Richard McNeal’s Post

*Personal Friday Post* My daughter turned 14 yesterday. I've been fortunate to have smart, well adjusted kids at 14 (daughter) and 10 (son). Though not without challenges. Here's a few things I've learned or taken away from parenting to this point. ➡️ Teenagers have a ton of pressure these days with grades, school work, and extracurriculars. Burnout and anxiety (even about college already) is real. ➡️ Kids, like adults, express love in different ways. Be open and receptive to how its expressed. ➡️ Travel sports can augment your child's real talent, but be wary of the potential grift (oh look another weekend camp for $300!) and strain on a developing body. ➡️ Most parents (like me) have no clue what we're doing half the time 😂. Many of our own parents checked the boxes of food, shelter, and safety for us and counted that as a day's work! The noise around needing to be a "perfect" parent is undeniable. Would love to hear what others think! Have a great weekend 🤩

Hiring Managers: Time and time again... A competitive offer reduces time to close for your preferred candidate. There's a reason why we pre close a candidate and go through an offer planning exercise. And then provide that data to you. It gets you over the goal line more quickly. Talentfoot Executive Search and Staffing

Interesting summary here of an interview with Hinge CMO touching on tenure, strategy, and brand building. Particularly the piece on short term vs. long term goals and strategy. Something I often seen client struggle to balance when hiring a new marketing leader. https://lnkd.in/erqJ8KhU

"It just felt right." I've heard this a few times from candidates successfully placed. It's a statement that reflects the importance of some intangible variables needed to close a search. So what could that mean exactly? It's likely a combination of factors... ➡️ The rapport and connection with team and leadership ➡️ How the role provides growth aligned with career progression ➡️ Ability to leverage expertise and leadership in a way not currently possible ➡️ Timing and opportunity - position is too attractive and impactful to pass up A role feeling right often cuts across timing, scope, rapport, and opportunity for impact. Talentfoot Executive Search and Staffing

Last two eCommerce placements I made came from prior contacts in my network. Back then, it wasn't the right time or right role. This time it was. Staying in touch with competitive talent until the right opportunity presents itself is a big part of the game. Talentfoot Executive Search and Staffing

What’s the future of SEM and Google Ads in the face of ChatGPT? Will there be such a shift in the future that heavy reliance on these tactics will put businesses at serious risk? The phrase “Google it” has been so common in our information seeking. Will “Ask ChatGPT” replace it? Talentfoot Executive Search and Staffing

CURRENT SEARCHES 🤩 Message me to learn more 📧 ✴️ VP Marketing✴️ Education $500M health professions education Southern Cal based, relo required Lucrative LTI ✴️Chief Growth Officer✴️ Consumer Health & Wellness/CPG $5M, seeking growth for acquisition California HQ, travel required Equity component ✴️Director of B2B eCommerce✴️ $750M Commercial Goods $50M eCommerce, 90% Amazon Oklahoma City HQ, travel required or relo Lucrative LTI ✴️Head of eCommerce✴️ $50M Marketing & Sales Agency Opp to build more robust eCommerce function Central or Eastern time zone based, travel required 20% Equity component ✴️VP eCommerce/Marketplaces✴️ $100M Vitamins and Supplements $20M Amazon business, lead marketplaces growth Seattle Metro based, relo required Equity component

One thing I like about recruiting eCommerce leaders.... Even if you don't have the technical expertise, shopping online is something we all experience and can relate to 🛒 The online customer journey, the ease of searching products, and what makes us ultimately convert, those are aspects of online buying we all share. And it makes conversations on eCommerce that more interesting 😄 Talentfoot Executive Search and Staffing

Behind the scenes search nugget... Clients don't always see the massive, impressive research work our team does when launching a search. (Jenna Duesler 🙂) A few things we do that clients don't necessarily see.... ➡️ Benchmarking talent at companies in category or similarly aligned in product portfolio, revenue, and growth stage. ➡️ Strategy session with research team to identify talent already in our network and database. ➡️ Crafting and testing messaging to targeted talent via LinkedIn, email, or text to draw interest and secure a call. ➡️ Developing a top 15 target list of talent to cold call directly if initial messaging isn't leading to a call. There is a very deliberate, targeted research and outreach process that happens at launch and throughout a search. Particularly on a retained search project. And it takes a great research process to identify and capture the right talent. Talentfoot Executive Search and Staffing

Changing an interview process after confirming next steps with a candidate can set a search back. And ultimately damage your ability to close a preferred candidate. Be mindful of how and why you would change the process mid search. Along with the potential risks.