To fill a growing skills gap, organizations are looking for talent in new places.
One of the most critical steps in a search for leadership is to define what “qualified” means. It’s natural to start by listing credentials, degrees, and years of experience. But when the future demands agility, innovation, and cross-sector fluency, a focus on competencies and adaptability often proves more predictive of success than a traditional resume alone.
For Dexter Bailey, Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Relations at Caltech, the process starts with asking: What does our organization need now?
For his advancement program to run efficiently and with agility, Bailey looks for competencies such as data analytics, business intelligence, and customer engagement. These skills can be found in higher education, but they also exist outside of it, for example in tech, healthcare, or consumer sectors.
Similarly, David Bennett, Vice President for University Advancement at Carnegie Mellon University, frames his team as “a startup, not a traditional philanthropy office.” The value of his nontraditional hires lies not in their ability to reproduce what has been done before but in their entrepreneurial mindsets, adaptability, and mission alignment.
Adaptability and an entrepreneurial mindset become the connective tissue. A candidate who has succeeded in a different sector must be able to translate what they’ve done into the institution’s context. As Bailey puts it, they must be able to show why this job, at this place, at this time.
What does this shift mean for institutions?
- Evolve the job description. It should emphasize the skills and competencies that signal potential, with less weight placed on past titles. Begin with identifying the outcomes you want and then build a description around the capabilities that will move you there.
- Identify indicators of adaptability. What examples of entrepreneurialism, cross-industry success, learning agility, mission alignment, or cultural fluency do candidates bring? How can those translate to a new industry?
- Thoughtful onboarding is essential. Leaders must recognize that their new hire’s path may be non-linear. Committing to a nontraditional candidate requires building the systems and infrastructure to ensure a successful transition into your organization.
When organizations decide to search for a builder who can move them in new directions, there can be a perceived risk in moving away from “safe,” traditional hires who mirror the credentials of their predecessors.
But when leaders are clear on their goals and consistently pursue them over the course of a search, the impact can be significant. When institutions shift from credentials to competencies, when they value adaptability and an entrepreneurial mindset, they open the door to leadership that can navigate change, catalyze growth, and lead with purpose.
Read Part I of our conversation with David and Dexter here.
