http://www.keystonesearch.com/keystone_blog Emphasizing cultural fit when filling executive level positions. Thu, 15 Apr 2010 22:23:35 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The following article was published recently in the Entrepreneurs Organization online newsletter, Octane.  It is the story of a client of KeyStone's who made a hire on their own and regretted it due to a poor cultural/values fit. The story is true, of course, the names have been changed to ... http://www.keystonesearch.com/keystone_blog/?p=98 Why is it that some 40% of new CEOs are fired, or "retired," within their first 18 months, and 64% of them never make it to their fourth anniversary on the job? Virtually all of our business at KeyStone Search with founder/CEOs happens after they’ve had one or more failed hires ... http://www.keystonesearch.com/keystone_blog/?p=93 Greg Huang, editor of Xconomy Seattle (xconomy.com) had a great idea.  He decided to ask six Seattle area start-up CEOs to describe their corporate culture in one word.  Of course, he went on to write about the results of this experiment in Xconomy on 8/21/09.  He aptly titled the article Six Startup CEOs on Their Company ... http://www.keystonesearch.com/keystone_blog/?p=87 I read a very interesting article today in the New York Times regarding the corporate culture of Apple. The article, titled "Apple's Obsession with Secrecy Grows Stronger" outlines what the author insinuates is a cultural norm within Apple, to maintain near absolute secrecy regarding their inner-workings.   Among other evidence to support the theory, a ... http://www.keystonesearch.com/keystone_blog/?p=75 Being a bit behind on my reading, I've just had a chance to finish April's edition of Chief Executive Magazine.  Despite my lack of timeliness, I couldn't resist making comment on an article called "Want Better Performance? Say you're Sorry" by John Kador. My well thought out, enlightening commentary on this is article is ... http://www.keystonesearch.com/keystone_blog/?p=72 A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a Bruce Springsteen (and the E-Street Band) concert at the Xcel Center in St. Paul.  I've been a Springsteen fan for many years, going back to high school - nearly 25 years ago.  I've had the privilege of seeing ... http://www.keystonesearch.com/keystone_blog/?p=65 Jim Collins is featured in the most recent episode of EOtv (Entrepreneur's Organization) discussing his 6 attributes for the "right" employees in any organization.   As with most of Collins' writings/speeches, I agree wholeheartedly.  Assuming all of your employees and new hires had these six attributes, organizational alignment and subsequent  growth/profitability would be relatively easy. However, this is much easier said than ... http://www.keystonesearch.com/keystone_blog/?p=44 This afternoon I attended a presentation discussing Servant Leadership put together by the Center for Ethical Business Cultures on the campus of the University of St. Thomas here in Minneapolis.  Guest speakers included the current CEO of the Robert Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership,  as well as Dr. James Sipe ... http://www.keystonesearch.com/keystone_blog/?p=25 I've recently begun following a blogger named Jamie Notter, who is an Organizational Effectiveness expert, and I must say I am really enjoying his posts, as I think he is spot-on on a number of topics.  He recently posted  an entry titled Becoming a Leader, My Top 3 List.  I couldn't think ... http://www.keystonesearch.com/keystone_blog/?p=8 Welcome to the Culture Matters Blog. This blog is dedicated to discussing organizational culture, leadership, talent acquisition, alignment and the intersection of all the above. We will do our very best to be a clearinghouse, or maybe a warehouse, for best practices and new thinking in these areas.  We hope this can ... http://www.keystonesearch.com/keystone_blog/?p=6