Why Is It So Hard to Hire a Leader Well?

Why Is It So Hard to Hire a Leader Well? 

How will you know this person has succeeded after 12 months?” – this is the question I always ask when talking with companies about leadership recruitment. The most common response? “Hmm, good question.

And that says a lot. The problem lies in the fact that companies often don’t clearly define why they’re hiring this leader in the first place. The most common reason for leadership recruitment is a vacancy created by the departure or termination of someone previously employed in that role. However, reflection on this recruitment shouldn’t end there.

From my experience, we focus too heavily on CVs and titles. “Was sales director,” “managed a team of 50,” “led the CEE region.” Sounds impressive, but so what? Every company is different, and just because someone succeeded in one place doesn’t mean they’ll automatically replicate that elsewhere.

A leader isn’t there to “hold a position.” In my view, a leader is there to deliver specific results. And these can be radically different (and of course change over time):

• Bring order to organizational chaos and develop new capabilities within their team
• Build a new sales channel and expand the company’s market share
• Prepare the company for investor entry or sale
• Or simply maintain stability during a difficult period.

If we don’t define this – even the best recruiter or headhunter won’t help much. Because how do you find someone for a task that hasn’t been clearly articulated?

That’s why I believe hiring a leader isn’t an “HR process,” but a strategic decision. It should start with answering: what challenges does the company face? What do we want this person to change, build, or protect?

Only then does the question about experience and fit make sense. And the lack of this reflection means leaders often start from frustration – their own, the team’s, and management’s – because expectations turn out to be vague and the objective unclear.

This is a topic I’ll return to in future posts. Because I believe that conversation about leaders is really a conversation about company strategy, not just recruitment.