The Leadership Lens: A Serengeti Sunrise and Your Next Hire

OK, you are thinking… what does a sunrise over the Serengeti in Tanzania have to do with the next great hire for my team?? Read on for fresh insights and a special offer from CEOIQ.

The Serengeti at Sunrise
It is pitch dark when the Masai attendant assigned to our tent brings wake-up coffee. We have about 30 minutes to get fully awake and to the safari vehicles for the morning ‘game drive’. We’ll be looking for lions this morning… As we pull out from camp, the African Sun is peeking up over the horizon… it is a magical, breathtaking sight to behold as we bounce along in the open top Land Rover, going slow enough for my wife, Rita, to get a sunrise image as the day starts on The Serengeti.

“A photograph is looked at… it is seldom looked into.” – Ansel Adams.

Sara King at CEOIQ found that quote from a legendary photographer who literally defined landscape work in the 20th Century. It’s perfectly appropriate for this image and a great reminder that looking through The Leadership Lens… the challenge is to See Outside The Frame… We are using it frequently as a reminder to leaders to see outside the frame.

If you ‘look into’ this photograph, do you see the bird sailing over the Serengeti in the background? Do you notice the clouds in the African sky backlit by the rising sun? What about the soft morning golden light on the grasses in the foreground?

Seeing Outside The Frame When Hiring
Looking into a photograph is much like considering a candidate for employment at your company. You have a resume, probably a video clip of the person doing his or her best to make a good impression. You have done a screening interview – probably over Zoom, and as you ‘look at’ the candidate, you are favorably impressed.

How do you start looking into the photograph or think about seeing outside the frame to get the best possible picture of ‘is this someone who will be successful here’?

Expanding Your Hiring ToolKit
A great place to start is the PXT Select™ Comprehensive Selection Report. This useful tool gives you objective feedback about both cognitive and behavioral characteristics of every candidate. And those characteristics are considered in the light of your customized Performance Model that defines what has the highest likelihood of success for you.

The Comprehensive Selection Report is one of a suite of a dozen ‘look into the candidate’ outputs that are available, including the ability to compare two or more candidates to evaluate which is the best fit.

And, selection is just the starting point for you to see outside the frame. The Coaching Report is a long-term tool for development and advancement. The Leadership Style Report is a comprehensive look at how a candidate or current employee is likely to show up in a leadership position with responsibility for people.

All this… and more… is available from the data provided by the candidate in a single assessment experience.

An Offer to Leaders form CEOIQ
Sara King and I would like to invite you to experience the PXT Select™ assessment for yourself. If you are a CEO, C-Suite Leader, HR Professional, please reach out to us using this link: PXT Leadership Offer . Or, connect on LinkedIn or by email and we’ll get you set up to complete the PXT yourself and have a complimentary debrief session with us over Zoom. There’s no obligation, no catch, no sales pitch…just a no cost opportunity for you to experience how this assessment tool can quickly up your recruiting and interviewing game.

If the idea of looking into instead of just ‘at’ scenes like this from the magical African Serengeti and using the PXT Select to see outside the frame of what an employment candidate is showing you is something you’d like to explore… Please reach out to either Sara King or Ben Griffin at CEOIQ® to start a conversation. Here’s the link to get started – PXT Leadership Offer.

Ben Griffin
Author: Ben Griffin

Facilitator - CEO Peer Advisory Group; Executive Coach; Photographer