Greetings from CarterBaldwin, and welcome to Spotlight on Search, our quarterly e-newsletter.

We’re confident the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, and the latest Executive Job Market Intelligence Report bears witness.

According to this report, roughly two-thirds of executives polled agree there is a shortage of qualified high-level talent, up from 53 percent last year. At a very basic level, it’s the law of supply and demand, for as working Baby Boomers approach retirement, the candidate pool shrinks, leaving greater opportunity for those with the most critical senior-level skills.

Executives looking for new jobs in 2007 are poised to capitalize on a thriving economy, and will increase their earning power. Executives aren’t alone in reaping the benefits of an improved economy, as corporate human resource professionals reported 28 percent of their open positions were filled by external search firms. And CarterBaldwin is extremely optimistic this will bode well for our company as well!

Amid strong job growth at the executive level, turnover is brisk, with average tenure remaining just above three years with one company according to the Job Market Report. In the Report, Corporate human resource professionals identified 14 months as the critical point of demarcation where new job excitement can wane, and dissatisfaction creeps in. This sense of discontent, mostly related to unmet personal advancement development goals, is driving these executives from their workplaces.

Addressing this phenomenon, we’ve included a reprint from the March 2007 issue of The Harvard Business Review entitled “Crisis At the Summit,” which addresses how and why overachievers at the top of their game are vulnerable to hard-to-detect affliction of discontent that can derail their careers. We hope you’ll enjoy this compelling story by George D. Parsons, a management consultant and executive coach; and Richard T. Pascale, an associate fellow at Oxford University.

Thank you for your continued interest in CarterBaldwin, and best wishes to you for your continued success!

Jennifer Poole Sobocinski
Managing Partner
jsobo@carterbaldwin.com

 

Crisis at the Summit

An unrecognized affliction is striking certain gifted performers at the top of their game. Its cause, paradoxically, is success itself. These stars, who thrive on conquering new challenges, can lose their bearings and question their purpose once a job has been mastered. A vague dissatisfaction gives way to confusion and then to inner turmoil. Left unattended, this summit syndrome can derail promising careers. The syndrome has three phases. In the approach phase, when most of the challenges of a current job have been met, sufferers tend to push harder in a vain attempt to recapture the adrenaline rush of the climb. Then, in the plateauing phase, when virtually all the challenges have been conquered, these individuals, who are incapable of coasting, bear down to try to produce ever more stellar results, but to less effect and greater dissatisfaction. This leads to the terminal descending phase, when performance slips noticeably. As their superstar status fades, they jump ship, accept demotions, or take lateral transfers. It's a terrible waste, for if the syndrome is recognized, steps can be taken before performance slips to dispel the confusion and set the stage for productive growth to the next assignment. There are four parts to this process: First, understand your "winning formula" – the characteristic way you approach a situation – and the vital part it plays in feeling stale or losing your edge. Second, reconnect with your core purpose in life. Third, recast your current, or future, job to better align your inner aspirations with the external requirements of your work. And fourth, create a developmental path by honing a handful of core leadership competencies. None of this is easy, but for talented individuals – and the organizations that rely on them – the vaccine of preventive awareness is far better than gambling on an after-the-fact cure once the crisis is full-blown.