Education Commons^™

The Fallacy Of Selecting The Right Person For The Job, Seth Allcorn, Howard F. Stein, Carrie M. Duncan

International Journal of Leadership and Change

Recruiting senior level higher education executives is more challenging than the customary and presumably rational approach of forming a search committee, running an advertisement or hiring a search firm, interviewing candidates, and making a selection. This article discusses many of the organizational dynamics that suggest logic and rationality often are lacking in recruiting for these important positions. The inevitable presence of conflicting interpersonal and intergroup dynamics that may not be discussable in any meaningful way compromises recruiting outcomes. Hiring the best person for the position may well not occur.