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eOlipop’s surging popularity has taken the $60 billion soda industry by storm. As Gen Z and millennials ditch sugary sodas, Olipop is leading the pre-biotic beverage trend, sparking the likes of Coca Cola and PepsiCo to enter the fray. Olipop co-founder, CEO and formulator, Ben Goodwin, shares how the brand is navigating the turbulence of rapid growth amid rising competition, and whether healthy soda is actually healthy or just a TikTok-fueled fad.This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company Bob Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with todays top business leaders navigating real-time challenges. Subscribe to Rapid Response wherever you get your podcasts to ensure you never miss an episode. So for folks who are less familiar, Olipop’s known as a functional soda. What does that mean? What is a prebiotic soda versus a probiotic soda? Give us the landscape. Soda itself has a really, really interesting, very deep history. It goes back a couple hundred years. There’s Middle East roots, there’s European roots. So in the U.S., obviously full-sugar soda in a myriad of forms existed for many, many decades, especially starting in the late 1800s. It actually wasn’t until 1943 that the federal government stepped in and told Coke and Pepsi and Dr. Pepper that they could no longer call soda “healthy.” That’s how long it was they were saying that it was healthy, even though, by that time, it was loaded with caffeine and sugar. And then in the ’60s and ’70s, and then really peaking in the ’80s, you had diet soda come in, and that was this awareness that, “Hey, all the sugar’s not great for you. Let’s go with these kind of artificial sweeteners.” And it’s been that two-horse race for a really long time. Ben Goodwin [Photo: Olipop] Functional soda, which I am fortunate enough to effectively have been the one that created the category and I’ve been working on it since about 2010, is basically this idea that soda can actually be health-contributing. I was looking at the evolution of the science around digestive and microbiome health and decided that this kind of nutritional intervention was, I thought, actually a superior strategy. The base of our nutritional pillars are fiber, prebiotics, and nutritional diversity. So sometimes when I hear people say, “The prebiotic soda category,” I’m like, “Well, that’s true, but that’s just part of the story,” because a lot of the other competitors that have come into the space are just looking to capitalize for the most part on a trend, but it only is actually technically a part of what we offer. The health benefits, not everyone’s on board about them. There have been some class-action lawsuits, not about your claims, but about claims from others. Is Olipop actually healthy for me, or is it just better for me than traditional soda? I’m actually so grateful that you asked that question. I don’t want to wade into trash-talking territory here, but I do think a lot of the other entrants, they’ve either got a really small amount of total fiber or they’re putting some of that fiber in and it’s not even stable in their product. You really want a blend of different high-quality prebiotics. It’s how you get to the best outcome. That’s at least my formulation philosophy. Olipop is actually healthy. We have done multiple in vitro clinical trials now at Purdue. We’ve a partnership with their stability lab, we’ve a partnership with their complex carbohydrates laboratory, and we’ve looked at microbiome and digestive health outputs. We saw incredible bifidogenesis. We saw the fermentation of multiple forms of short-chain fatty acids. And then we just finished our first pilot human clinical trial, and we were looking at blood sugar stability and blood sugar response. And basically, of the folks that we studied, it kept their blood sugar stable for a full three hours. [Photo: Rob Kim/Getty Images for NYCWFF] So if you start stabilizing people’s blood sugar response, you start benefiting their digestive health microbiome outputs. I don’t know exactly what level of data most people need to classify something as healthy, but I’d say that certainly meets my criteria. My goal is to say, “Health and wellness should be actually contributing to your health and wellness,” and you should have some empirical data to validate that. If you’re going to ask consumers to spend a premium, you want to know that you’re actually giving them real outcomes for what they’re spending. You mentioned how fast your business has been growing, and it’s one of the fastest-growing U.S. beverage brands ever. You recently raised funds that, I don’t know, around a $2 billion valuation, but you do have this intense competition, right? Poppi, which is known for these Super Bowl ads, that was recently acquired by PepsiCo for just under $2 billion. Coca-Cola’s launched Simply Pop. How much does that change the game when the big players step in? I really want to see this category live up to its full potential. You’ve got soda, which is a $60 billion, 98% household penetration market in the United States. If we can do good in that category and use that as a kind of a Trojan horse to drive healthy outcomes for people, it’s really powerful. In terms of big players entering the space, to be honest with you, I think it’s fantastic. Some of the largest brands and the largest players in the soda and beverage space in the world getting into your category goes a long way to massively validate what you’re doing. And so hats off to Poppi. I know that getting out, selling their business was really important to them. Coke as well getting