Ever wonder what executive recruiters say about candidates for big jobs behind closed doors?
Sometimes it sounds like: "His personality is unpredictable -- not sure who is going to show up."
That is a direct quote from search firm Korn Ferry in a memo it wrote about National Football League coach Brian Flores in documents newly unsealed in his discrimination case. The memo offers a window into the opaque, confidential and exceptionally blunt assessments used to dissect a candidate.
The document, prepared for the Las Vegas Raiders as part of a coaching search, attempts to sum up Flores's skills in candid, and sometimes controversial, terms. Yet executive recruiters say the one-page summary released this week isn't fundamentally different from the ways companies size up executives for CEO jobs or other top positions in American corporations.
"A very, very frank analysis of a candidate's strengths and weaknesses is a part of every executive search," said Martha Heller, CEO of technology executive recruiting firm Heller Search Associates. Boards, she added, want a "warts and all presentation."
The Flores memo is organized in two columns. One lists his apparent strengths, saying he is an outstanding defensive coach with a "relentlessness and desire to prove himself." The other column, outlined in a red border, describes apparent weaknesses.
"He can fool you with his polish upwards," the memo notes, adding that Flores has "little people skills, lacks self-awareness and can sometimes exhibit erratic behavior."
The analysis includes details about Flores's upbringing that his attorneys say resort to racially charged language. It notes that he is polished and a "good presenter despite growing up in Brownsville, Brooklyn (same as Mike Tyson)." It then notes Flores "was able to build a strong friendship with a billionaire's son which gave him opportunities to socialize and learn how to build relationships with white-collar and upper-class individuals."
A Korn Ferry spokeswoman and an NFL spokesman didn't immediately comment.
Korn Ferry had pushed to keep the document under seal, according to a legal filing in the case. A lawyer for the firm described the document as a "confidential work product" with information that had been "obtained through confidential references during Korn Ferry's candidate search."
Flores's lawyers said the memo highlights unsavory realities. Specifically, "discrimination continues to play a significant role in the hiring process for NFL Head Coaches, as evidenced by the fact that the candidate profile prepared for the Raiders leans heavily on racial stereotypes," Flores's attorneys said in a statement.
The memo caught the eye of several executive recruiters, many of whom said they were struck by the specific language used, while also being unsurprised by the format of the document.
"It's typical," said Jeffrey Cohn, a longtime CEO succession adviser who has worked at multiple search firms, including Spencer Stuart, DHR and Heidrick & Struggles.
The heart of a modern executive search process is an assessment that includes extensive interviews, elaborate background and reference checks -- along with psychological testing. Some contenders for CEO jobs have been asked to answer obscure questions on psychological tests, such as: "I enjoy staring at rivers for long periods of time," executives say.
Search consultants will then typically prepare a report that attempts to provide a big-picture perspective on a candidate, with brevity the goal. "The truth is the board usually has the attention span for about a page or two on each individual," Cohn said.
Boards want to know if a candidate is seen as a micromanager, or if he or she potentially lacks emotional intelligence, he said. But many search firm leaders took issue with the way the Flores memo was written, noting that Flores's alleged "polish" was cited as both a strength and a weakness. "It just doesn't look like it was reviewed and edited that carefully," Cohn said.
Peter Crist, chairman of executive-recruitment firm Crist Kolder Associates, who previously worked at Korn Ferry, said the memo overstepped in its analysis. "There was so much suggestion in that document," he said.
The memo surfaced as part of Flores's lawsuit against the NFL and multiple teams, which alleges that he and other Black coaches are discriminated against in pursuing coaching opportunities.
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