Tracy’s style is very much as a partner in the search process – not an order taker. At the beginning of the engagement, she asked questions about my goals which helped me focus and clarify my needs for the open position. By doing so, Tracy really understood where the program was at the time of the search and synthesized what strengths a candidate really needed to have, even when it was hard for me to articulate. This came through in the case statement – she nailed it! Once we started talking with candidates, Tracy could sense ‘this person’s strengths lean this way’ or ‘this person’s skill strength is more that way’. She was spot on with her assessments.
In reviewing candidates, we would go through my gut reactions, the positives, and where we both still had questions. If I felt a candidate wasn’t a good fit, we didn’t move ahead. I never felt like a candidate was being pushed on me; it was a natural, iterative process. Tracy delivered exactly what I was hoping for – a national search with types of candidates who had the experience I was looking for and fit within my budget range. She was realistic about who could be impactful, their salary expectations, and what some of the tradeoffs might be. Tracy is an unbelievably valuable advisor and I am thrilled with the search result.