I want to be CEO

Last week I met someone in Turkey who requested a meeting, and asked me towards the end of a lengthy monologue of achievements, ambitions and dreams if I could give him a "CEO position". Every once in a while I come across an individual who not only asks, but also tells me to give him a "GM position". They make the statement with such conviction that the matter of being CEO of a large or small company, GM of a local or international firm, family owned, private or public; and oh, which sector: technology, hospitality, media, real estate, banking etc.... doesn't really matter. It's only a small issue for afterthought.

Great candidates put position content first, and this to a significant extent. Only after agreeing my client has the right environment and culture to accommodate them, they will look into package, contractual clauses and terms. Position content is what great candidates are after, not position titles. The great search consultant will be able to match content perception on both candidate and client side, in fact this is one of the greatest value-adds search consultants can provide.

Those asking or demanding a "CEO position"  give the message they identify strongly with their position as if it is a literal entitlement, not something which has to be earned. In fact a majority of them only want entitlement, and are not after job content or achievement. They not only lack a basic humility, but also a sense of integrity when it comes to self-assesment: most will skillfully turn failure into achievement, or cherry pick a number such as market share growth as if related to brilliant performance. Once I was told by someone how he grew market share 20% YoY twice in a row; when I casually remarked both IDC and Gartner figures showed the overall market grew 30% those years, I was met by brief silence and the accompanying "deer staring in the headlights" expression. We continued the conversation as if nothing happened.

I answered the gentleman who asked me if I could give him a CEO position that most unfortunate I could not. I could not offer him a CEO position right now because he was overqualified for the particular role I was working on. He could not agree more, and thanked me profusely for the great discussion we had.