involved. It’s like, to be honest with you, it’s a bit of an honor. One of your investors is Indra Nooyi, the former PepsiCo CEO. I imagine that PepsiCo may have approached you at the same time as they did Poppi. I don’t know. Do you consider tying up with a bigger place? Look, I mean, I can’t really speak to that with a lot of detail. I don’t want to be overly coy in terms of Olipop does need to create a liquidity event, right? The reality is we’ve taken on investor capital, you just pointed to that, that was our final round into the business. We’re very, very fully profitable and really liquid, pun intended, but we have raised investor capital, which means you need to generate a liquidity event. There’s multiple ways that you can go through M&A, there’s obviously IPO going public, and so that is where right nowwe’re just preserving optionality. I mentioned Poppi’s Super Bowl ad earlier. They spent, I don’t know, $16 million on a one-minute spot. Oh, more than that, yeah. You didn’t make that investment, and, instead, you teased them for their spending on social media, which they then called online bullying. Is that kind of back-and-forth with them, is that strategic? Is that what customers want from brands? You’re laughing. Yeah, I have no idea. The online bullying thing is really good. It’s really good. First of all, there’s a difference between the stuff that I personally authorize, and sometimes the stuff that the social media team decides that they want to get up to. And that was a moment where, to be honest with you, there was a little bit of a gap. I was actually at a friend’s wedding in Puerto Rico. I was not the one hitting send on the whatever platform it is that we were commenting on. But at the same time, I understand where the consumers were coming from, which is we do live in a time with an enormous amount of income inequality. Whatever it was about how Poppi showed up, that hit a nerve for a lot of people. They made their own voices heard. I don’t need to add to that conversation. Our team did say a couple things, but then they stopped, and that’s good because they probably would’ve been fired if they hadn’t, and we just went on with their lives. But yeah, I think that we don’t spend the same amount of money on marketing that Poppi does. I’m okay with that because a lot of what has driven our business has been organic demand and organic word-of-mouth. That is real, sustainable growth that we’re experiencing, and I’m really proud of that. And as long as you can continue to grow the business like that, you should. I think that we will probably have increase in spend in marketing as we go, but it’s okay for us as brands to have different strategies in terms of how we approach growth.
Category:
E-Commerce
Millennials (people born between 1981 and 1996) are far more interested in buying homes today than they were just six months ago. That makes the group the only generation whose interest in homeownership has increased since September 2024. However, these same people are tending to put off the investment due to sky-high mortgage rates. The new data comes from an online survey of 2,230 adults conducted by Realtor.com. Six months ago, 15% of millennials said they were interested in buying a home. Now 23% are interested, according to the latest survey. Still, that doesn’t mean more 29- to 44-year-olds are actually buying homes. In a press release, Laura Eddy, vice president of research and insights at Realtor.com, noted how the desire to buy a home is being sidelined by soaring mortgage rates. Even though we found a change in millennial home-buying intent, the influence of mortgage rates cannot be overstated, with the vast majority of Americans, including millennials, prioritizing lower rates before committing to a purchase.” Eddy added: “The lock-in effect is still very much in effect “ The survey also found that most Americans don’t have plans to buy a home in the immediate future. Some 69% said they don’t intend to go through with a home purchase over the next six months. And one-third of respondents said they have pushed back plans due to those high mortgage rates. But millennials and Gen Zers have delayed their plans at disproportionate rates, with more than half saying they’ve had to put off their plans to buy a home. Two-thirds of those surveyed by Realtor.com said mortgage rates have great influence over whether or not they will buy a home. Only 2% said they would even consider a home purchase with mortgage rates exceeding 6%; the threshold appears to be somewhere below 5% for 63% of respondents. (Meanwhile, the national average interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is currently 6.95%, according to Bankrate.) Across much of our research we see a trend where potential homebuyers feel stuck when it comes to buying a home due to their current mortgage rate, Hannah Jones, senior research analyst at Realtor.com, said in the release.Jones continued, Mortgage rates on top of an insufficient supply of budget-friendly homes complicates the affordability picture for many homeowners, especially first-time homebuyers who do not have equity from their existing home to help offset mortgage rates.” Jones added that the experts at Realtor.com believe potential homebuyers are likely to get tired of waiting for change, and out of necessity may go forward with purchases even if they aren’t totally satisfied with the rates. According to recent median home price listings, how much Americans need to earn to afford a home is growing exponentially. As of April 2024, they needed to earn $47,000 more per year to afford a home than they would have just six months prior.
