Choosing Leaders and Choosing to Lead: Science, Politics and Intuition in Executive Selection

In Choosing Leaders and Choosing to Lead, Douglas Board argues that we often choose badly when selecting for positions in or near the board room in organisations large and small, public and private. He explains why today’s good HR practice, such as the use of competency frameworks, has transformed front-line and middle management selection, but fails at higher organisational altitudes. The author reviews and critically appraises contemporary practice in senior selection and offers insights from sociological and social psychological perspectives. He describes a world after competencies, in which science, politics and intuition are necessarily intertwined - and in which we can choose leaders better. New insights are illuminated with real-life examples. The book concludes with practical advice for those selecting and competing for CEO and other senior roles and will interest anyone involved in regulating, or researching selection, or who is concerned with the diversity and effectiveness of leadership cadres.

About the Author

After working in the UK Treasury and 18 years of practice in executive search, Douglas Board completed a professional doctorate in senior selection. His approach to the subject reflects a wealth of selection experience across the private, public, voluntary and academic sectors, and he has sat in all the chairs at the selection table - candidate, appointing manager, selection expert, head hunter, and now researcher. Dr Board founded Maslow's Attic Ltd which provides expert advice to individuals on lateral or creative career change. He is a senior visiting fellow at Cass Business School, City University London. Previously he was deputy chairman of the executive search firm Saxton Bampfylde. In 2007 he became Chair of the Refugee Council. His first degrees were from Cambridge and Harvard, and his doctorate in management was undertaken at the Complexity and Management Centre at the University of Hertfordshire.