Why do so many executive hires fail, and how do you spot a bad hire before you make the offer? Brad Stadler, co-founder of True Search, has spent 25 years in executive search placing CEOs, CFOs and leadership teams at venture-backed and growth companies, and in this episode he explains what is broken in executive recruiting and how founders, CEOs and boards should hire leaders today.

Brad started as an auditor at Arthur Andersen, went on only two job interviews in his life, and moved into executive search at Howard Fischer Associates and Heidrick & Struggles, where Netflix was one of his clients. He then co-founded True Search, an executive search firm and talent platform. Host Jessica Neal, former Chief Talent Officer at Netflix and an expert in culture and talent strategy, asks him how search firms really work, how True pays its people differently, why he stopped doing searches himself, and how AI is changing what makes a great executive.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• How an accountant who never planned it ended up in executive search
• Why executive search felt superficial for so long, and what True set out to change
• How compensation inside search firms really works, and why True made it transparent
• What you can't fix when you hire someone: the baggage they bring
• Why the "three-time CFO who took a company public" is often the wrong hire
• How True uses data from the last 20 similar hires to set realistic expectations
• Why founders who don't make recruiting their top priority lose
• The signs in an offer process that say you should walk away
• Why "there's no opportunity in certainty"

CHAPTERS
0:00 Trailer
0:42 Truth Works intro
1:30 Welcome and introduction
3:39 From Arthur Andersen auditor to executive search
6:54 Two interviews in a whole career
8:39 Leaving to build a firm
12:24 What was broken in executive search
14:19 Netflix: the client who got it
16:24 How superficial the industry was
20:19 Starting True Search
22:09 How compensation really works in search firms
24:14 The baggage new hires bring
26:24 Building True differently
29:39 Why he stopped doing searches
30:54 What makes a great executive is changing
33:14 Hiring with data, not anecdotes
36:54 Recruiting must be the founder's top priority
40:44 Hiring CEOs: beyond checking boxes
42:54 When to walk away from a candidate
48:24 There's no opportunity in certainty

ABOUT THE GUEST
Brad Stadler is co-founder of True Search, an executive search firm and talent platform working with venture-backed and growth companies. He previously worked at Heidrick & Struggles and Howard Fischer Associates, and began his career at Arthur Andersen.

ABOUT THE SHOW
Truth Works is hosted by Jessica Neal. Each episode is an honest conversation about why work is hard and how leaders can make it better.

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