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"Mannie Gill and Renovata Partners have done some great work for our portfolio companies (Skype, Viagogo) and they are a great partner in the European market. They have a thorough and intimate understanding of the technology universe. They are a pleasure to work with and we look forward to continuing to work with them in the future."
Danny Rimer,
General Partner,
Index Ventures
"Renovata Partners, with Mannie Gill and his team did a great job.
At Livebookings we were very impressed with their process and approach - and more importantly very pleased with the result.
As a VC-backed high growth company we strongly recommend Renovata Partners."
Niklas Eklund,
CEO Livebookings
"I would recommend Thomas to be one of the most thoughtful, diligent and effective senior executive recruitment professionals in the UK market, and would always want to consult him when approaching a new search. He is also a delight to work with."
Mark Simon,
former CEO of Tuxedo
"We hired Mannie Gill & the team at Renovata Partners to recruit a heavy hitting VP EMEA to help us launch Aliph in EMEA. From the outset it was clear that Renovata Partners were head and shoulders above their competitors when it came to their understanding of our market, the challenges in making this type of hire, their knowledge of the international telecoms sector and reach to the best candidates. As a result we ended up hiring a great candidate in EMEA. In short they did a stellar job and I would not hesitate to recommend them for senior level hires."
Hosain Rahman, CEO Aliph, Backed by Sequoia Capital and Khosla Ventures
"We partnered with Renovata for a key European position. The team at Renovata was great to work with. They took ownership and had a sense of responsibility and responsiveness that was outstanding. They never wasted time or money. In every interaction with Renovata they came properly prepared and came with the facts and appropriate next steps. We are glad to have worked with Mannie & Peter and the team."
Mark Quinlivan,
Carrier IQ
"In order to start a successful company, you need good people. Mannie has demonstrated to me time and again his ability to understand the brief and culture of a person we were seeking to recruit and presented high quality candidates in a short period of time. He’s a top tier recruiter and an invaluable resource for any technology company. I highly recommend him and look forward to continue working with Mannie in the future."
Mark Edwards,
Mformation, CEO
"At MOO we’re passionate about our culture, as much as we are focussed on bringing great talent into the organisation: Mannie did a fantastic job of finding the right person for us on both fronts. He has exactly the right balance of emotional insight, persistence, and flair to ‘sell’ to candidates without sounding like a salesman, it’s almost unnatural. I’d definitely work with him again"
Richard Moross,
Chief Executive & Founder, MOO
"Mannie has an extensive network and has a way to bring the best candidates forward. He was very good at understanding the brief, needs of the company, identifying the right pool of candidates, closing and reference checks. I would highly recommend him."
Tamer Ozmen,
CEO, Touch Local
"I worked with Thomas to identify, attract and hire a critical hire for my company. During our search he displayed a great understanding of the software arena and talent in the European region. He helped our Board to identify a number of strong candidates and we have made a great hire."
Eric Guilloteau,
CEO and Founder of Corizon
"I have worked with Thomas on a number of senior appointments in a broad range of companies. He has a deep knowledge of the technology sector and he complements this knowledge with thorough research into the specific market of each engagement. This enables Renovata to deliver value way beyond a good hire."
Henry Sallitt,
FF&P Private Equity
"When we engaged with Mannie Gill and Renovata Partners to recruit a CEO for Commprove, we knew that it would be a demanding assignment. We wanted to have access to global candidates of the highest calibre. Renovata Partners conducted a very complex global search which left us impressed by their intimate understanding of our requirement, the quality of their research, reach and ultimately by finding and closing on the right candidate. I would not hesitate in using Renovata Partners again for senior level headhunting assignments"
Mauro Pretolani,
Partner
TLcom Capital
www.tlcom.co.uk
"At Appium we needed a world class SVP Sales who had operated successfully worldwide. Renovata Partners made this as easy as possible through a high quality, professional preparation and search programme which quickly fielded more than half a dozen good candidates with extremely relevant experience to our needs. The whole process was smooth and efficient, meeting Appium’s needs in a timely manner.
I would not hesitate to recommend Mannie Gill and the team at Renovata Partners for high impact, senior level searches."
Keith Miller,
CEO
Appium AB
Backed by Nordic Venture Partners, Innovations Kapital and innovacom
"In order to start a successful e-commerce venture, you need good people. Mannie helped us identify, evaluate, and close on the best candidates in the market. He’s a top notch recruiter and an invaluable resource for any technology company. We recommend him highly and look forward to working with him for years to come."
Eric H. Baker,
CEO
Viagogo
Backed by Index Ventures
"We were a new company with a new solution focussed on fixed/mobile convergence and we needed to establish ourselves in the European market quickly. Mannie Gill helped us to find the best VP Sales candidate in Jeremy Deaner. From the start he focussed his attention on Jeremy and coached us through the process to make sure we landed him. We highly recommend Mannie and his team for any senior level searches."
Menahem Tirosh,
CEO
OutsmartTelecom
Backed by Accel Partners, Gemini Israel Funds and Magnum Communications Fund
"Renovata Partners offer a refreshingly different approach to headhunting assignments.
Their ability to understand in detail the nuances, as well as the obvious, in candidate requirements marks them out from the crowd. The quality of preparation, analysis and feedback is exceptional.
This means an organisation spends far less time in the \'educational\' part of the recruitment process, and much more in face- to face time with a shortlist of very well qualified candidates, all of whom are extremely well briefed.
I would thoroughly recommend Renovata Partners to any organisation that places a high priority on hiring the right candidate, first time."
Geoffrey Finlay,
Chairman of Cache Logic, Udex and others
"Mannie has conducted a number of important searches for our portfolio companies. He has demonstrated an in depth understanding of the needs for high growth technology businesses, at different stages of their development, and has helped us land some great talent. I would not hesitate in recommending him for any critical senior level appointments."
