Learn by your mistakes.
I’ve been doing that for a little over 50 years of economic development marketing practice and have picked out five of the biggest I’ve either made or viewed for this blog series. I’ve already covered the first in a previous blog Projecting Job Numbers: Recipe for Economic Development Suicide on the folly of projecting job numbers as a fund-raising economic development device, so let’s move on:
MISTAKE NO. 2: PICKING AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR BY STARTING WITH A NATIONAL SEARCH
“We’re going to get the best economic development person in the country” one of our clients said to me a few years ago.
“How much are you going to pay?” I said, and he named a figure that seemed to me about double the appropriate prevailing wage.
That client went ahead and hired one of the best known US developers who started by bringing in an equivalently expensive Associate Director, thoroughly shook up the staff beyond recognition, initiated a sizable economic base study, picked out a new and much more lavish office location -- and then left in six months for an even more prestigious and highly paid development post.
National searches for development leaders are often appealing to local leadership but they can also lead to sizeable and often unexpected consequences. Here are just a few potential difficulties:
- Differences in community conditions and characteristic
- Demoralization of existing staff
- Tendency to seek out the single outsider hero instead of relying on logical and proved local/regional resources
- Possible dissatisfaction by the new hero’s family
- And of course hugely increased costs along the way
Just one of many possible illustrations: a Midwestern community started on a North America-wide search and did it right. They got the right Executive Director who truly galvanized the development program. But his wife couldn’t locate the right local religious instruction for her four children and within less than a year the still new director had departed for a much larger city with broader educational alternatives.
Sure, national searches can work but only after you’ve looked hard for local nominees who tend to know the community and its business challenges and potentials and have already made a strong community commitment.
Final example: DCI was asked to help recruit a CEO for a newly minted development organization. It came down to two candidates, one of them a smart, quiet, highly active local banker; the other, a widely known, much quoted economic developer from 2,500 miles away. The outsider “guru” was selected who then promptly became involved in a public brouhaha with two members of the Board and resigned after a year of widely watched turmoil. The youthful banker was now picked, and for the past ten years has done an outstanding job.
I’m not saying don’t institute a national search; DCI has had dozens of highly effective clients who were hired that way. I’m saying first start at home. You may be happily surprised at what you find.
Agree? Disagree? Click on comments below to convey your brickbats or benedictions.
I agree that a national search can produce an ultimate candidate that is noticeably less qualified than someone local, often already within the organization. Another big problem is interference by Boards of Directors. A Board member who steers a handpicked person thru the process and/or insists that a certain search firm (only a couple are well qualified for ED) be used can do a great disservice to the subject EDO. I have seen Board member interference produce near disasterous results. Yet the Board member is usually not held accountable. I don't know how you stop Board member interference but it is one of most serious issues facing EDOs today.
I think your coments are right-on, but there are notable exceptions (Dick Fleming in St. Louis being but one). I've worked with dozens of EDO's who have overlooked well qualified locals to find "just the right" guru. Thanks for the piece. Regards to Rob DeR.
PS: met a satisfied client of yours recently: Chuck Alvey of EDAWN in Reno.
It must be a "slow news day" to generate this much text over a "no-brainer" issue! The obvious answer is "YES"!!! If the search is posted nationally and actively recruited locally, the selection committee should have the best of both worlds. And thanks for the Monday morning discussion!
The wisdom of Mr. Levine's astute insight is refreshing and encouraging. For all those who, in the words of John Meyer aspire "to be bigger than their body gives them credit for", listen and be hopeful for your future. Big names, big places and big resumes can't compare with commitment and a personal investment in one's home town. It makes a difference for those who would listen. Maybe, the executive search committees of the economic development world will listen to Mr. Levine and John Meyer - and learn a few things.
it just seems intrinsically wrong for a local board member to recommend a national search for a local entity. it's like an insult to the existing staff and area candidates. why not do a re-call of the board member in favor of a national candidate?
I couldn't agree more. I'll add to your list. Economic Development is different from community to community within an area let alone state-wide or region-wide. What works in one community maybe a disaster in another. The many idiosyncrasies of working in California would no doubt stifle and frustrate a miswestern or east coast Economic Development director (yes, they stifle and frustrate us as well but we're use to it). I'm sure the same is true going the other way as well.
A turn-key search should always begin locally with the organization and community. Many times the best candidates can be found in the community or surrounding region, if not, it’s important to look beyond the geographic boarders and find the best candidates that match the organization and community. It’s very common for the ‘out-of-town’ candidate to have some connection to the community or region. If a pro-active search is done correctly it will yield the best local and national candidates for the board to choose from. It’s then up to the search consultant to assist the board in determining which candidate will be the best fit. Some of the best economic developers today would not be where they are if they had not been apart of a national search; Ronnie Bryant, Rick Weddle, Bob Marcusse and Jerry Mallot to name a few.
The debate really boils down to which is harder to learn--the economic development business or the intracacies of the community and its leadership/power structure. For my money, the smart, motivated local person can learn the economic development business just as fast or faster than a true stranger can learn the community and what makes it tick.