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E-Commerce
You couldnt have missed the news: Jony Ive and Sam Altman have teamed up, after OpenAI acquired Ives company io for $6.5 billion. The plan? For Ive, and a sizable team of ex-employees from Apple, its to create a series of hardware products for OpenAI. The news alone dropped shares of Apple by 1.8% as two of the most celebrated software and hardware development teams in the modern era have combined to realize the potential of artificial intelligence and change the way we live. Hopefully for the better. The first io product, according to The Wall Street Journal, arrives in 2026. It will be a small object capable of being fully aware of a users surroundings and life. I imagine an environmental (audio, video, etc.) monitor the size of a macaron or iPod shuffle that Ive says accompanies a smartphone and laptop as a third devicewhich you can carry on your person or put onto the table. Despite the immensity of the partnership, its easy to be skeptical. After all, AI hardware has flopped thus far, due to a lack of vision and a lack of execution. And as wondrous as ChatGPT is, it still hallucinates and requires vast amounts of energy to train and operate. But within these barely explored large language models, theres still hidden potential that designers have yet to tap. As Ive told me back in 2023, there have been only three significant modalities in the history of computing. After the original command line, we got the graphical user interface (the desktop, folders, and mouse of Xerox, Mac OS, and Windows), then voice (Alexa, Siri), and, finally, with the iPhone, multitouch (not just the ability to tap a screen, but to gesture and receive haptic feedback). When I brought up some other examples, Ive quickly nodded but dismissed them, acknowledging these as tributaries of experimentation. Then he said that to him the promise, and excitement, of building new AI hardware was that it might introduce a new breakthrough modality to interacting with a machine. A fourth modality. Ives fourth modality, as I gleaned, was about translating AI intuition into human sensation. And its the exact sort of technology we need to introduce ubiquitous computing, also called quiet computing and ambient computing. These are terms coined by the late UX researcher Mark Weiser, who in the 1990s began dreaming of a world that broke us free from our desktop computers to usher in devices that were one with our environment. Weiser did much of this work at Xerox PARC, the same R&D lab that developed the mouse and GUI technology that Steve Jobs would eventually adopt for the Macintosh. (I would also be remiss to ignore that ubiquitous computing is the foundation of the sci-fi film Her, one of Altmans self-stated goalposts.) Ive written about the premise and promise of ubiquitous computing at length, having been privileged enough to have spoken with several of Weisers peers. But one idea has stuck with me the most from Weisers theories. He often compared the vision of quiet computing to a forest. In a forest, youre surrounded by informationplants, animals, and weather are all signaling you at once. And yet, despite your senses taking in all this data, youre never overwhelmed. You never find yourself distracted, or unhappy. (Perhaps its disconcerting when the storm clouds roll in, but Id still take the sound of low rolling thunder over a Microsoft Teams notification any day.) Ive never described what that fourth approach to interface looked likehe chooses his descriptors carefully and would not pigeonhole a burgeoning idea with limiting words. But for a man who planted 9,000 native trees when designing Apple Park and has expressed his own responsibility for the negative impacts of the smartphone, its hard to imagine he feels all that differently from Weiser. And that all comes to mind when analyzing the very little we know about the first io product. This first machine from io seems to be the input device needed for ubiquitous computing. I imagine the macaron will likely leverage notifications on your phone and audio in your ear to communicate with you. Down the line the partnership has teased a family of products, meaning, who knows what other UX possibilities io could dream up. [Images: Jason marz/Getty Images, Yevhen Borysov/iStock/Getty Images Plus] While we can barely say anything more specific, there does seem to be a fork in the road here philosophically. Whereas it appears that Google, Apple, Meta, and Snap are all betting on smart glasses to introduce the idea of ubiquitous computingsensors and pixels that sit in your eyes all the timeat least for launch, io is doing the opposite. All of the leaked details so far point toward io developing the quietest, most discreet computing device weve ever had. Im thinking of it as something like the silent conductor to the orchestra of the products we already own before, perhaps, one day doing more. Drafting off the smartphone The inconvenient truth for any innovator planning to disrupt consumer hardware is that theres a lot more competition than there used to be when the Walkman, iPod, or Razr came around. There are 7.21 billion smartphones in the world todaynearly one per person, adding up to a $434 billion hardware industry in 2025, according to IDC. (Do note: Almost all of them, regardless of brand, are stil designed along the lines of Ive and his teams original vision.) These supercomputing screens arent simply ubiquitous; they are essential. From 4K video social media posts that go