What’s 2+2 in leadership hiring? The answer isn’t always 4. Especially when you forget to account for the hidden variables: character and context. Almost 50–70% of new executives fail within 18 months, not for lack of skill but because hiring often overlooks character, cultural fit, and adaptability. We often think of hiring as a simple maths problem. You line up competence with experience and expect to find your next great leader. Except it rarely works out that neatly.

Are you hiring for comfort or for progress? It’s an easy trap to fall into. You sit across from a candidate who reminds you of yourself ten years ago.  Or maybe they mirror someone on your team who’s been successful. They “just feel right.” That’s the comfort zone of culture fit. It feels safe. It feels smooth. But here’s the risk: If everyone looks the same, thinks the same, and solves problems the same way, fresh ideas never surface.

We all know the phrase “culture fit”... it’s been baked into hiring decisions for decades. But here’s an uncomfortable truth, when overused or misunderstood, cultural fit can become a Trojan horse for unconscious bias. And the result? Leadership teams filled with people who look, think, and lead a lot like… well, you. That’s not cultural alignment. That’s cultural stagnation.

Relying solely on traditional methods like CV reviews and interviews is not sufficient to guarantee a truly successful placement. We're all aware that a candidate's past performance, while important, isn't always a perfect predictor of future success in a new role or within a new organisational culture. That's why we're committed to staying at the forefront of recruitment innovation, and a key part of that is leveraging the power of advanced psychometric testing.

What really makes a leadership team tick? We spend so much time focused on skills, experience, and technical prowess, but are we missing something crucial? I believe the answer is a resounding yes. We need to pay closer attention to the psychological foundations that underpin truly high-performing teams.