By: Kelli Vukelic with commentary by Frank Scarpelli
Executive hiring can make—or break—a company’s future. In this week’s Private Capital Global blog, leadership strategist Kelli Vukelic reveals the often-overlooked risks that derail even the most promising executive searches—and what you can do to avoid them. Packed with actionable insights, this piece is a must-read for any organization navigating senior-level hiring. Adding depth and relevance, Frank Scarpelli, Managing Partner of Sparc Partners Private Capital Advisory, offers commentary tailored to the unique dynamics of the private capital landscape.
The Silver Tsunami & Collapse of the Leadership Pipeline
The leadership pipeline is collapsing in front of our eyes. Let me explain how. The current freeze in the job market isn’t just a temporary slowdown; it's more than that, making an already fragile pipeline more vulnerable. First, organizations are reluctant to hire; the remaining employees are not going anywhere. Second, the next generation of leadership talent is shrinking as younger generations turn away from traditional career paths, while executive retirement is a decade earlier than in generations past. Third, new talent into the market, college hiring has been at an all-time low since the 1960s. Finally, the average age of C-suite hires is increasing, creating a math problem -- leaders are coming in later while existing leaders are departing sooner. We can’t accelerate the time of the planet for new leaders to get equivalent years of experience as compared to the leaders who came before them.
This imbalance leaves organizations scrambling to adapt and holding on to antiquated hiring and leadership development methods, hoping to work out of this crisis while watching their leadership pipeline dwindle.
Added to this challenge is an evolutionary change in the very nature of leadership readiness. Conventional indicators such as degrees, job titles, and linear career progression are losing value. When the job market rebounds, the talent pool will be drastically different, and companies that don’t evolve will have difficulty articulating what good looks like in the new talent market.
For public companies, there’s even greater pressure. Bringing in a CEO, CFO, or Board Director isn’t just an internal decision; it’s a market event. These appointments are closely watched by investors, analysts, and the media, making inferences about what this will mean for the company’s strategy and performance. A botched executive hire can send stock prices tumbling, erode investor trust, and destabilize business continuity.
However, many organizations freeze rather than adapt, protracting timelines for decision-making and hiring processes in a futile search for the one silver bullet that will eliminate hiring risk. As they try to reduce risk through data accumulation, they tend to collect the wrong data in inefficient ways.
Companies must adopt a new approach to limiting risk while creating exceptional results, ensuring the right leaders are selected and developed.
How to De-Risk Executive Hiring
Instead of turning to yesterday’s methods, organizations should employ several strategies to future-proof the future of leadership for their organizations:
Leadership Development and Succession Planning - Expand Pathways to Leadership
The typical linear career track to the C-suite is becoming less and less common. Organizations need to reimagine other routes to the top. Organizations must actively develop leadership talent through mentorship, cross-functional experiences, and executive coaching. In addition, organizations should reframe non-linear career paths, particularly among up-and-comers. Those with diverse career journeys demonstrate learning agility, an essential leadership trait that produces success. A critical internal question is, “How often do we have to watch a leader deliver results before trusting them to do it again?” Historically, senior executives would go through several business units and geographies for broader leadership exposure, which took over a decade or more before anyone was deemed eligible for the C-suite. This process must move quickly and be in step with workforce trends, particularly under an accelerated timeline in today’s dynamic environment.
“In our PE portfolio companies, we often need to accelerate leadership development significantly. We're looking for leaders who can hit the ground running and drive value creation within a shorter investment timeframe. We must identify and nurture talent with proven learning agility and adaptability.” - Frank Scarpelli
Focus on Hiring Based on Skills, Not on Traditional Credentials
Innovation in hiring based on skills and competencies, as opposed to inflexible degree requirements or standard career trajectories, is five times more predictive of job success than education and experience alone. Organizations must move beyond outdated hiring models and focus on identifying candidates with leadership behaviors, values, competencies, problem-solving abilities, and strategic thinking skills, regardless of how they acquired them. It might surprise you that many of these competencies weren’t all acquired ‘on the job.’ Understanding the full breadth of a candidate’s life experiences can offer more profound insight into the experiences that have shaped the leader they have become.
