Warning lights: Finding the perfect prince, Act 2.

• Author: Augustine, Norman R.
• Position: Choosing chief executive officers - Brief Article

Excessive ambition, peripheral vision, and other danger signs to warn you away from certain candidates.

THE MOST CRITICAL JOB of any board member is choosing the company's CEO and top staff. "'Tis true that we are in great danger," directors should feel at that time, much as King Henry V says, "the greater therefore should our courage be."

More such courage is needed to detect and heed warning lights, as given below, than in spotting the positive traits of applicants, as described in our last column ["Finding the Perfect Prince," Summer 2000]. These danger signs include:

* The vertical pronoun, by which a candidate personalizes what was obviously a team success. Shakespeare's Julius Caesar surely boasts of his triumphs -- and he has wonders to boast about -- yet even he acknowledges the role of others. Today's job candidate, accomplishing far less, might boast: "I raised market share by 12 points," or "I had to reduce costs by 30%" when these were obviously "we" accomplishments.

* Disdain for former bosses, colleagues, and even competitors. Anyone spending 15 minutes with Cassius hears him disparage his boss, colleagues, and competitors. Something wicked in Cassius' character prompts him to belittle all superiors and most colleagues. Hence his spearheading a personnel transition at the top -- Caesar's assassination -- should surprise no one.

* Job churn, where the candidate has frequently switched from company to company, never staying in one place long enough to be caught with accountability.

* Lengthy sabbaticals, where the prospective executive has been unemployed and apparently at leisure for an unduly long time. "If all the year were playing holidays," Hal says in Henry IV, Part I, "to sport would be as tedious as to work."

* Avoiding the kitchen, where the candidate has filled a series of "assistant-to," "consultant," "monitor" or "adviser" roles. These positions oft entail little measurable performance or accountability. Holding too many often reveals an inclination to remain distant from the hazards of real responsibility.

* Too many constraints, where the candidate places inordinate emphasis on job location, office size, specific position, or especially, title.

* Excessive ambition, as when the interviewee focuses less on the specific job at hand than on the one following. In As You Like It, Orlando speaks of places "where none will sweat but for promotion" - and not for...