global in an instant, to turn-by-turn GPS directions navigating us through our lives, to the infrastructure of hailing an Uber or Lyft, to the mindlessness of checking out at stores, to the frictionless experience of riding public transit, to the necessary remote for controlling appliances, to, when all else fails, having the option to makes calls via satellites, we deeply depend on these screens in our pockets. There is no future in which the smartphone suddenly goes extinct, not because its perfect for society but because its so ingrained in the many disparate parts of our living infrastructure. A world suddenly without working smartphones would plunge us into some level of chaos. The first error of the Humane Ai Pinthe hyped AI gadget by Apple alum Imran Chaudhri, backed by Altmanwas when it claimed it could replace your phone by, more or less, simply removing the screen and sticking it on your shirt. (The second error was when it just didnt work.) The first io device seems to acknowledge the phones inertia. Instead of presenting itself as a smartphone-killer like the Ai Pin or as a fabled second screen like the Apple Watch, its been positioned as a third, er, um . . . thing next to your phone and laptop. Yeah, thats confusing, and perhaps positions the io product as unessential. But it also appears to be a needed strategy: Rather than topple these screened devices, it will attempt to draft off them. [Images: iStock/Getty Images Plus, Yevhen Borysov/iStock/Getty Images Plus] On paper, that is such a vague idea that its either dull or exhilarating, depending on your disposition. Personally, its so darn hard to realize that I wouldnt give it much attention if it weren’t for the team building it. Ive founded io with some of the greatest engineering and design talents out of Apple. He also founded his firm LoveFrom with much of his core design team from Apple. These two firms will be tag teaming with OpenAI, the most singular force in kicking off the current AI era. By comparison, as I write this, a Limitless pendant sits on my desk, fully charged, fully unused. Its an AI system that will listen to your life to transcribe everything. Designed by Ammunition, the same lauded design firm behind Beats headphones, its slick, small, and carefully realized. It clamps right onto any fabric with a magnet. But after a week with it, I still dont know when or where I should wear it. With my family? Feels weird. At work? I work remotely, so I have Zoom, Teams, Slack, and every other platform already recording me. (And at any job, theres sensitive stuff you dont want recorded.) So thats out. What does that leave? Hanging with friends? The one time in my life as a journalist thats thoroughly off the record, no thank you. How deep is too deep into your life? My concerns for this io device are many, though privacy is top of mind. I can imagine some interesting UX around opting in to being recorded, but will OpenAI go that direction or just brute force itself into our lives? I cant help but remember that despite Apples privacy-first messaging, the iPhone went from a wondrous pocket computer to the ultimate personal advertising trackera decision made at the level of its chipset and supportive APIs. However, my concerns around privacy are perhaps more existential than my personal conversations being monetized. I wonder, if theres always this AI around, will we be allowed to be private in our own thoughts anymore? Will we be afforded the privacy to draw our own conclusions? Before these artificial entities, our lives have largely been colored by the people around us. Our family, spouses, friends, and coworkers. A chance encounter with a stranger can make a day or spoil it. Its so often someones take on events that shapes our ownlike leaving a movie theater, I almost always agree with the take of my companion. Lets assume we all acquiesce to this new wave of technology where an AI companion sits alongside us all the time. Suddenly, every experience we have is being processed by a third party. Its something that will be analyzing and summarizing our actions and interactions. It will shape what we do next, a vast acceleration of how algorithms shape our experience across social media today. Even if this io product doesnt live in our eyes, the extreme subtleties with which it chronicles our lives means it may live in our hearts. If that sounds cheesy, fair! Imagine if ChatGPT summarizes your life with all of the nuance of Apples AI of todayMark, confused by menu, ordered cowboy burger. Nobody will use the thing. A system like this inherently has to go deeper to prove its utility, but in doing so it has to balance the burden of that responsibility. A subjective computer Technologists discussing AI today often draw a line between a deterministic and probabilistic interface. A deterministic interface is what weve had for the past 50 years. Buttons always lead you through the same preplanned routes to play a song or pull up an email. Every app is essentially a permutation of a calculator that always leads to a perfect end point. With probabilistic AI, however, every question is more like a wheelspin of roulette. ChatGPT spins up its responses like an infinite Rubiks Cube spinning together every piece of media ever recorded. No one knows exactly what youll get, so the argument has been that probabilistic interfaces have to be built to accommodate for the unknown. If the Star Trek computer, with its clear answers like Alexa or Siri, was a deterministic computer, then the Star Trek