$500M Search Founder: This is why Most Executive Hires Fail!

Brad Stadler (0:00)

We'll approach 500 million in revenue this year.

Jessica Neal (0:03)

Crazy.

Brad Stadler (0:04)

We had no idea.

Jessica Neal (0:05)

How did this all happen? How did you build my favorite executive search firm?

Brad Stadler (0:10)

I learned at a small dysfunctional boutique, started my own dysfunctional boutique, and then saw a large global dysfunctional organization. There are several of our partners that early in their career were told by someone senior in executive search that you'll never be a partner in executive search. And one person was told that because he wasn't tall enough. There's a tremendous amount of ego in the industry.

The trick is to find the person that's going to be successful in this role, not the person that was successful before. There's no opportunity in certainty.

Jessica Neal (0:52)

What would happen if we just told the truth?

Brad Stadler (0:55)

Welcome to TruthWorks, where we dig into the nitty-gritty of leadership and work.

Jessica Neal (1:00)

And what needs to change. I'm Jessica Neal.

Peter Clark (1:03)

And I'm Patty McCord.

Jessica Neal (1:04)

Our journey together started in HR, but trust us, it's evolved into something wild, honest, and well, a bit rebellious. So throw out the handbook. We're here to redefine rules to work for us, not against us. Let's dive into another episode.

Hello, everyone, welcome to another episode of Truth Works. I am your host, Jessica Neal, and I'm here with my co-host, Peter Clarke.

Peter Clark (1:38)

Hey Pete. Hey Jessica, how are you? Good?

Jessica Neal (1:41)

I'm good. I haven't seen you in a couple weeks.

Peter Clark (1:45)

We'll get to this more often, all right?

Jessica Neal (1:47)

We should, we should.

Peter Clark (1:49)

Well, that's because of your other co-hosts, you know. I know.

Jessica Neal (1:51)

Yeah, I do have this other idea.

Peter Clark (1:54)

There's that other guy.

Jessica Neal (1:55)

There's another guy, Jeff, but you guys are both so great. I can't choose. I can't choose who I love more. So I'm excited today. I don't know if you're excited. You seem super excited. I am super excited. He's very excited. Yeah, he's very excited. But we have a very special guest today. And I have to say, I get to work with a lot of different firms when hiring. And there's varied experiences that one gets when you're working with search firms. And our guest today is the founder of, I will say, I don't know if other people are going to get mad that I say this, but my favorite search firm.

And it's the, when anyone ever asked me if they're hiring an executive, which firm to use, this is the firm that I always suggest. And it is because the caliber of service and understanding of the business and the culture so quickly.

And the fact that it is painless as it can be for a search, because we all know hiring is so hard. So I don't know, I'm just excited that the founder is here. And I will also say that this firm, which is called True Search, has decided to sponsor the podcast as well. And so I'm super excited about that. And I'm not just saying they're my favorite because they're going to be a sponsor of the podcast, like they really are my favorite. But Brad, welcome to the show, everyone. Brad Stadler, he's the founder of True Search. It's an executive talent platform. Brad, welcome to the show.

Brad Stadler (3:36)

Thank you, Jessica. Thank you, Pete. Good to see you again.

Yeah.

Jessica Neal (3:40)

And you two have known each other for, I don't know how long. How long?

Peter Clark (3:45)

A little while.

Brad Stadler (3:46)

A long time.

Jessica Neal (3:47)

I want to say like-

Peter Clark (3:48)

15 years plus?

Jessica Neal (3:49)

Yeah.

Brad Stadler (3:49)

Well, it's got to be like 2009-ish or something like that.

Peter Clark (3:54)

Well, yeah. I guess that's right.

Yeah.

Brad Stadler (3:57)

Yeah.

Peter Clark (3:58)

And then, yeah, because we knew each other obviously before Heidrick. And then that's sort of where-

Jessica Neal (4:03)

We did, but did we work together?

Brad Stadler (4:04)

I can't- we didn't work together at Howard Fischer.

Peter Clark (4:07)

No, but we should get into that, the origin story of Brad, the original-

Jessica Neal (4:11)

Yeah. Let's talk about it.

Peter Clark (4:12)

I think there's a bit of a shared experience.

Jessica Neal (4:15)

Yeah. And all three of us, I know Pete, you were an engineer for a minute, but our careers all started in search. And Brad, you went on to find a firm, I think before True, which got acquired by Heidrick. And, but, you know, take us back, tell us the story. How did this all happen? How did you build my favorite executive search firm?