- A fresh approach.

We have built Dean Executive Search to address the need for a more personalized, high-impact approach to executive search. With our backgrounds in investment banking, professional services and search, along with our tenacity, smooth process and robust candidate assessment, we are uniquely positioned to advise on your toughest assignments. We invite you to watch this video to see what sets us apart, and how we can partner with you to transform your team.

Meet Adam About DES

- Latest Posts

Organizations adapting to executive shortage in wake of hot market

In a “candidate’s market,” compensation is being driven sky-high, while individuals, rather than employers, are dictating terms of their new deals. Read our latest piece here to see how organizations on Bay Street are adapting to an executive shortage.

Bay Street's shortage of financial service executives causing a power shift

Adam joins Amanda Lang on BNN Bloomberg to discuss senior executives’ reluctance to change roles due to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic.

Never Let A Good Crisis Go To Waste

HELLO 2021! As we turn the page on a most unusual year, we are already seeing positive signs for 2021.

Building Great Teams During Periods of Adversity

As you might imagine, over the last month, we have been engaged in a series of conversations with clients, candidates and business leaders around the country. While the topics vary greatly, one theme that has emerged above all others is the need for preparedness for an uncertain future.

As featured in Harvard Business Review, Barron’s & MIT Sloan Management Review

How Companies Can Prepare For Sudden CEO Turnover

If it seems like CEOs are departing in droves lately — they are. 2019 has been nothing short of tumultuous among the senior ranks of some of the world's most recognized companies.

The US-Canada War for Marijuana Talent

Less than a year ago, cannabis was illegal. Now, it’s the fastest-growing sector in Canada.

Harvard Business: Secrets of Highly Confidential Searches

Executive searches are a lot more nuanced than people think and the most confidential mandates require special approaches that might surprise you.

How to hunt for “Unicorns"

We have a saying in search: Hunting for a Unicorn. It’s a reference to the inevitably difficult-if-not- impossible-to-find, transformative candidate whom our client desperately wants. But how exactly do you find these magical creatures?

You’ve found the perfect leader to join your team. Now here’s how to close them.

You’ve worked long and hard to canvass a variety of industries. You’ve had initial interviews with potential candidates, and conferred with your search firm to narrow it down to an outstanding short list. Today is Final Rounds day – after this, there’s nothing left but to extend an offer to your favourite. So how do you close the deal? Here are a few things to consider:

The can’t-miss steps to running a successful executive search

In our last piece, we explored the pitfalls in executive search processes, and the associated impact on clients and candidates alike when searches aren’t managed with client interests in mind. So, you may be asking yourself: now that I know all of this, how can I run a top-notch process? I offer a few thoughts below.

Eight ways that your executive search can go off the rails

It is an amazing thing – and a privileged position – to be an adviser on a search. You’re helping to build a company’s team and shape its future. But along the way, both clients and advisors are invariably going to face a huge number of obstacles during a search.

Hiring a big search firm? Get ready for conflicts of interest.

Conflicts are nothing new in the world of executive search. They typically go something like this: Search Firm X works for a large bank on a critical hire. That bank is attracted to talent that resides at their biggest competitor, but when said bank indicates as much, Search Firm X divulges that they are doing a similar search for that very competitor, thus making the competitor’s talent off limits.

Here’s how the big-firm search model is hurting your business

My client, a large player in Canadian private equity, recently lamented the state of the search industry. Unprompted, he said “You know, Adam, I used to be a big proponent of search firms, but I now feel that the big-firm model is broken.”

A new approach to executive search

As many of you know, I believe passionately that the executive search industry isn’t doing enough to put clients first. Clients are frustrated by conflicts that keep top talent off limits. Not to mention long, purely transactional search processes and recycled candidate lists served up by complacent providers who feel no need to innovate.

Talent is the difference.