holodeck, with its ever-shifting invented characters and worlds, is a probabilistic one. But I want to challenge that framing as inhuman, and irrelevant for our discussion of intimate, ambient computing. Instead of deterministic versus probabilistic, I think AI is shifing us from objective to subjective. When a Fitbit counts your steps and calories burned, thats an objective interface. When you ask ChatGPT to gauge the tone of a conversation, or whether you should eat better, thats a subjective interface. It offers perspective, bias, and, to some extent, personality. Its not just serving facts; its offering interpretation. The AI companion from io needs to be the first subjective interface. And that makes it as complicated and risky as any other relationship we have. Years ago when big data was all the rage, I asked the question, Should Google tell you if you have cancer? The idea being that it could track search patterns of someone who was sick over time and predict where they would go next. So shouldnt it intervene when it spots you searching for a known pattern of disease? The io device, presumably recording and analyzing your whole life, would have a similar remit, but with all sorts of additional questions. If it followed along in a conversation, and you couldnt think of the name of that book you read . . . should it whisper that name into your ear? If it caught you misremembering, or even lying, should it call you out? Privately or publicly? When Microsoft built Cortana, it interviewed real executive assistants largely to get the systems voice right, to know what it might say or not say, and how it could respond to certain questions. That level of sophistication was fine for scheduling a meeting or asking about the weatherconversational calculatorsbut we are so far beyond that now. Consider that an AI listening in or filming a room can do more than remember where you put your keys. Research is proving that it can spot finite relationships that humans cant even identify. Archetype AI, for instance, has demonstrated that with nothing more than an A/V feed, AI can predict everything from the swing of a pendulum to whether there might be a workplace accident. An io device will be able to hear so much more than what you say. Its why, as nonsensical as this unknown product might seem to critics (Im supposed to buy this surveillance thingy?!?), I cant question the potential utility. Executed well (thats a big caveat!), it is potentially the first step in a realized vision of ubiquitous computing, a little buddy in your pocket that experiences life with you so that you dont need to explain (or input) whats going on. And as wild as the alternative other companies are pursuing areto see holograms floating in front of your facethe vision for a quieter era of computing is about as old as computing itself. Its as if we realized, from the earliest days, that our natural world was already a utopia. Now, it will take incredible creativity and restraint from OpenAI, io, and LoveFrom to enhance whats remaining of this world, rather than seize its last bits.
Category:
E-Commerce
The last two years have been one of the toughest job markets Ive seen in decades. This isnt like 2020 or 2021, where after the initial phase of the pandemic receded, jobs quickly reappeared. This one has been slow and unrelentingmarket volatility causing uncertainty, and digital transformation of workplaces, and AI taking over jobs faster than you can read the headlines. These days, it feels like youre sending your resume into the abyss. Sound familiar? I see it every day as a recruiter and career coach: talented job-seekers submitting application after application into what feels like a black hole. Weeks turn into months. The silence is deafening. Each passing day without a response chips away at your confidence, your bank account, and your sense of professional identity. Luckily, through my work, Ive also developed tried-and-true strategies for standing out no matter the market conditions. Here are three powerful steps to reinvigorate your job search. 1. Reclaim Your Value Whether youve just gotten laid off or have already been job searching for months, your self-esteem probably isnt the strongest. You may be feeling bitter, angry, and doubtful of your professional value. Being in that kind of mindset while trying to find a job wont allow you to show up as your best self. For example, I recently worked with a very successful leader who had steered a company over the last several years with enormous success, each year hitting higher and higher revenue targets and winning some of the most sought-after projects in the industry. As the economy shifted, those revenues took a hitand he was let go because of a spreadsheet decision. He was blindsided and stepped into his job search doubting himself. When working with job seekers who are struggling, we always start with a simple but powerful exercise: documenting significant achievements from their career. Not just responsibilitiesactual metrics and results, problems solved, value delivered. I’ll ask people to think about things they’ve done that they’re really proud of. I make them dig deep to detail what they do really well, what gets them fired up, and ask them how their colleagues and clients would describe working with them. As they reconnect with their expertise, things they havent thought of for a while, I see their faces light up and confidence starting to return. You can do this with a career coach, your partner, a best friend, even a colleague who knows you welljust ask them to take notes about what youre telling them to read back to you at the end. Working through these questions with my executive client helped remind him of the successes he was responsible for and the resilience he showed in a tough market. Those reminders allowed him to work through his disappointment, prepare for how he’d talk about the challenges when asked, and enter his job search with renewed confidence in what he had to offer. This isnt just about feeling better; its about how you show up. When you remember your professional value, you communicate with clarity and conviction. Your entire energy changes, and people take notice. 