From the Ask Tom Mailbag:
Question:
In the hiring process, if I am in a Stratum V role, engaged in hiring a Stratum IV VP, that makes me the hiring manager. Since I am at the top of the food chain in our company, who is the Manager Once Removed? Do I hire a consultant or a head hunter to help me.
Response:
Heavens no. With all due respect to the consulting community, most come to the table with limited insight into your company. They don’t know you, your limitations, your blind spots, your soft spots, your focus.
This is a shameless plug for peer groups, my favorite is an organization called Vistage. Self-described, a peer group consists of a group (of peers) with similar roles, who meet on a regular basis to kick the can around. It is those other people who sit around the table, who can be valuable in your hiring process for Executive Managers. Your peers, in their own organization, have similar accountabilities, likely, similar capability to you, and yet, do not wear your blinders. This outside objectivity may provide the critical insight, to bring value to the decision you are about to make in the hiring process.
Make no mistake, this is still your decision. You are the one who has to live with it.
Tom is right. I belong to two Peer Groups and Vistage is one. I also belong to an industry specific peer group. Both are extraordinarily useful once you have become an integral part of your group. Theres a trust nd understanding that exceeds even that of a board of advisors or directors. This is excellent advice in my humble opinion.
Mindtools is another online peer group that is GREAT for kicking the can around. I will be sure to investigate Vistage as well.