Hiring a new CEO

This is a repost from 4chan /biz/. I'm not the one who wrote it, but I found it very interesting and informative, so decided to share it here.Hey guys, I want to share my recent experience with you, because it was awesome. So, I recently graduated from university with Mechanical Engineering degree and started working for my dad's company. My dad is a large shareholder in a manufacturing company. Basically, we manufacture all sorts of pipes and shit. Recently, board decided that we need a new CEO. Our company was not doing too bad, but considering dropping performance, strong performance from local competitors and new and future expected challenges, they decided we need a new boss. That was decided very quickly, in one board meeting. However, the hiring process was way, way more rigorous. First, over four long meetings*board discussed current state of affairs*discussed short term and long term challenges*came up with short term and long term goals*made a list of desired qualifications, competencies and qualities of a new CEO*made a list of secondary desired qualities*discussed where and how we would look for candidates*briefly discussed compensation that we would offer to the new CEOI attended three of these meetings, that lasted 5-8 hours each and it was fascinating to watch. Turned out these old guys were very smart and knew ins and outs of the industry. Just watching them endlessly discuss all sorts of intricacies of the business was invaluable. In three days I learned more than in four years of my college... Anyway, primary qualities were mainly related with*previous experience*ambitions and strategic vision*social skillsSecondary qualities were more random and more precise. There were actually only two secondary desired qualities*be an engineer*be in early 40sAfter list of desired qualities was completed and printed out, board members, some higher executives in our company and HR department started gathering candidates.Everybody started calling everyone they know and pulling strong possible candidates. They looked at current and former CEO's and higher executives working in the industry, even some university profs. After two months of intense search we had a list of 49 candidates. We had another 9 hour board meeting where they*put together a team of 4 people who will evaluate candidates*draw a strategy and timeline on how they should evaluate candidatesFour members of a newly formed team included two board members (one was my dad), one manager of one of our factories and head of HR. First, for background check an external company was hired. Then, they started calling references, former employers and co-workers of all candidates. After intense reference and background check for 3 weeks, 11 candidates were eliminated. After that, they started interviewing them. They had daily meetings discussing interview questions, strategy, important moments, who will interview who and etc. Each candidate supposed to have 2 interviews: one 1-on-1 and one team interview. In the process some of candidates declined and dropped out though. After first line of 1-on-1 interviews we had 17 candidates. After that team had a long meeting discussing upcoming team interviews. They developed a very structured strategy. Experience of candidates was not really part of discussion, they all had relevant experience. Focus was on their ambitions, strategic vision and social skills.Then team interviews started and I was lucky to assist them in most of those interviews. One of the team members was playing bad cop and was asking direct, confronting and uncomfortable questions. The other three were playing good cops and asking softer questions and making encouraging comments. A lot of questions were hypothetical*what would you do if so and so happened?*how would you handle some hypothetical problem?*how would you deal with this and this people?*what will be your priorities in xxxx?*how you will allocate responsibilities between employees?*what is the most important thing in xxxx?*did you have previous experience in xxxx?*etc. etc. etc...Also, a lot of questions were asked regarding future*how you see the near and long term future of the industry?*what are the upcoming challenges of the industry?*what our businesses should prioritize and focus on?*how you will structure R&D team?*and so on and so on...Each interview lasted around 3 hours. After each interview, team had a very long meeting discussing the interviewed candidate and gave him very thorough assessment on many qualities. They also had a short meeting before every interview discussing the candidate and interview. After all interviews were completed, the team had a meeting and chose two strongest candidates. My dad said that they would loved to have more, but those two were head and shoulder above others. The two candidates were presented to board members.The board was very pleased with two final candidates. The mood in the meeting was unusually chill and lighthearted. They discussed two finalists back and forth, but didn't make final decision in the first meeting. I think after the meeting, they went home and looked for more references. I'm sure they called several people and gathered even more information on those two. In the next meeting they voted and almost unanimously picked one of candidates. After that they discussed in length the our offer and structure of compensation. He was already employed, but our board really wanted to hire that guy, so our team was given a lot of instructions and advices on how to sway him. Board discussed*renting a house in a very good neighborhood*finding a good, private school for their kids*giving them a car*one of managers and his wife were instructed to meet the final candidate and his wife...A lot of little touches like that. No, surprise, he was persuaded very quickly, to the board's delight. Then, they had another meeting. This time, they discussed integration of the new CEO.*all senior executives and managers were told in details about new CEO*one of board members took responsibility to become new CEO's advisor*one of senior executives was instructed to assist and familiarize new CEO with everythingAlso, several board members had meetings with new CEO and told him in details about*current state of affairs*short and long term challenges and plans*goals and expected timelines*key people in our company*etc. etc. etc...So, like that we have a new CEO. Soon, our old CEO will retire and new CEO will start his job. I have no doubt that he will be very successful. The whole process was insanely rigorous and for me, personally, was very rewarding. see hubwealthy.com/wealthy