2. Stop Trying to Be Everything to Everyone When desperation sets in, the instinct is to cast a bigger net. The thinking is, by applying to more jobs, youll have better odds of landing something. This approach feels logical, but produces the opposite of what you hope for. Sure, youll be busy applying to things, but because youre not the expert, you likely wont get responses, so all that busy work will lead to frustration and burnout. I recently worked with a client who was going on two years of being out of work. The longer his job search went on, the more he began applying to a broader set of roles, thinking it would increase his chances of landing something. Heres the counterintuitive truth: The more you narrow your focus and lean into your specific expertise, the more responses youll receive. When I tell people this, their initial response is anxiety; they dont want to limit their options. But when you stop trying to appeal to everyone and boldly claim your niche, everything changes. Applications that once disappeared suddenly generate responses. Interviews that went nowhere convert to eager follow-ups. When youre interviewing for a role where you are the expert, thats the interview youre going to ace. When I work with clients to understand how theyre speaking about themselves, we dig deep into what truly distinguishes them. We return to some of those questions from above that uncover their unique approach and what motivates and energizes them. Then we look at the roles theyre applying to and narrow their focus to roles and companies where their specific and unique expertise is sought after. We look at their job application materials and see if theyre making statements that many others could equally say and ensure that we get quite specific. When I read their new narrative back to them, all of it in their own words, many remark that they got chillstheyre finally hearing their professional value articulated in a way that feels authentically powerful and totally unique. When I reminded my client of his incredibly niche expertiseskills that very few people possessand focused all his job-seeking efforts on companies who could benefit from him, things immediately began to shift. Within one day, he landed an interview. Two days later, he was meeting the leadership team. Companies want to hire the expert. Show them that its you. 3. Show That You’re The Solution Theyre Looking For The interview is your last chance to not just show why youre great, but show why youre exactly the solution an employer has been looking for. Ive seen so many clients underperform in interviews because theyre not giving themselves enough credit. But a few simple shifts can transform that: Think offense, not defense. The minute you start justifying why youre right for the role, youve already lost it. Interviewers can feel defensiveness. Own the narrative before that happens by confidently articulating how your experience directly addresses the role’s most critical requirements before doubts can surface. Use high-impact storytelling. Give specific examples demonstrating how your experience solves exactly what they need. When you paint these pictures vividly, you allow the interviewer to truly see how effective you will be on day-one. Rehearse your stories before your interview so they are memorable. Embrace transparent confidence. Nothing undermines trust faster than pretending to know everything. When you confidently acknowledge what you know and dont know, you establish genuine credibility. If they really like you and you satisfy most requirements, chances are they can evolve the role around you and fill in the gaps. Take your time. Less is often more. Really listen to what they are asking you, pause, and take a moment to reflect so you can give a considered response. If it’s a really tough question, you can even tell the interviewer you’d like a moment to think through your response. It buys you a few seconds to really compose a well-thought out answer and it never fails to impress an interviewer. Thy’ll remember the great answers and they often remark how much they enjoyed how reflective you were in wanting to answer it well. Simple Job Application Changes, Profound Results The strategies Ive shared may seem straightforward, or even obvious. But when implemented with consistency and conviction, they transform job searches from no traction to multiple interviews and competing job offers. These strategies work not because theyre complicated, but because they align with a fundamental truth: Employers arent looking for generic candidates; theyre looking for the expert to solve their problem, now. When you reconnect with your expertise, focus your efforts, and communicate your value with clarity and confidence, you become that solution. You transform from just another resume in the pile to exactly what theyve been searching for.
