The Boutique Search Firm Blog

The leitmotiv of the twenty first (and before it, the twentieth) century is that a top-notch college education has become totally unaffordable except for the top 1% of our (let’s call a spade a spade) plutocracy. What happened to the notion of effort? To that of working and saving toward a college education? To that […]

Three times in the past two months, I received calls from hotel executives relating the most most damning experience: in one case, a position of General Manager for a major luxury hotel was very “sloppily” extended to two different candidates. Due to an embarrassing misunderstanding and communications breakdown between the property and the corporate office, […]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but talking about breaking the glass ceiling, year after year after year without ever doing anything about it is getting old. It is as empty as talking about California running out of water and doing nothing about it, when our entire coast abuts the Pacific Ocean. […]

The folks behind Katsuya, the successful group of Japanese restaurants developed by Sam Nazarian’s SBE group, do a great job at training their staff. A repeat guest at their restaurants is more than likely guaranteed good, informed service. Personally, I have always wondered how the servers get the orders right most of the time in […]

Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives. The term originated with the assignment of nephews to cardinal positions by Catholic popes and bishops. Nepotism is found in the fields of politics, entertainment, business and religion. In my book, it is cronyism with a big N. Take it from the headhunter: Nepotism is POISON. Worse yet, nepotism […]

“Drinking rum and Coca Cola, Workin’ for the Yankee dollar.” The good folks of the Mafia have fond memories of Havana when it was Las-Vegas-by-the-Sea: the showgirls, the fancy hotels, the nightclubs, the restaurants, pristine beaches and the illegal pleasures that come with it. The Batista régime did its utmost to encourage vice and the […]

At this writing, there are three individuals, all three the very best in their field, who unfortunately do not have access to each other, better yet do not even know each other. Yet they cannot be immensely successful unless they fully merge their talents. One is the developer of a unique and remarkable product or […]

It seems not a single person who has visited Dubai has returned without a litany of superlatives singing its praise. Apparently, it is the Paris of Les Années Folles, the Manhattan of 1935, the California of the sixties. Everything there is bigger, better, shinier. The number of guest rooms is increasing substantially every year as […]

“This is your captain speaking: If you were pleased with your flight, I have left envelopes on the cockpit door for your convenience. Your tips are greatly appreciated.” Friendly dinosaur Marriott made a huge announcement a few days ago: from now on, no matter what kind of Marriott product you use, whether it is a […]

One of the basic services expected of an executive search firm (especially a retained one) is to put together valid and thorough professional and character references on short-listed candidates. Obviously, the temptation is to ask said candidates for a list of references, but isn’t that tantamount to asking a dog to sit in order to […]