Match Makers

With an increase in the number of executive talent agents on the horizon, the future of executive recruiting is bound to change.

By Jodi Spiegel Arthur

Show Me the Opportunity

Among the handful of agents now in business is Neal Lenarsky, a career HR exec with a concentration in staffing at companies including Disney, Guess, Pepsi and Broadway Stores. He opened Strategic Transitions Inc. in Burbank, Calif., four years ago and now acts as company president.

Lenarsky calls himself "the only pure talent agent" because he is the only one who charges the executives alone and receives no compensation from the businesses that hire them.

Using a mix of coaching, public relations, advice and support—a one-on-one counseling of sorts—Lenarsky works to "package" the direct reports to and the leaders of organizations in the consumer goods, entertainment (including new media), retail and fashion industries. Usually they hold positions such as CEO, CIO or CFO, he says.

He doesn't accept just anyone as a client, he says. His clients must meet three criteria: They must be bankable talent, meaning they must be moving up in their organizations or be perceived as future senior-level talent; there must be positive chemistry between Lenarsky and the executive; and the exec must be a great person, i.e., not a jerk, he says.

"Great executives are so immersed in the work they're doing that they haven't spent time networking," Lenarsky says. Those who have networked know how complex it is and how beneficial it is to have extra help, he adds. They seek out an agent because they wish to be "more aligned with their dreams".

Lenarsky says he believes other agents are, for the most part, a long way from dealing with HR directly, but, he says, "that in the end, is what we offer. A lot of execs when approached by search [agents] are services really poorly because the job" is being done for the company.

There's a big opportunity  for talent agents to step in and fill that void, he says. There's a great need for trusted talent management, Lenarsky says, adding he's surprised there aren't more agents like himself. He says he believes a number of search executives are interested in becoming agents and it's competition he welcomes. "It's a Tsunami ready to hit."

March 15, 2001