Speaker: John Budreski, Executive Chairman, EnWave
Please introduce yourself
John Budreski: Hello. My name is John Budreski. I'm a former CEO 3 times and now Executive Chairman of 2 public companies. And on the Board of Directors of 2 more public companies.
How did you engage Recruit Rockstars?
John Budreski: We have engaged Jeff & Recruit Rockstars for 5 separate assignments over a 2 year period. All were for EnWave Corporation, a listed public company based in Vancouver Canada with an advanced technology & royalty business model.
How did Recruit Rockstars deliver, relative to your expectations?
John Budreski: All 5 assignments were very successful. 3 of the searches were for senior management positions and 2 of them were to add to EnWave's Board of Directors. Let's talk about the searches for the Directors. Director searches are challenging at the best of times & ours were on the more difficult end of the spectrum. Directors need to possess executive skills. But what we don't want them to do is try & impose them on to the management team. Decision-making on the Board of Directors is almost always consensus-based which can be problematic for new Directors or long-serving executives when they join a Board. Directors have to be good listeners & not long-talkers. The talking responsibility falls mainly to the management teams.
What were your specific requirements?
John Budreski: The other thing that we needed in our candidates was to have an American who would be willing to serve or work with a Canadian company. We've got lots of Canadian directors on our Board, but we lack the depth of familiarity with things American. And so we wanted to have a specific American hire. And lastly, we needed somebody with deep experience in the consumer packaged goods industry. Then I also added what I described as the most important attribute for being a Director and that's the ability to review a problem or spot an opportunity or understand. Be perceptive or sensitive to the fact that something that should be talked about isn't being sufficiently dealt with. The good Director in this situation offers up a commentary that has every other Director on the Board and senior management team all think the same thing, which is "Damn, I wish I had a thought of that."
Did Recruit Rockstars deliver?
John Budreski: Jeff delivered in tight timetables. He delivered with a good breadth of candidates. He delivered and importantly, led our internal discussions and selection criteria. And lastly, and most importantly, he delivered the successful candidates to our hiring searches. I've been in the professional working world for 40 years. I've used a variety of search firms over the decades. Big ones, small ones, industry focused, specialized shops, you name it. Jeff is the best that I have worked with. There was a reason why I hired this guy 5 times and I would hire him again in a minute. For your recruiting needs. You should give very serious consideration to hiring Jeff.