Category:
E-Commerce
After months of rigorous searching, youve found your ideal executive candidate. They tick every box on paper and seem perfect in interviews. But then reality hits: Your Cinderella candidate isnt prepared for the real-world challenges of the role. Now what? A popular study highlights just how commonand costlythis scenario is. A 2015 research report from Corporate Executive Board found that 50% to 70% of leadership hires fail within 18 months. And that can cost the company one-half to twice the hires annual salary, according to a 2019 Gallup report. Given the high levels of remuneration, the financial impact can be even more severe at the executive level. As someone who has navigated countless executive searches, Ive seen how easy it is to fall into the trap of searching for a Cinderella candidatesomeone who appears to match a meticulously defined set of qualifications perfectly. And even if the ideal candidate does exist, they may not be interested in your opportunity or ready for a career move. Compounding these challenges, you have noncompete agreements that further shrink the available talent pool. Setting the ideal candidate bar high can help, but an overly rigid vision often results in a long, drawn-out search with diminishing returns. When we accept that perfection on paper rarely translates into perfection in practice, we create opportunities to find strong candidates who bring real, tangible strengths to the table, even if they dont check every box. To find the right hire and mitigate leadership turnover, we must rethink how we define, evaluate, and select leadership candidates. The following insights will help broaden your approach: 1. The right leader is a catalyst, not a title Rather than locking into overly specific C-suite qualifications, consider the characteristics of transformational leaders that your team genuinely needs. While technical skills matter, you should emphasize broader competencies like adaptability, decision-making in ambiguity, and the ability to motivate diverse teams. These qualities often predict long-term success better than niche expertise. Consider leaders with transferable skills. They can bring fresh insights and a broader understanding of how to drive success in evolving environments. To implement this shift in your recruitment strategy, broaden your search criteria. Identify three competencies that you need to navigate the companys evolving needs, and build the ideal candidate profile around them. Instead of seeking candidates with narrow expertise, look for ones who have thrived in roles requiring agility, like leading R&D initiatives or driving organizational change amid disruption. This approach allows you to attract versatile leaders who are ready to innovate and guide your organization through periods of uncertainty and change. 2. Culture isnt one size fits all To achieve a balance in hiring for cultural fit versus hiring for skills, employ structured assessments that translate fit into measurable attributes. Tools like DISC profiles or situational interviews provide concrete data on qualities such as empathy, resilience, and adaptability, allowing hiring teams to evaluate whether candidates align with company culture in objective terms. This avoids the common pitfalls of hiring based on intuition alone and helps avoid overreliance on subjective notions of the perfect candidate. For senior leadership roles like COOs, scenario-based interviews should focus on how candidates have successfully navigated complex challenges related to people, processes, and change management. Ask how theyve implemented large-scale organizational changes or optimized operations to drive efficiency. These structured assessments reveal a candidates approach to strategic problem-solving and their leadership style. In turn, this ensures they can align with the companys vision and foster a high-performing culture. 3. Cross-functional input is key When creating an ideal candidate profile for a role that requires strong cross-departmental collaboration, include perspectives from various departments in the hiring process, such as finance, HR, operations, and product development. By aligning on core characteristics of leaders who inspire and unify, hiring managers gain a comprehensive view of each candidates potential impact across teams. For instance, used vehicle retailer CarMax involves leaders from product management, engineering, and customer experience to evaluate candidates for roles within its technology and innovation teams. Each team member provides insights into collaborative skills that they need for meeting customer needs and delivering fast solutions across functions. Utilizing these teams in the hiring process helps ensure that selected leaders can build relationships, bridge departmental divides, and facilitate cohesive, organization-wide success. 4. The perfect candidate is a myth The perfect candidate is a myth that often leads hiring managers to overlook leaders with qualities like resilience and learning agility. In executive hiring, finding the right cultural fit often outweighs industry expertise alone. Sure, technical knowledge is essential, and you can use that for a candidate in the room. But ultimately, you should make sure that the candidate aligns with the companys values, vision, and culture. Leaders who seamlessly align with the companys culture tend to engage teams more effectively, navigate challenges agilely, and drive change in ways that feel authentic to the organization. A high-performing C-suite hinges less on perfect matches than on leaders who can innovate within an evolving landscape. Hiring for sustainable success requires shifting from rigid, idealized profiles to assessing candidates for resilience, adaptability, and alignment with the core values of the organization.
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