Quotes from John O. Burdett's books

"Being prepared, focused, drilling down, staying on track and listening are the interviewer's tools of the trade."

"The organization's values describe non-negotiable behavior at the most basic level."

"The skilled interviewer prompts, probes and pushes to understand, with as much detail as possible, both the results achieved, and how the candidate went about it."

"As the interviewer, you are the conductor. Don't let the first violist take over the orchestra."

"Character matters – and when hiring for a key leadership role it matters a lot."

"To hire lions you have to know to roar: Relevant past situations; Organization context; Actions taken; Results achieved."

"That Daniel Day Lewis made a great Abraham Lincoln, doesn't mean he is equipped to become the next President of the United States."

"If winning is measured by power, position and personal wealth expect the sands of time to quickly erase your achievements."

"Although their performance history is an open book, the trap with internal candidates isn't 'are the right for the role,' it's 'are they ready?'"

"When the work to define fit is either inadequate or incomplete, the default action is to land on the best candidate. Mastery is to hire the right candidate."

"In companies that sustain, the company doesn't have a culture – it is its culture."

"To protect their legacy; leaders know when to walk away."

"How the question is asked is at least as important as the question itself."

"Leaders who take people where they otherwise not go understand that they are in the emotional transportation business."

"The single biggest reason an executive fails is because he/she is a misfit with the culture."

"Being simple isn't a process, a set of rules or a formula; it's a mindset"

"A great question makes the silence louder."

"Those afflicted by hiring hubris hire the best candidates. Those who leave a legacy hire the right candidate."

"Treat the candidate as you would your most valuable customer."

"Coached, groomed and not infrequently professionally tutored, today's interviewee comes well prepared."

"Ego is the enemy of enquiry."

"A common trap to fall into is to interview the resume."

"Pursuit of the perfect candidate is a lost cause."

"Content without context is momentum without meaning."

"Leaders who fail to identify and develop a successor are guilty of a fundamental breach of what it means to be a leader."

"It's a mistake to assume that those who stand on the winners podium today are equipped for tomorrow's race."

"What the candidate says and how they say it throws down a trail of attitudinal/behavioural breadcrumbs."

"The capacity to create appropriate language speaks to mental agility."

"Signal what you are looking for and that is exactly what the candidate will deliver."

"If an apology is needed and what people hear is an excuse, trust falls away."

"Visualisation is the key to masterful performance."

"A life well lived is rooted in authenticity."

"How and when we say 'no' is a measure of character."

"A good story wakes up the work group, transforms the team, consolidates the community and nurtures the network."

"Learning starts with a question."

"Leadership of others starts with leadership of self."

"To be a better leader first strive to become a better you."

"To follow truth is to first leave old truths behind."

"When we believe in a successful outcome, we are taking the first – and most important step – in making it happen"

"Team fit is the forgotten actor in talent acquisition."

"To operate successfully today, a leader needs a repertoire of styles, structures, change scenarios and strategic approaches."

"Learning is to adapt to a changing world."

"'Disconnected', 'disillusioned', 'disenfranchised' and 'disillusioned' describe today's middle managers."

"Enter stage left the middle manager – that most maligned, misunderstood, misused and marginalised member of the management club."

"In the overwhelming majority of organizations, operating without a strong middle kingdom is unthinkable."

"Effluent runs downhill and the middle manager is standing foursquare in its path."

"In knowledge-based businesses, if too many talented 'techies' turn down the responsibility of running a team, don't worry about the future – you don't have a future."

"A bureaucratic mindset has, over the years, devalued the impact of those who interact with the customer."

"Innovation happens at the edge, where the meadow runs into the stream, in the narrow strip of land that is sometimes sand and at other times the sea, in the band of turbulence between the firm and the customers it serves."

"Not only are those in the middle the most disillusioned leadership population in nay organization, but paradoxically, the group with the greatest untapped value."

"Coaching and mentoring play in the same space but are very different."

"Those who rebound quickly after a setback do so by tapping into an ever-present well of optimism."

"There is a proven and indelible link between leadership and coaching."

"If three or more of the last five key leadership openings were hired form the outside you have a succession problem."

"Leaders who fail to identify and develop a successor are guilty of a fundamental breach of what it means to be a leader."

"A mission critical role is one where failure of the incumbent puts the whole business at risk."

"Talent management is a central plank in leading with tomorrow in mind."

"It's a mistake to assume that high performers are necessarily high potential."

"No matter how you present succession, those you need the most, high performers, will want to look behind the curtain."

"A variation on the succession theme is to have a third party constantly 'talent spotting' on behalf of the organization."

"In all likelihood, tomorrow's competition will come from a city you have never heard of."

"BRAND means Better Results And No Disappointments."

"Sustained success is invariably about doing the simple things at a level of excellence."

"Knowing how the business makes money doesn't stop with the balance sheet."

"We lost our way when early management philosophers hit the delete button on collaboration"

"With the right "why" anything is possible."

"Elegance – doing more with less – isn't about working harder, it's about changing the angle of attack."

"Your story is the glue that connects you to who you have the possibility to become."

"The consumer wants choice – but not too much choice."

"Although they should not be in conflict, organization and personal values are not the same thing."

"Great organizations don't have values – they are their values."

"Like a benevolent burglar, it's the listener who steals the show."

"Throw people together and 50,000 years of social engineering kicks in."

"Building community means ripping up fences and nailing a sign over the door that says 'come in'"

"Be it for talent, the customer, or funding, it's stories that compete, not organizations."

"Candour is made more likely when the team leader is willing to be personally vulnerable."

"Candid conversation is a way of life for a team that even flirts with the notion of delivering exemplary performance."

"'Change' without inspirational leadership is like a car without an engine."

"A story is a strand of oral DNA plucked from the storyteller's personal journey."

"When we signal that we are fully present we project that we care."

"To care is to communicate not what people need to know, but what they have a right to know."

"Our kind has a basic need to be accepted, to be part of the team."

"Add a new member to the team and the chemistry of the group changes."

"To make change happen, the team needs two reference points, the 'why' and a map."

"Who you hire and promote today dictates what is possible tomorrow."

"There is no such thing as a leaderless team."

"Even as we faced extinction on the plains of Africa, the best of us knew that out there, somewhere, was a better pointed stick."

"The group that needs feedback most of all is high performers and idea creators."

"Agreed norms define boundaries, shape expectations, reduce conflict and keep members in line."

"Nowhere in the dictionary does it say 'commitment' means 'doing your best!'"