Conducting an Executive Search for an inaugural Chief Executive Officer to provide strategic direction for this multi-sport coaching and development program.
The Brief
Future Leadership™ was engaged by this organisation in the sporting / athlete development arena to appoint their inaugural Chief Executive Officer. The organisation is a profit redistribution enterprise with links to not-for-profit foundations which actively support charitable organisations and projects around the world to deliver holistic education opportunities to remote or disadvantaged communities.
The Chief Executive Officer will have an influencing role across sporting sectors and national jurisdictions. Relationships with internal and external stakeholders will be crucial to building influence and credibility to create opportunities for athletes on a local, state, and national level. There is also potential for the organisation to have a presence overseas pending its success in Australia. The vision for the future is to have increased national coherence for a steady and sustainable progression of the organisation. While the organisation had only been in operation for a few years, it is very well positioned to harness opportunities with key stakeholders, exerting influence and confidence to garner support and implementation.
The organisation sought a respected, inclusive and values driven leader who will be energised by the opportunity to take this initiative forward and enable the investment in scaling as a fully-fledged highly impactful organisation. This appointment heralds the start of an exciting next chapter for the organisation.
Candidate net Promote Score
Future Leadership combines truly personalised relationships with innovative technology solutions to ensure an approachable and efficient process for all our Net Promoter Score across clients, successful candidates and unsuccessful candidates is well above industry standard.
Candidates supported every year
We maintain genuine relationships with past candidates and continue to support them with leadership solutions long term, after they land their role.
Senior Women Appointed since 2002
Over half of the executive search assignments undertaken by our team have resulted in the appointment of outstanding female or LGBTQI+ leaders to high profile roles.
Candidate Retention Rate for 12 months since 2002
Our thorough briefing process and ability to engage passive candidates mean that we go to great lengths to find the right person for the role – long term!
The Process
The Future Leadership team, led by Kate Wheeler and Liam King, undertook a comprehensive briefing provided by a variety of stakeholders across the organisation. The briefing provided the consultant team with critical information in regard to the current state of operations and the vision for the future. At the conclusion of the briefing it was clear the successful appointee would bring an understanding of the complexity of partnering with multiple sporting organisations, an ability to strengthen relationships and navigate them with grace, and ideally an elite level sporting background to engender credibility with key stakeholders.
Future Leadership™ undertook a comprehensive search process tailored to the organisation’s needs, focussed on identifying individuals who would retain existing high-quality coaches and attract potential coaches. Additionally, the appointee would require the capability to ensure the adoption and consistent delivery of coaching standards, adopting a national view, while also exploring innovating staffing models for the future of coaching.
The search process was conducted with a national lens, focussed on high calibre candidates with specific and relevant experience gained in a cross section of environments such as the recreation sector. public and private education institutions. Engagement with the Future Leadership referral partner network targeted prospective candidates from community development and youth-oriented organisations. The search was supported by an online advertising campaign.
The Selection Committee was presented with a shortlist of qualified applicants, from which four were chosen to progress to panel interviews. Future Leadership provided full support to the panel including organising logistics, providing draft interview questions and the lead consultant sitting in on the interviews to guide the panel. Full reference check was completed for the preferred candidate prior to an offer being extended.
The Outcome
At the conclusion of the process both Future Leadership and the organisation were delighted to confirm a highly qualified appointment. The incoming CEO is an accomplished executive with over 25 years’ experience in elite sport, having worked in the key functions of coaching, high performance, development, recruitment, psychology and commercial growth. They previously held key positions with high profile AFL clubs and had been involved in the launch of an AFLW team.
With a Master of Applied Psychology (Sport) and a Level 4 Senior Coach accreditation, the appointee impressed the panel with their passion for athlete and coach development, along with their commitment to driving strategic growth and high performance programs for the future of the organisation.
