposed to be fun.  If we carry that humor out with us to our marketplace, it will come back to us.
4. Empathy—This is the ability to understand both sides, from their points of view.
5. Ego-driven—We must have a big ego.  It’s amazing to me how a group of big billers all fit in the same room at the same time with their giant-sized egos.
6. Need to convince others to do what we want them to do—This is the ability to want to convince others of the right way to do our business; not to buy off on the first objection when we hear it.
7. Ability to listen and give positive feedback—This is key; we are not in a profession made up of “silver-tongued devils.”  Listen between the lines, and don’t answer questions too quickly.  The other side will give us the information we need as long as we listen and give positive feedback.
8. Decisiveness—We can’t be wishy-washy in our profession.
9. Intuition—Usually our first sense about something, whether it relates to our candidate or to our client company, is true.  Go with our intuition.  Things don’t go sour unless they smelled a little along the way.
10. A tight need for organization and planning—It’s not that we love it, but over time, we become expert at it.
11. Leadership—Someone who wants to lead, even if it is just on our own desk—our own manufacturing plant.  This trait encompasses many of the preceding ones.

And finally, after all of these, I think of the attributes that the legendary recruitment trainer Lou Scott spoke about.  He used to say that the biggest billers had these following six traits:

1. Ignore conventional wisdom; they are never satisfied with the norm and they “play outside the box.”
2. Have written goals for measurement; if they are not written down, they are wishes, not goals.
3. Visualize completion of their goals; have a clear visual picture of their goals.
4. Learn to deal with their anxieties regarding their performance.  Everyone has anxieties.  Big billing is not the absence of anxiety, but the controlling of anxiety.  Courage is not the absence of fear, but positively dealing with that fear.  You need fear in order to have courage.
5. Avoid comfort zones; take calculated risks.
6. Live in the present.  Be where you are at.  When you are at work, be there.  When you are at home, be there.  But don’t be at home when you are at work, and don’t be at work when you are at home.

How many of these 22 traits of top executive recruiters do YOU possess?

— — —

Bob Marshall of TBMG International, founder of The Marshall Plan, has an extensive background in the recruiting industry as a recruiter, manager, vice president, president, consultant, and trainer.  In 2015, Bob is celebrating his 35th year in the recruitment business.  Marshall can be reached at bob@themarshallplan.org or at 770.898.5550.  His website is www.themarshallplan.org.