但有些时候公司需要新鲜血液，这就需要从外部聘请人才。怀亚特杰斐管理研究公司（Wyatt and Jaffe）总裁马克•杰斐称，如果是这种情况的话，公司应该避免对应征者进行纯粹的自我标榜。他说：“我认为在这个阶段，公司不仅仅对股东，还要对他们希望吸引的人才变得更加透明，。”

    但如果公司的问题很严重，做到这一点并非易事。举例来说，2005年埃迪•兰伯特将西尔斯和美国廉价超市公司K-Mart合并之后，西尔斯的销售额逐年下滑。劳埃德银行则在谋求出售600多家分支机构以获得政府援助。

    所以，如果应聘者没有特别意愿加入到处于困境中的公司，谁也不能责怪他们。但杰斐表示，坦承在面试过程中非常关键，即使伤人也必须实事求是。他说：“有时我会跟应聘者说：‘这么说吧，这就相当于买了一张泰坦尼克号的船票，但是你会拥有一间头等舱的套房。得有一点谦逊和幽默感，还要乐于实事求是……’”

    敢于直面自身问题的公司非常清楚自己的优势和劣势所在。这种自我认知听起来可能很简单，但实际上却是非常关键的第一步。此外，诚实而彻底的自我评估能够让公司在考虑理想领导者时更有创新性。杰斐说：“候选者可能多达40人，他们年届五旬，相貌堂堂，人们都以为他们是高手，但实际上这些不过是浮云而已。”

    在传统人才库之外寻觅良材，这对于正在招聘人才的公司来说也会获益颇多。杰斐称，不是说有很多人正准备着来扭转西尔斯的颓势，而是“我们可以用一种不同的视角来考核管理者的业绩，并列出一份清单，物色与以往类型完全不同的优秀人才。”

    公司面临困境时通常会打安全牌，在招聘首席执行官的时候采取更为保守的态度，这可以理解。但在某些情况下，最佳方案是选择那些要价更低、更渴望得到职位的候选人，虽然他们可能没有热门人选那么耀眼，但谁又能说，他们将来就不会成为人人争抢的香饽饽呢？

    译者：李玫晓/汪皓

    But sometimes companies need fresh eyes and must hire outside. If that's the case, they should steer clear of a purely self-promotional pitch to CEO candidates, says Mark Jaffe, president of executive search firm Wyatt and Jaffe. "I think we've reached a point where companies need to be a little bit more transparent, not only with their shareholder constituency, but with the talent they are trying to attract."

    That can be a tough sell when a company has serious problems. Sales at Sears (SHLD), for example, fell every year since Eddie Lampert combined the company with K-Mart in 2005. Lloyds Banking Group is navigating a sale of over 600 branches to start to pay the government back for its bailout.

    So you can't blame executives if they aren't breaking down the door to get to a corner office at a troubled company. But honesty is critical in the interview process, Jaffe says, even if the truth hurts. "Sometimes I'll say, 'Look, you may be buying a ticket on the Titanic here, but you will have a first-class suite,'" he says. "You have to have a little bit of humility and a sense of humor and a willingness to be realistic…."

    Companies that are upfront about their problems show that they know their strengths and weaknesses. That kind of self-knowledge might sound simple, but it is actually a critical first step. Besides, an honest, thorough self-assessment may lead some organizations to think more creatively about who their ideal leader might be. "There is a small club of about 40 50-year-old men with fabulous hair that are considered to be the diamond-cutters," Jaffe says, "but it's all smoke and mirrors."

    Companies in recruiting mode could actually benefit from looking beyond the typical talent pool. Not that there are hundreds of unknowns waiting in the wings to turn Sears around, Jaffe says, but "it's very possible to take a different view of an executive's performance and come up with a whole different kind of list of people who do extraordinary things."

    Understandably, businesses that are facing problems usually play it safe and make more conservative CEO hires. But in some situations, the best choice is to go after someone cheaper, hungrier, and possibly a little further from the limelight than the usual suspects. And who knows, he or she could be the next big name that everybody wants.