I’ve been thinking about threesomes more than normal recently. With the eventual announcement of a new coalition government spearheaded by Seymour, Peters, and anti-abortionist Chris Luxon, it’s got me thinking about the weird power dynamics that shared leadership, and shared decision making can create. This can be hard enough in a partnership, but history and scholars agree that a triumvirate, or the “tyranny of three”, can lead to all sorts of f*cked-up sh*t. A coalition government is probably the sharp end of this weirdness, with often three unlikely bedfellows all having to “get along for the sake of the children”. In the instance of our new government, we don’t have three fellas who got together and decided to rent a flat, start a business, or form a band. Instead, we have three people who don’t like each other, have a number of opposing views, and have more interest in seizing power than being public servants. Tell me I’m wrong. Anyway, time will tell if this works out, and if the stress of having David Seymour in charge during Luxon’s holidays gets too much, you can nip outside for a cigarette with your 14 year old son.
Notwithstanding the structure of the leadership teams, Recruitment firms are inherently weird places anyway. We make money doing something that our grandparents think just happens without us. When we meet people at barbeques, we’re always told that we find people jobs, when technically ths is just the by-product of what we actually do. If we’re good, we get paid too much. We give second chances to crooks, sociopaths, and headcases, providing they bill enough money. Recruitment is a weird world for sure.
In terms of leadership in the recruitment industry, things become a bit murky. I spent some time this week trying to find who owns what here in New Zealand, and to be frank, I’m still non-the-wiser. With various shell companies, oddly named trusts, and companies essentially owning themselves, recruitment firm ownership represents a Gordian knot of confusion. In the most part however, it looks as follows: Recruitment firms have a lot of shareholders, with top billers, team managers, and loyal servants typically owning up to 5% of the business each. They then have significant shareholdings for founders. The most common structure is one shareholder having slightly more than anyone else. This person is technically “the boss”. For those with equality amongst shareholders, the most common structure is a few people with lesser amounts, and two partners with a bigger, equal share. From a decision making perspective, this is a partnership. Less common, although it’s still out there is a triumvirate of power, with three people all with equal ownership. This is a very hard one to get right. There is also a geographical bearing to this. Looking at the data, it seems much easier to have multiple shareholders with significant equity when you have multiple offices. Unsurprisingly, having one boss in Welly, and one in Auckland appears to work better than two egos in the same office.
However, Recruitment firms aren’t formed like coalition governments. A coalition is formed by us the public, all blindly voting without knowing what everyone else is doing. Hence the career of Winston Peters. When forming a business, we decide who we partner with, and even then, it still goes wrong. Partners fall out, boards dissolve, and Greg Savage moves on to his next non-exec position. As a thought experiment, I’ve been thinking about some awesome recruitment leadership teams that I’d like to cobble together. Here’s a few:
With no room for recruiters in the office thanks to cardboard boxes full of Perspex and frosted glass awards, and no time to recruit due to all the award submissions, this would be the most decorated firm in the world.
“We do Executive Search you f*cking c*nts”
What can I say? The dream team.
With one convinced he runs a law firm, and the other that he’s the best second hand car dealer in the west, we’d either see sparks fly or a the perfect yin and yang. I’m not telling who is who by the way.
Anyway, please feel free to add more leadership mash-ups below. Enjoy your weekend.
^SW
