Leonard Pfeiffer and Co. Executive Search Blog

I recently read an article questioning how corporations and Boards should 'measure' people and results. One of several lines that caught my eye was: So, would you ever mistake the measure—profits—for the success they purport to measure? Do profits really equal success?

My repsonse was:

In brief response to your article, profits are important, without them the organization, even the not for profit, eventually disappears. However, profit is not everything --- some times, it is a nice ‘bonus’ on top of accomplishing the mission! We always look for the passion in the executives we recruit to be new CEOs, CFOs, etc. We want to hear their 'war stories' about how they led other organizations, and in doing that we get a sense of how much they care about what they do, how well they do it, etc.
When they care about quality and doing it right, in addition to making money, we really perk up. It is their ability AND their passion that makes them successful --- and that is what our Board clients have come to expect us to show them in new, potential CEOs, COOs, etc.