The Alexander Group celebrated 40 years of executive search leadership with an April celebration at The Podium at Porsche River Oaks in Houston. The evening drew more than 150 clients and friends of the firm, culminating in speeches from Managing Director and Founder Jane Howze, Managing Director John Lamar, and long-time client Larry Jobe, former Regional Managing Partner of Grant Thornton.
Other clients and friends of the firm attended the party, including Bud Simpson, a client since 1993. Bud was the former Chief Human Resources Officer for Coastal Corporation and a local not for profit leader. We also welcomed Linda Lang, former CEO of Jack-in-the-Box; Steve Taylor, CEO of the Arthritis Foundation, Phil Rudolph, former General Counsel of Jack-in-the-Box, Keith Fullenweider, Chairman of Vinson & Elkins, Kent Zimmerman, Senior Partner of Zeughauser Group, Nick Peacock, Chief Operating Officer of Baker Botts, Jay Sears, Managing Partner of NewQuest, Jim KattCEO of US Cryo, Tom Brackin, CEO of American Omni Trading, and Andy Baker, former Managing Partner of Baker Botts.
Revved up and ready for the next four decades (and more) of service to our clients, the party featured a host of Porsche’s newest cars, a curated selection of light bites and special sips, a 360-camera booth, and a drawing for one party guest, who won Porsche test track experience.
Scroll through the images below for a look at The Alexander Group celebration.
Maria Anderson has joined Carlton Fields as Director of Legal Talent Management. Ms. Anderson is a seasoned law industry expert, knowledgeable in a wide range of areas, including talent management, attorney training and professional development, office administration matters, and workflow coordination.
Kevin Herglotz has joined The Milken Institute as Executive Vice President, Institutional Advancement . Mr. Herglotz is a decisive business, government, and non-profit executive with more than 25 years of experience managing and solving complex operational issues and exceeding financial objectives.
Sharlene Jenner has joined The American Heart Association as SVP, Digital Marketing. Ms. Jenner is an award-winning senior executive with more than 18 years of experience.
Tangela Richter has joined Geico as General Counsel. Ms. Richter is a creative, results-focused adviser with exceptional problem solving, client service and communication skills, adept at delivering sound legal and business advice.
Liz Sobe has joined Robinson + Cole as Director of Business Development. Ms. Sobe is a growth-driven leader with more than 25 years of experience driving strategic growth and delivering value for lawyers, legal professionals, and clients through seamless collaboration with firm-wide business operations teams.
Heather Duncan has joined Sacks Tierney as Chief Operating Officer. Ms. Duncan is an experienced leader and manager of business operations, finances and strategic growth.
She is adept at at identifying and pursuing new opportunities for expansion and collaboration, as well as fostering a culture of teamwork, accountability, and excellence within firm structure.
David Ford has joined Prothena as Chief People Officer. Mr. Ford brings decades of exceptional global biopharma leadership experience to his role at Prothena.
Throughout his career, Mr. Ford has led through significant strategic and challenging operational change with complete understanding and appreciation of what “best” looks like from organizational infrastructure to performance for any specific period of a company’s evolution.
His scope includes commercial expertise on a global scale – through all aspects of portfolio, global commercial build, launch leadership, and full commercial life cycle.
Want to learn more about our Life Science practice?
Contact Beth Ehrgott at behrgott@thealexandergroup.com.
Much has been written lately about emotional intelligence and the role it plays in a successful career. But what is emotional intelligence? I suppose I could take the position that the U.S. Supreme Court took with pornography: “I can’t define what [it] is…but I know it when I see it.”
Let me start by saying what emotional intelligence is NOT.
Emotional intelligence has nothing to do with your intellect or IQ. We all have seen many executives who are incredibly intelligent but don’t have a modicum of common sense. Recently, I interviewed one of the top software executives in the country. He arrived at the interview late with no apology and, after ordering a glass of wine at 3 p.m., continued to take call after call. And he really wanted the position for this start-up technology company.
Emotional intelligence is not friendliness or empathy. While solid interpersonal skills play a role in emotional intelligence, all recruiters have stories of candidates who overstep boundaries by being overly familiar and talkative. My colleague Bill recalls an executive who sends him birthday and Easter greetings every year despite the fact he met her once eight years ago. While Bill enjoys the shout out and it makes for a good story, he is not sure that the candidate has appropriately sized up their relationship or lack thereof.
Emotional intelligence has nothing to do with honesty and integrity. Actually, I believe that some of the best con artists, embezzlers, and self-promoters have a high degree of emotional intelligence, which makes them effective at their dubious profession.
Emotional intelligence is not equivalent to good judgment, though they overlap. Good judgment is synonymous with making solid business decisions and choices. While someone who has emotional intelligence often has good judgment, many make sound judgments from facts but miss the unspoken cues that someone with emotional intelligence gets.
There is substantial disagreement over what emotional intelligence is, how it is measured, and whether it can be taught. Emotional intelligence starts with reading the environment, listening to your audience, and assessing the appropriate response based on spoken and unspoken prompts. Here are five ways that it or the lack thereof has played out in the interview process.
You have a meeting scheduled from 5 to 6 p.m. Evidence of poor emotional intelligence is arriving at 4:10 p.m. or taking 45 minutes to address the first question of “tell me a little about your firm or background.”
Your meeting is at a hotel restaurant at 10 a.m. Your host orders black coffee. You, on the other hand, notice there is a lavish breakfast buffet and excuse yourself before it closes, so you order a custom-made omelet and pile your plate with an assortment of pastries.
For your meeting with a top recruiter for a CMO position, you think the best way to show why you could work from Frankfurt rather than move to London is by bringing your newest squeeze to the interview. You fail to notice the look of horror on the recruiter’s face as your companion orders snacks for the table and monopolizes the conversation.
