Russell Reynolds Associates launches a predictive tool to hire C-suite executives in India

The executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates launched Leadership Span, a scientific, evidence-based approach to executive search and assessment that helps predict executive performance.
 
The proprietary framework was developed in partnership with personality assessment and consulting  firm Hogan Assessments.
 
It will help organizations mitigate the risk of executive selection by finding and developing leaders with the highest likelihood of long-term success in C-suite roles, said Ric Roi, Asia Pacific Head for Leadership & Succession Practice, Russell Reynolds Associates. It de-risks on 2 core basis - by validating and benchmarking using the framework versus no metrics at all, and increasing the self-awareness of both the organization and/or the leaders to identify gaps/potential.
 
This assessment tool will be used in conjuction with in-depth interviews, referencing, and analyses of experiences and accomplishments, he added, making the selection process scientific and objective.
 
Leadership Span evaluates a leader's potential based on their ability to pivot across a variety of major contradicting traits. The four main competing traits are:  Pragmatic and Disruptive: Organisations need a leader to disrupt the status quo with innovation, but they also must be pragmatic about focus, priorities, and the pace of innovation.

Then Reluctant and Risk Taking: A good leader takes calculated risks and is opportunistic, but we also want them to be somewhat reluctant and show some vigilance before steering the organisation off a cliff.

Third is  Vulnerable and Heroic: A heroic leader needs to be vulnerable as well, so their perseverance and grit doesn't turn into self-delusions. They need to take feedback and external data to heart and make continuous improvements to themselves and their organisations.

And, lastly, Connecting and Galvanising: Leaders must galvanise support with energy and inspiration, but they also need to know when to take a step back and share credit, promote the success of others, and to connect the organization to become something stronger and greater than themselves and the cult of their own personality.

Roi adds, leaders need to act with confidence, but not so much confidence that it turns into recklessness. They need to have attention to detail, but not obsession. Recognizing the problems that can arise when dark side tendencies become out of balance, over 50 percent of Fortune 100 companies use dark side method to better understand the potential risk factors associated with their leaders' personality and mitigate their impact on an organization.

Based on Russell Reynolds Associates' research of thousands of successful C-Suite leaders  reveals that the best leaders are defined by their effective use of these four competing competencies comprising of both 'loud' (differentiating behaviours that get noticed) and 'quiet' (subtle competencies that ensure long term effectiveness and impact) traits.