Why has my expensive hotshot hire been a fizzle?

Dear Aunty B,

I took on an extremely talented and high profile executive after a long search. I was thrilled to finally get him across the line after months of trying to convince him and it caused a bit of a ripple in the industry when it was announced. He started four months ago and so far has been a fizzer.

He was meant to hit the ground running but we are finding he has been much slower than we expected to understand our products. He seems to be financially illiterate and I have had to take him through the basics of a P&L, even though he was responsible for the bottom line in his previous job. He is also meant to be building a team and assisting with technology rebuilds but is always out in the marketplace “pressing the flesh” as he calls it.

The one good thing about him is his endless enthusiasm, which has made him popular with the team, but I don’t know how long that will last because they are very demanding of their managers and are already expressing annoyance at his lack of ability.

I am at a loss to know how I could have got it so wrong. He was reference checked extensively and as I said he has a great name in the industry. I also personally know someone who worked very closely with him in his old job who said he was fantastic. Am I being too impatient? It is early days after all.

Bemused, confused and scared of being conned.
Perth

Dear Bemused,

What has happened is this. Your hotshot has charisma. And talent. But he also has weak spots. And what has happened at his other workplaces is that they have compensated for this, working around his weak spots and enforcing his strengths.

Ring up your mate who worked with him and ask these questions: Did hotshot have a great financial controller who helped him with budgets and the P&L? Did hotshot have a great products team that shadowed him in the market? Does hotshot know a single thing about technology or did his previous workplace have a team of geeks who surrounded him like Santa’s elves and made things happen for him? Did hotshot have a great CEO who built teams around him and made him think he was a star?

I think you will find the conversation with your mate very illuminating. He will no doubt say that he was hopeless at all that stuff. And when you huffily ask him why he didn’t tell you he will look at you in surprise and say, well you didn’t ask!

Sometimes we are in such a hurry to get a hotshot on board we ask the questions we want answers to and unconsciously avoid the questions we should be asking and the evidence in front of our noses.

You will now need to build support structures around him while massaging the message to the team and asking for their patience. Still, having someone who is outward facing, enthusiastic and liked by the team isn’t a bad place to start.

Be smart,
Your Aunty B

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