You are meeting the CEO of a company and, granted, it is a sunny day outside, but did you really have to don a red dress and heels when on your prior meetings you noticed that navy suits were the order of the day?
You meet with executives for a company for which you want to work or do work. The executives disagree among themselves about the position or project. While it would be easy to spout off a quick response and jump into the fray, the better tack is to pause, listen and ask more questions so that you are not jumping in on an internal political issue or have not misread the underlying communication that was taking place.
These are obviously blunders that require you to bury your face in your hands. But the news is not all bad. Many executives have highly developed emotional intelligence.
The company culture conversation isn’t anything new, but as employment rates stay low and the remote versus in-office debate volleys back and forth, it’s a discussion here to stay.
Intentionality is at the core of building company culture; sometimes, the strongest advocates for culture come from inside the building. Often, the best response leadership can give its employees is to listen and empower employees to suggest and implement plans. This approach isn’t just about the warm fuzzies; Gallup reports an eighty-five percent net profit increase over five years within companies that build a strong culture.
So, what does this look like in a real-time, tangible way? With offices and time zones spread across the country, The Alexander Group, like many other professional services firms, asked the same question, with leadership actively listening and welcoming ideas.
The results?
Well, for one, you will find most of us gathered or in front of our computers the third Thursday of every month for happy hour, a 60-minute opportunity to chat, laugh and discover new things about each other. The Alexander Group’s Anthony Ott spearheads the monthly event, drawing from experiences at a former employer.
“We have our heads down, working so hard that it’s nice to take a breath and get to know each other better,” associate Anthony Ott said. “We talk about non-work things and that helps build camaraderie, empowerment and trust.”
Ott uses an app that randomly selects the various groups each month, making sure at least one member of leadership is included, supplying the teams with ice breakers, trivia, quizzes and other conversation starters should they be needed. The Alexander Group is a gregarious bunch, so while the trivia has largely gone untouched, the spirit behind happy hour is thriving. The four to six people per group allows for conversation in a small setting, which is also by design.
“Having a small group is more conducive to really talking with each other. It allows us to see another side of a co-worker they may not normally see because we’re in a work mindset,” Ott said. “We all have a common denominator, and this gives a chance to expand culture and team building.”
Sociologist Tracy Brower studies work-life happiness and fulfillment and calls this “Social Capital,” the ability to form fulfilling relationships, generate new ideas and ask advice for how to get things done within the organization.
“Strong cultures also have intricate webbing of social capital—the networks of people across the organization. To maintain positive cultures in hybrid/remote working situations, leaders need to be intentional about encouraging people to build their networks,” Brower said. “They can do this by connecting people across departments, providing for cross-functional learning opportunities and creating time for people to have virtual coffee or networking discussions with colleagues across the company.”
The happy hours are in addition to monthly catered lunches where staff is encouraged to catch up over a meal, group outings to play darts or Top Golf and annual company retreats. Many of The Alexander Group team members, including managing director John Lamar, are based in California, so the West Coast contingent makes it a priority to gather in person a few times a year.
“It’s so much fun to meet in person, give them a hug and spend that time together,” Ott said.
A by-product of leadership-supported gatherings is the framework of a safe space to exchange ideas and encourage mentorship. Employees who know they are seen and heard feel valued, and that means greater staff retention.
McKinsey & Company study authors Terra Allas and Brooke Weddle say connection building helps meet the psychological and emotional needs of employees. They suggest setting up regular/daily meetings at the beginning of each day, allowing time for socializing and creating regular events to build social connections. McKinsey research shows society is a key source of meaning for employees, along with company, customer, team, and individual.
Indeed, that is what Pax8 CEO John Street finds with his employees. Street prioritizes inclusivity within his company, connecting every day with someone on his staff in a meaningful way.
“Creating a feeling of belonging locally, regionally and globally is priceless, and sustaining that feeling requires an inclusive approach and active commitment from leaders. For example, I make it a practice to call one employee each day and ask, “What’s going on in your world? What are you thinking about?” These discussions help me signal to every employee that they belong and are valued,” Street said in a January 2023 Forbes Magazine article. “Embedding inclusion and belonging is a core tenet of employee recruitment and retention.”
Indeed, Ott, knowing he was heard and supported by leadership, was motivated to expand the social capital plans at The Alexander Group. Next steps include one-on-one exchanges where team members can dedicate time for business development, marketing and organizational ideas and a quarterly exchange of constructive firm-wide suggestions. “Empowered employees feel like they have a voice. We all come from different places and have different ideas. We all have something to offer,” Ott said.
Street has also found an energized employee base by listening to his staff. They feel encouraged and see themselves rising within Street’s IT company.
“When employees know their voices are being heard, they not only feel engaged but are actually engaged. Innovations rise to the top, and the individuals who bring great ideas to the table often become future leaders in the organization. Because they deeply understand the importance of being heard, these new leaders will then continue to prioritize listening to team members. Leaders can encourage employees to speak up in a variety of ways, like physical or virtual suggestion boxes, surveys or simply asking them directly,” Street said.
Every company is different, so if happy hour and axe throwing aren’t exactly the social experiences your team would appreciate, human resources expert Renee Cocchi says what’s most important is choosing activities that will help teams get closer to each other, be happier and more comfortable in the workplace so they can produce their best work. Planning to get social? Cocchi offers these tips when adding events to the culture-building event calendar:
Clearly communicate the goals and purpose of the activity
Encourage participation and collaboration from all team members
Make the activity fun and enjoyable, but also challenging.
Follow up on the activity to discuss any lessons learned and how they can be applied in the workplace.
