How to Assess Executive Leadership Potential Beyond the Resume

When evaluating candidates it can be easy to focus solely on their resume, however for executive roles, the resume provides only a glimpse into the candidate's experience and skills. Assessing leadership potential requires a deeper understanding of personality, leadership style and personal attributes. Emotional intelligence, strategic thinking and performance under pressure are crucial factors in executive recruitment but a candidate's resume alone cannot reveal whether they possess these key traits.

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So how does Morton Philips look beyond the resume when hiring at the executive level?

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Leaders with high emotional intelligence and self-awareness will be able to build and lead strong teams. Empathy and strong relationship management skills are vital for decision-making and team building and are capacities not easily measured on a resume. Situational interview questions are an effective way to gauge a candidate’s emotional intelligence as they often provide a clearer measure of their capacity for leadership.

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Strategic thinking is a key quality in executive leadership. Effective leaders anticipate challenges rather than reacting to them. How can we assess a candidate’s ability for strategic thinking and stakeholder management? Asking candidates to discuss their experiences leading through uncertainty or to provide examples of decisions with long-term impacts offers valuable insights into their critical thinking skills. We ask about how they adapted quickly and aligned their vision with broader business objectives. This can provide tangible evidence for their abilities that go beyond a Resume.

Another crucial aspect to consider is the candidate's alignment with the company’s culture and values, information that is rarely shown in a resume alone. An executive helps to set the tone for the entire organisation so it’s essential that their leadership style and values mesh well with the company’s mission. Morton Philips uses Genesys Australia for psychometric testing when appropriate following the interview phase of a process to provide valuable insights into their cultural fit and leadership potential.

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Our administration and consulting team also performs extensive background checks on our candidate's social media activity, which can provide a greater understanding of their personality and allegiances either politically or socially.

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By looking beyond the resume and focusing on qualities such as emotional intelligence, strategic thinking and cultural fit, organisations can better identify candidates with the leadership potential to drive success.

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Contact our team at Morton Philips to discuss our executive search and recruitment processes and how we can partner with your organisation.

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