Its literal meaning – the perception of beauty is subjective.
At ISSG, we’re curious to know how this proverb applies to executives as they look to bring in new talent – and think you might be too! This the second in a series of blogs/interviews with Senior Executives who are thought leaders in the areas of Talent Acquisition, Career Development and Leadership.
This discussion was with Craig Hovda. Craig has been a Partner with Deloitte Consulting since 1999. In his tenure with Deloitte he has held various roles including segment leadership in the Federal Government market, international Practice Development in Japan and Brazil, and leadership roles in the Managed Services service line. His current role is leading Deloitte’s largest engagement, a Managed Services program that provides health care analytics through Business Intelligence, Data Analytics and Information Management capabilities for a Fortune 50 health insurer with over 34 million members. Under his direction the Deloitte team is transforming the client’s health care analytics and information management function into an analytics, insight and result based delivery capability that is driving innovation, customer expansion and retention. Craig has organized the international delivery team to drive end- to-end development efforts for high priority projects that align with the overall corporate strategy.
Prior to joining Deloitte, Craig was the President of EDS’ Utilities Industry Group and held various management positions in sales, finance, business process, applications and infrastructure operations during a 12-year career with EDS. Additionally, Craig’s experience includes the roles of managing director of outsourcing for MCI Systemhouse’s South Region, Regional Manager for Abbott Laboratories in their Medical Diagnostics Division for Chicago and Marketing Representative for IBM’s National Accounts Division serving global financial institutions. Craig has significant management consulting, outsourcing, systems integration and executive management experience.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Missouri and an MBA in Finance and Accounting from Washington University in St. Louis.
LJ: What are the primary characteristics that you will be looking for with new hires that did not play a significant role in hiring previously?
CH: Over the last 25 + years I have consistently looked for the same 3 key things, these are as significant for me today as they have always been: 1. Integrity, 2. Indicators of success in same/similar roles (not necessarily the same job I looked for new/fresh perspectives that can be brought to a role – i.e. tangential experience), 3. Attributes of servant leadership.
LJ: How do you determine if someone has potential?
CH: Repeated experience of taking on new / differentiated roles that have resulted in successes and failures, while demonstrating the ability to incorporate these key lessons into future roles and successes.
LJ: If you only had 5 minutes to interview someone, what would you ask?
CH: I would first ask about the most significant success that the person has ever had. The answer to this question will typically provide me with insights to the primary characteristics I am looking for – Integrity, Success Indicators and Leadership style. I would limit that answer to about 2 minutes and then ask them to describe the biggest failure they have had as a way to compare and contrast to the first question. Even though these are both very common and practiced questions and responses, I always find it incredibly interesting the insight that can be gained by the information provided during the response and the reasons why the situation was a significant success and/or failure.
LJ: What leadership tip do you wish someone gave you when you were starting out?
CH: I have gotten a lot of great coaching along the way, probably because I needed it! For me the advice has been a constant reminder, “Think how you want others to deal with you; do the same for them – regardless of how they are treating you.” Having empathy for the person, whether they be your boss, the client executive, or junior staff, seek to understand their point of view and what is important to them. From that understanding you can frame your relationship, day to day interactions and provide them reasons to trust and ultimately follow you.
LJ: What has made the difference in your own leadership development?
CH: Two biggest impacts: 1. Being mentored by very strong leaders, people who took the time to invest in me as I was first moving into supervisory and management roles, and 2. Working for/around leaders who were not that effective and observing their impact on: the team as individuals, achieving the collective team goals, and ultimately service to the client.
If you have a question that you would like answered, or would like to be one of the folks we interview, please let us know by submitting your ideas to: SURVEY