“The trick is to find the person that's going to be successful in this role, not the person that was successful before. And that's not always the same person. … When you really look at the data and look at all the successful CEOs out there, there's a very small percentage of them that can be successful over and over and over again.”
TruthWorks · October 2026
Stadler, an executive-search founder, on why founders and boards default to checkbox candidates who look safe on paper. He suggests even repeat-CEO track records may be partly self-fulfilling, since one big success brings the best next opportunities.
Transcript
Go ahead, B. Go.
…is, you know, as you work with CEOs and founders, you know, how do you try to push that envelope for them? Encourage them. I don't know. I mean, can you advise getting them to just think differently and be okay and comfortable making a decision that may not seem like the logical decision on paper?
…that frustrated me about doing recruiting, and I was doing CEO searches for software companies at the time, was I felt like we were just checking boxes. And we were instead of the trick is to find the person that's going to be successful in this role, not the person that was successful before. And that's not always the same person. And I think everybody wants to simplify it. And I think there's when you really look at the data and look at all the successful CEOs out there, there's a very small percentage of them that can be successful over and over and over again. And I would even question if that's self-fulfilling over time, because you got to remember, once somebody has a tremendous success by definition, they're going to get the best opportunities. So there is a higher likelihood that that's going to be success. I could throw out names, but I don't want to, I don't want to like diss anybody. But the, but the, so it's really the, the question is like…
No, it is. And I, you know, because we've all been there. And I think, you know, the, the founders that ultimately end up getting it are the ones that, you know, they, they, they make the mistakes and then learn from them. I always like called it like, you got to let them touch the stove. Like I…
A hundred percent. And I think like they have to like, I always said that like I find I learn more about candidates through like when I'm working through something with them. And I think it's the same for CEOs and founders. Like anyone that I'm trying to really recruit that I want at our company…
Which good. Yeah, because I mean, you're simulating, in a sense, what it's going to be like to work together day to day, which is like the 90-day plan. Like, what? Who cares? Like, they're going to walk.
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