Rina Shainski,
Partner,
Carmel Ventures
"SurfKitchen needed to transform its sales model and organisation and was looking to recruit a top notch SVP of WW Sales to lead this transformation. From day one, Mannie Gill had a strategic approach, spending quality time understanding our issues and needs, and guiding us through the potential candidate profiles. Throughout the process, he kept focused on our success and the right fit, not on the transaction, and helped us secure the best possible candidate.
I strongly recommend Mannie Gill and the Renovata team, who are of a rare breed and calibre in executive recruitment"
Michel Quazza,
CEO,
Surfkitchen
Backed by Accel, Scottish Equity Partners, Add Partners, Argo Global Capital
"At Digica we built one of the best and most effective teams I have had the pleasure of working with. They are achieving great results. Thomas identified a key member of this – our Sales & Marketing Director who is doing an outstanding job."
Tim Wightman,
Non-Executive Chairman,
Digica Group
"I have worked with Thomas on multiple occasions both as a candidate and client over the last 5 years. He has a great grasp of the key dynamics facing technology businesses coupled with an excellent understanding of what motivates potential candidates. He is available and responsive throughout the project and drives the process hard to get to a good result for all parties. These qualities mark him and Renovata Partners out from the rest of executive search players in the market.
I have no hesitation in recommending Thomas and his team when it comes to conducting critical, senior level searches."
Bryan Taylor,
Chairman – Nomad,
Non-Executive Chairman – Exor
Non-Executive Director - Axxia
"As a CEO operating in the global technology industry I have built a trusted relationship with Renovata Partners because of their open, pragmatic and professional approach."
Shaun Gray,
Former CEO of Dione (now sold to Lipman)
"I have worked with Thomas Jepsen on multiple occasions to recruit senior executives into SAS. Thomas always manages recruitment processes very professionally and with a high level of attention to detail. Moreover, he consistently shows a real understanding and interest in our business, coupled with an enthusiasm to work with us. He over-delivered for us and uses his extensive network to identify and qualify candidates in a thorough and objective manner. I would not hesitate in using Thomas or Renovata Partners again."
John Dalton,
Managing Director
SAS UK and Ireland
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Personality Characteristics that Drive Executive Success - Implications for UK Executive Search, By Dr Christiana Vonofakou
October 22nd 2007 –
What are the essential traits that make someone an exceptional leader? Who are the people who actually determine whether a business thrives or fails? From an executive search consultant’s viewpoint, it is important to know what the core drivers of executive success are. Numerous books have been published that have tried to answer this question. This has resulted in a culmination of seemingly endless characteristics, resembling a shopping list of traits: communicating, possessing charisma, being compassionate, encouraging teamwork, introducing innovation, mastering the value chain, playing to one’s strength, communicating a vision, and many more.
In the interest of parsimony, business psychologists have only recently tried to identify the very core characteristics that distinguish good from exceptional leaders. Daniel Goleman first introduced the concept of Emotional Intelligence in 1995, and discusses in his recent book “The New Leaders” that great leadership is primarily a matter of Emotional Intelligence (EI). Emotional Intelligence is made up of four broad abilities: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship management. Drawing from extensive analyses within world-class organisations, Goleman argues that how we handle ourselves and our relationships matters more than educational success or IQ. Why are interpersonal emotions so crucial for effective leadership? Quite simply, in any human group a leader has the power to sway everyone’s emotions. Followers look to the leader for emotional support – for empathy, while a leader's own emotions are critical for resonating energy and enthusiasm if an organisation is to flourish. Thus, interpersonal skills, such as empathy and perspective-taking, are highlighted.
Correspondingly, various other business psychologists stress that the type of intelligence that determines success in school is not crucial, but rather working with and through other people, as well as judging oneself and adapting one’s behaviour accordingly. However, Goleman’s approach has not been without criticism. He has been criticized for dismissing the importance of cognitive abilities and clear thinking. In fact, to this day, IQ tests are still the most powerful predictors of job performance. Research conducted with large number of employees shows that cognitive, paper-and-pencil tests (usually known as IQ tests) are highly effective means for predicting work performance – in fact, as the complexity of the job increases (e.g., managerial positions), so does the predictive validity of IQ tests (e.g., see the book by Sydney Finkelstein “Why Smart Executives Fail”, 2003).
Nevertheless, Goleman stated that “intellect and clear thinking [are] largely…the characteristics that get someone in the leadership door. Without those fundamental abilities, no entry is allowed…” (published in his book Primal Leadership, 2003). Accordingly, debating whether cognitive abilities or emotional intelligence is more important than the other becomes superfluous. It is precisely clear, logical thinking coupled with emotional intelligence that distinguishes good leaders from exceptional leaders. It is those skill sets that executive headhunters should look out for, if they are to identify star executives of the future.
However, some UK executive search firms rarely assess the cognitive abilities of executives, let alone their emotional intelligence. As decades of psychometric research have taught us, developing reliable tests for such constructs is far from easy, and rarely without shortcomings. Nevertheless, as this report demonstrates, efforts to establish reliable psychometric tests are worthwhile and should be incorporated into executive search, if the executive search industry is to benefit from the vast amount of research that has so diligently been conducted by business psychologists across the globe.
About Renovata Partners
Renovata Partners is the leading technology boutique executive search firm that specializes in recruiting ‘C’ and VP level candidates into high growth firms within the Consumer Internet, Telecoms and Enterprise Software sectors.
For more information, please visit the website at www.renovatapartners.com or contact:
Mannie Gill
+44 20 3230 3060
For correspondence regarding the above article please contact Dr Christiana Vonofakou at christiana@renovatapartners.com.
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