What We Do & Why

Re-Imagining Recruitment & Selection Practices

“Lansdowne Board Intelligence assisted us in the recruitment of trustees for the Education Sector Employee Life and Health Trusts. From the moment we met Gillian and her team, we knew we had selected the right organization and we couldn’t have asked for a better outcome!” Read Testimonials

Doreen Lamarche, Executive Director – Education Finance Office, Ministry of Education

The demands placed upon boards and executive leaders have never been greater as organizations across every industry sector grapple with unprecedented business disruption and a changing workforce. In order to navigate today’s critical issues and position itself for the future, it’s vital for your organization to have the right blend of qualified, diverse and relevant leadership – That’s where Lansdowne Board Intelligence comes in.

We help your organization to:

Optimize Board Composition & Competency Matrices
In achieving the optimal composition for your board — one size does not fit all. While there are some core competencies and personal attributes that are consistent requirements for all boards to have; the ideal mix is dependent upon a number of company-specific variables. Of course, the company’s strategy, key challenges and inherent business risks should inform the range of competencies most needed, along with having a variety of functional, industry and geographic expertise. Equally important are the personal attributes that make for an effective board such as: strong judgement, a strategic mindset, integrity, independence, different thinking and communication styles, and diversity in gender, age and ethnicity.

Recruit Qualified & Diverse Board Members
Board director responsibilities are rapidly evolving and becoming increasingly more complex.
Regular renewal of directors is imperative in order to reinvigorate board member competencies, enhance contributions, and to remain relevant and competitive.

We possess a tireless commitment to reach beyond the conventional networks of ‘obvious’ prospects to find your board the most qualified, diverse and relevant candidates possible. Whether you’re creating a Board from the ground up, or augmenting your existing board, we have the expertise and resources to search nationally and globally to find you the right people, and provide you with the professional guidance and insight you need to make the right hiring decisions.

Rigorously Measure Director Competency & Capability
Being a board director is not suited to everyone, and while most boards understand the competencies that make for an effective director; many are challenged in knowing how to rigorously and objectively assess these during the recruitment process. We’ve developed custom, board-specific protocols to evaluate the full capability of potential directors. We apply a constructive and modern assessment giving appropriate weight to the required skills, experience and the innate personality traits that make for an effective director.

When you work with us, you’ll benefit from our unique methodology and assessment protocols that are specifically designed for the role of a Board. Each candidate that we present to you will be personally interviewed and evaluated for the role at hand. We’ll help your committee gain a genuine understanding of each candidate’s core competencies and personal characteristics, keeping the focus on the merit of each candidate and the “True” capability they can bring to your board.

Revitalize Your Board’s Selection Practices 
Ensuring that your board engages in a rigorous, and “Truly” objective and merit-based selection process is a critical component of good governance.  Our years of experience in recruitment consistently showed that unconscious bias and process weaknesses impedes even the most progressive company’s attempts to capitalize on the advantages of diversity at the boardroom table.

We will help your committee apply an objective, vigorous and consistent process that avoids the outdated, self-defeating, “impression-based” practices that cause qualified but lesser known candidates to be overlooked. Our best practice method will enhance your  board’s thinking, improve your process for selecting directors, and thus, encourage the merit-based appointment of more women and minorities, which will withstand scrutiny from even your most fervent stakeholders.

Perform CEO Search & Leadership Assessments
Hiring a new CEO is one of the most important roles of a board, and for some boards; it can often be a daunting task.

Our experts will guide your committee through every step of the recruitment process. We take the time upfront to garner a clear understanding of the organization and culture, its strategy, strengths and challenges, and the competitive landscape in which it operates. We’ll build a consensus on a composite of the ideal candidate—the experience, core competencies and the personal attributes essential to success in the role, along with identifying the key objectives by which the CEO’s performance will be measured.

We design a custom battery of interview and leadership assessment protocols, that are completely in alignment with the requirements  and expectations of the role. We engage in a rigorous evaluation of each candidate’s competencies, and personal attributes,  and conduct a unique stress test to assess how they perform under duress. Our assessment protocol is seamlessly integrated into the recruitment process ensuring that candidates are rigorously measured and vetted for the role at hand, which provides another data-point in ensuring that the “right” CEO is selected for your organization.

Accelerate Leadership Diversity
Our commitment to diversity is long and unwavering. Over the years, we’ve built extensive intel on women and minority business leaders that is unsurpassed and the most in-depth in Canada, which spans all the key functional disciplines and every industry sector.

Whether you are trying to improve the diversity of your board or leadership team, we have the expertise and will  work passionately and diligently, leaving no stone unturned, to find the qualified, relevant and diverse leadership your organization needs.

Quick Links: What We Do & Why | Diversity | Our Team | Why You’ll Want To Work With Us | Testimonials