George Randle spotlights leadership selection in new book

George Randle says companies make their biggest leadership mistakes long before performance problems show up. His new book, launching Sept. 29, argues that organizations need a more disciplined process for choosing executives and other high-stakes leaders.

Why it matters: - Leadership selection can shape culture, strategy, retention and execution across an organization. - Randle argues that companies often apply more rigor to major investments than to the people chosen to lead them. - The book is aimed at executives, boards and talent leaders who make high-stakes hiring decisions.

What happened: - George Randle is releasing The Defining Hire: A Proven Process for High-Stakes Leader Selection on Sept. 29, 2026. - The book argues that leadership failure often starts with poor selection, not poor performance. - Randle says the book is a call for organizations to rethink how they assess and choose leaders.

The details: - The book criticizes reliance on résumés, interviews, references and subjective impressions when selecting leaders. - Randle argues that organizations should define what success requires before evaluating candidates. - The selection process should weigh evidence, behavioral patterns, attributes and organizational context. - Randle says experience matters, but the key question is what that experience reveals about how a person thinks, decides, adapts, leads and performs under pressure. - The book draws on Randle's background in military service, global talent acquisition, executive search and leadership development. - Randle says he has been involved in or overseen more than 85,000 hires during his career. - Randle is also co-author of The Talent War: How Special Operations and Great Organizations Win on Talent. - The new book includes a foreword from Rich Diviney and contributions from Athena Alliance founder and CEO Coco Brown. - For more information, visit GeorgeRandle.com.

Between the lines: - The core argument is that interviewing well can be mistaken for leading well. - Randle's focus on selection reflects a broader view that one leadership choice can alter hiring, decision-making, retention and results across an enterprise. - The timing of the book tracks with pressure on companies facing AI, workforce changes, economic uncertainty and organizational transformation.

What's next: - The Defining Hire will be released Sept. 29, 2026. - Randle is positioning the book as a guide for CEOs, board members, investors, CHROs and talent leaders. - The book adds to Randle's broader advisory and keynote work focused on improving how organizations identify, select, develop and retain leaders.

The bottom line: - Randle's message is simple: the future of an organization is often decided before a leader ever takes the job.