Guest: Kurt Wilkin, the Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist of HireBetter, a company that "harnesses the power of talent to solve business challenges." Kurt is also an active member and officer of YPO.
Episode in a Tweet: Covid-19 disruption has created a richer than usual talent pool. Take advantage and upgrade your team where you need it the most.
Quick Background: At the beginning of the year, CEOs were exploring every available option to find top talent during a very tight labor market. The workplace disruption that Covid-19 caused has changed that. If you need to fill an important leadership position in your company right now, the pool of available talent is deeper than it's been in quite some time. But don’t think that means making a key hire is going to be easier. On the contrary, CEOs have to be even more careful that they’re not letting sterling resumes and shiny smiles distract them from what’s most important: hiring someone who is going to buy into your vision, enhance your culture, and help your company make BIG happen.
On today’s show, Kurt Wilkin discusses effective strategies for sourcing talent and the key considerations CEOs need to make when weighing short-term needs versus long-term goals.
Guest: CEO Coaching International’s Stephen Bebis. Stephen held a variety of senior merchandising roles at Home Depot before being named the VP General Merchandise Manager for the Mid-South Division. He also founded Aikenhead's Improvement Warehouse and built it to $1 billion in sales before selling it to Home Depot. After the acquisition, Stephen served as President and CEO of Home Depot Canada and chairman of the Aikenhead/Home Depot Partnership Board. Stephen also founded Golf Town, built it to 65 stores, and took the company public.
Episode in a Tweet: There's always a crisis somewhere. The best leaders have a continuous planning process and the right people to execute it.
Quick Background: When Stephen Bebis joined Home Depot in 1984 the company had just 14 stores. When he left in 1990, he was running a $20 billion division as a head merchant and was the VP of the southern part of the country. And while some might look back on the ’80s and early ‘90s as a booming time for business, think about everything that happened during the 6 years that Stephen helped Home Depot grow. Two presidential elections. Black Monday, 1987. Tumult in the Middle East, including Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan. Not to mention annual hurricane seasons and other unpredictable disasters.
No, running a business isn’t easy during Covid-19. But as Stephen discusses on today’s show, CEOs always have to be prepared to adjust to unforeseen circumstances and refocus their efforts on how to satisfy and grow their customer base.