Beyond Interviews - by Stephen K Straus & Heather A Lee (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Replace intuition with evidence-based methods for executive hiring decisions

Over-reliance on resumes, references, and interviews leaves organizations unable to assess critical competencies like writing, presentation, and leadership skills, contributing to high rates of leadership failure. Beyond Interviews: Moving from Intuition to Evidence-Based Executive Assessment provides specific steps to designing systematic, skills-based assessment methods. Built on techniques refined over twenty years across over 300 executive placements, each chapter challenges readers to reconsider current practices.

The authors' February 2024 study found that over 96% of executives placed through their processes either remain in position, stayed at least five years, or received a promotion. The book applies a structured, research-grounded approach across chapters, moving practitioners from traditional hiring methods toward objective assessment with recommendations including a motivation-based model for finalist interviews.

Readers will also find:

• A systematic framework for evaluating practical, actionable leadership skills rather than the theoretical knowledge typically revealed through interviews alone
• Methods for generating objective assessment data on writing, presentation, and leadership competencies that complement professional intuition
• Structured guidance for designing selection processes tailored to senior management roles in mission-driven organizations and higher education
• Research-based techniques for reducing bias and improving consistency across every stage of the executive recruitment and evaluation process
• Practical tools for boards and hiring committees to assess candidates through skills-based demonstrations beyond traditional resume and reference review

Written for managers, CEOs, directors of mission-driven organizations, and academic administrators, this book also serves HR professionals, elected officials in local government, and non-profit board members. Beyond Interviews equips decision-makers with a proven system that directly reduces the risk of executive hiring failure.

From the Back Cover

Replace intuition with evidence-based methods for executive selections, with a proven 92% success-rate

Heavy reliance on resumes, references, and interviews fails to reveal critical competencies such as writing, presentation, and leadership skills. Beyond Interviews: Moving from Intuition to Evidence-Based Executive Assessment provides specific steps for designing systematic assessment methods premised on objective data rather than the usual intuition-driven approach. Grounded in over twenty years of applied practice and refined through partnerships filling over 300 executive positions, every method has been tested in real organizational settings.

Each chapter applies a structured approach that directly challenges readers to examine their current methods and adopt stronger alternatives. The techniques are backed by a documented track record: over 92% of executives placed using these processes remained in position for at least five years or received a promotion. Practitioners are guided through skills-based assessment design, moving from theoretical knowledge testing toward evaluation of practical competencies that predict leadership effectiveness. The authors also provide a structure and process for conducting best practice interviews that provide direct evidence of key executive competencies.

Written for managers, CEOs, directors of mission-driven organizations, and academic administrators, this book also serves HR professionals, elected officials in local government, and nonprofit board members responsible for executive hiring. It delivers the structured methodology practitioners need to reduce leadership failure and make defensible, data-driven selection choices.

About the Author

Stephen K. Straus, Ph.D., is President and Co-Founder of Developmental Associates, where he has developed recruitment and executive selection processes for over twenty years. A former Extension Professor in the Master of Public Administration program at North Carolina State University, he created, coordinated, and taught in executive programs. He specializes in leadership assessment and development, strategic human resource management, and organizational behavior.

Heather A. Lee, Ph.D., is Co-Founder and Partner at Developmental Associates. An organizational consultant specializing in the nonprofit and governmental sectors, her practice areas include executive recruitment and selection, coaching, executive leadership development, and team development, with a focus on assessing emotional intelligence in the workplace.