Hiring General Managers for Business Units

Hiring a General Manager for a business can make or break a company. When meeting with a client last year, the team and I uncovered where the past GM was falling short and what made their organization’s most successful General Managers. With over 600 operations across the US and Canada, they know what makes for their most successful leaders.

We discovered our clients’ must-haves and nice-to-have requirements. What can make the discrepancy between a 1.5 million-dollar-a-year operation and a 10 million-dollar one? It is very different from our large clients in mining for instance, where each operation produces hundreds of Millions in production each year.

 While location plays a role, leadership, culture fit, ambition, and the ability to inspire and develop a team far outweigh geography. The most successful General Managers take ownership, foster a results-driven culture, and lead by strategy and example.

We also find that effective GMs like to drive results, usually using a system such as the Entrepreneurial Operating System, Red Light Green Light, or a system of Key Performance Indicators. As long as they have used and succeeded with a systematic approach to growing a business, they are likely to succeed in a new structured environment. 

Finding these individuals requires more than scanning resumes—a proactive, targeted approach. The search began with our local and regional networks, identifying high-performing people who had already proven themselves in a similar role and were ready to take on more responsibility. That’s the real work of headhunting—engaging top people, having a ton of conversations and understanding their aspirations, and aligning them with the right opportunity.

One search has turned into three, and we are continuing to learn more about the successful General Managers our clients need to succeed. There are no quick fixes to Headhunting leaders; it takes lots of conversations, good interviewing, and building relationships.