Sabbaticals, switching between industries and functions, taking care of children – while some people follow the career ladder step by step, quite a few do not and end up with unconventional profiles.
Egon Zehnder, the top executive search consult, has looked into why unconventional profiles tend to be avoided: “People ascend because they are changemakers, and their risks have paid off for the business. But as expectations grow, their boldness can shrink. The excitement of leadership gives way to a fear of breaking ground. Free thinking shifts to conservatism, and the idea of hiring a mix of talent is abandoned for the status quo.”
They argue that this is the wrong thing to do as a leader, since avoiding personal risk by hiring people similar to yourself ends up creating group thinking and thereby business risk. Egon Zehnder concludes that “The ‘riskiest’ hires don’t have to be risky at all if they’re chosen on potential. And a gutsy leader who takes risks begets a risk-taking team, which will break the cycle of sameness, fill the pipeline and deliver results.”
If you have an unconventional profile it is likely that you need to work more on your professional brand and what you can bring to the employer. At the same time, you can for sure bring skills and experiences that the “standard” candidate cannot. The trick is to identify and communicate you value add.
Read the full article here: Egon Zehnder – Why the Riskiest Hires Might Be the Ones You Don’t Make
Then book your session with Empowwer Me to shape your profile.