Executive Selection —Response to Commentaries

My goal was to generate both heat and light in executive selection. Each of the commentaries adds some light to the context of executive selection as well as new issues, but none were very heated concerning my "rights and wrongs." I was surprised that no one addressed the central issues of character (although Smith & Howard strike a glancing blow) or the many paths to success in executive jobs; but either of those could be articles in themselves. We have begun a discussion–let the games begin!     

Executive Selection—What's Right … and What's Wrong

Although recent reviews of executive selection have catalogued much that we as industrial–organizational (I–O) psychologists are doing right in our research and practice, we are confronted with the facts that executive selection decisions are often, if not usually, wrong and that I–O psychologists seldom have a place at the table when these decisions are made. This article suggests that in our thinking we have failed to differentiate executive selection from selection at lower levels and that we have applied the wrong models. Our hope for the future lies not in job analyses, developing new tests, meta-analyses, or seeking psychometric validity, but in viewing executive selection as a judgment and decision-making problem. With the right focus, applying our considerable methodological skills should enable us to contribute toward making better judgments. When we have a better mousetrap, organizations (if not the world) will beat a path to our door.