Inspired by a story about the Greek philosopher Diogenes the Cynic, the name Lantern Partners has significant meaning to those of us at the company. As the ancient tale goes, Diogenes — a philosopher who was skeptical about the existence of truthful people – was well known for wandering about Athens in broad daylight while holding a lantern and stating that he was searching for the last honest man. He was known for refusing to conform to society’s conventions.
At Lantern Partners, we do the same for our clients with our senior executive recruitment process (although we do so with more rigor and slightly less insanity). While perhaps we’re not quite as cynical as Diogenes, we are filled with enough healthy skepticism to drive our exceedingly meticulous recruitment and assessment process. We are disciplined and thorough in our approach, and we dig deep to find truly honest candidates who are the best fits for our clients.
It’s no secret that people are often dishonest in job interviews and on résumés. Even though lying about abilities and experience to land a job doesn’t make particular sense, it still happens all the time. When a new hire is made based upon intentionally erroneous information that’s provided during the interview process, it can lead to stress and struggles for the company and the new hire alike. Look no further than the recent flap over former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson’s dishonesty to see what we mean.
When recruiting, we make every effort to look past superficial parts of the interview process, past the résumés, past the surface of candidates’ interview skills, and past any bluffing candidates may resort to in an effort to land a desired position. We do this through our proprietary, competency-validation process. The depth of this process allows us “shine our lanterns” and seek truthfulness throughout the recruitment process as we objectively determine which candidate is a perfect fit for the client.
