Three attributes determine a suitable candidate for any role:
- educational and professional background,
- skill sets, and
- personal characteristics.
I think of these attributes as legs of a stool. If any of the legs are missing or short, the stool falls. The same concept applies to hiring.
Many candidates are hired based on the first two qualities without proper emphasis on the third—the most important one. A sharp candidate with the right personal characteristics can learn missing skills or attain needed training. However, someone with the relevant background and skill sets who does not align with a company’s culture, pace, and expectations will struggle—and often fail. Deloitte’s “2026 Global Human Capital Trends” report analyzes how AI may be creating an unnoticed, steady accumulation of negative cultural behaviors.
We frequently hear from clients about past hires who looked perfect on paper: excellent education, relevant experience, and strong technical capabilities. Yet they did not succeed. In many cases, these individuals came from large, bureaucratic, slow-paced environments where roles are clearly defined and limited. They floundered in fast-paced, transformational environments where roles are fluid, systems, policies, and procedures are evolving, priorities regularly shift, resources are limited and pressure to deliver across multiple objectives is constant.
Private Equity environments require a fundamentally different mindset. Individuals who excel demonstrate high levels of these personal characteristics:
- High sense of urgency
- Drive and determination to succeed
- Agility and tolerance of ambiguity
- Ability to multitask effectively
- Data-driven and metrics-driven decision making
- Strong business acumen and strategic analytical mindset
- Proactive management style and willingness to course correct
- Strong communication across organizational levels and functional areas
- High level of influence across organizational levels
- Accountability for oneself and others
- Proven successful leadership of transformational improvements within a matrix environment
These characteristics apply well in most organizations, but a person with high drive will become disengaged and frustrated in a slow-paced, bureaucratic organization where decisions require unnecessary layers of approval, accountability is lacking, and teammates do not share a sense of urgency and resolve to make transformational improvements.
How do you find these stellar candidates? AI can scan resumes and LinkedIn profiles. It can match keywords, titles, and years of experience. But it cannot reliably assess personal characteristics and cultural alignment. Research indicates that key attributes of human recruiters, including creativity, empathy, intuition, and adaptability, make them invaluable compared to AI tools.
This is one of the values we offer at Arris Partners. As a niche professional and executive search firm, we provide the personal and professional touch that software cannot replicate. We invest the time and attention to meet with our clients in person at our own expense to deeply understand their culture, pace, leadership dynamics, and strategic goals. Those insights inform how we evaluate candidates beyond what appears on paper.
In all hiring it is critical to ensure that all three legs of the stool are strong—and equally balanced.