This needs to go back to the drawing board for organizations. How are you increasing your top-of-funnel in new and different ways? Broaden your top-of-funnel parameters and consider a tech enablement partner like Loxo to replace the legacy "strict" search functions so many recruiters have used for too long. Firms can create a more objective, evidence-based hiring process with rich candidate profiles, performance indicators, and analytics. Loxo integrates with psychometric tools, assessments, and custom scorecards to support better alignment with the investment thesis. There are countless data points that the human brain cannot connect to, but through enabling technology and actual machine learning and AI, new candidates can surface.
“For PE-backed companies, this is crucial. We need leaders with specific skill sets and operational expertise aligning with our value creation plan. Traditional credentials may not always translate to the hands-on capabilities we require. We're looking for doers, not just thinkers.” And technology is more critical than ever to the success of the recruitment playbook. - Frank Scarpelli
Reduce Hiring Risk with Predictive Assessments
The success in placing these new technologies into executive hiring comes from predictive analytics, behavioral science, and AI-driven assessments. Using actual case studies, these tools offer a data-driven view of a candidate’s potential for long-term success through the lens of their leadership competencies, decision-making patterns, and strategic foresight. I see new market entrants like System-3 disrupting in this space; they are providing insights that enable more confident hiring decisions and less subjective and more personalized comparisons. They map candidates to hiring managers and teams, enhancing culture-add and strategic alignment.
Predictive assessments are invaluable for our due diligence process. In PE, we must quickly understand how a potential leader will perform under pressure and align with our investment thesis. These tools help us make more informed and less risky hiring decisions.” - Frank Scarpelli
Help Boards and CEO’s with AI Simulations
Beta-stage AI-driven simulations are emerging as powerful tools to assess how potential hires will be perceived by key stakeholders, including public markets, analysts, and major investors. These tools can evaluate how an executive hire might impact stock prices, investor confidence, and media narratives by simulating market reactions. Incorporating AI-powered simulations into the due diligence process provides organizations with another valuable data point, offering a clearer understanding of the broader market and financial implications of executive appointments. I’m happy to comment on new entrants in the coming months as testing wraps up.
“This is particularly relevant for our portfolio companies that may have an exit strategy involving an IPO or strategic sale. Understanding how the broader market will perceive a leadership hire is critical to maximizing value creation and ensuring a successful exit.” - Frank Scarpelli
Quit Playing It Safe, Start Playing It Smart
What organizations perceive as risky must be redefined in a fast-changing workforce landscape. The best innovators don’t just expand their markets; they redefine them. Talent leaders must take the same approach, redefining the leadership hiring landscape and staying agile in their learning. By embracing new data-driven tools and methodologies, they can better position themselves to navigate leadership transitions effectively. The goal is not only to sustain long-term success but also to move swiftly and decisively with confidence.
About the Authors
Kelli Vukelic
Kelli Vukelic has spent her career building and advising high-performing executive teams in private and public organizations worldwide, ranging from early-stage start-ups to Fortune 100 companies and top-tier higher educational institutions. She is a recognized industry thought leader in human-centered strategies for developing the next generation of leaders in a changing world.
Kelli served as the CEO of a Forbes-ranked top-20 global executive search and leadership advisory firm, where she previously served as COO. Before this, she held operations, strategic account management, and business development roles at Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY). She also served clients in C-Suite Executive Search for Korn Ferry's Global Technology Practice.
Kelli is a published author of white papers on the future of leadership with executives from brands such as Coca-Cola and Prudential. She is the co-author of Leadership Recruiting: Consulting Skills for Recruiters, which encapsulates her decades of experience as a trusted advisor. She is also an Advisory Board Member for Private Capital Global, a leading media and events organization for PE, VC, and related private investment firms.
Frank Scarpelli
Frank Scarpelli is the Founder and Managing Partner of Sparc Partners, a Private Capital advisory firm specializing in human capital, leadership, executive search, technology, and M&A advisory. He is also the CEO of Private Capital Global (PCG), a media and events company serving the Private Capital sector.
With over 30 years of experience across corporate leadership, consulting, and entrepreneurship, Frank works closely with private equity firms and their portfolio companies to drive value creation through talent strategy, operational leadership, and strategic transformation. Through Sparc Partners and PCG, he helps connect capital with leadership and insight across the investment lifecycle.
