Why Most Executive Assessment Fails
The standard executive interview process — 3–5 interviews, CEO intuition, reference calls with candidate-provided contacts — reliably produces candidates who perform well in interviews. It does not reliably produce candidates who perform well in the role. According to research from Leadership IQ and the Corporate Executive Board, 46% of executives who fail in a new role were assessed as strong in the interview process. The assessment process is not measuring what it thinks it is measuring.
The Startup Leadership Scorecard is Majhi Group's structured evaluation framework. It evaluates six dimensions that are each independently predictive of executive success at growth-stage companies — and which together produce a composite assessment that distinguishes candidates who interview well from candidates who will perform well in the specific stage, function, and company context of the search.
The 6 Dimensions
Stage Fit
Has the candidate operated successfully at a comparable stage of company? Evidence of building from ambiguity, not inheriting established function. Stage mismatch is the #1 predictor of executive failure at growth-stage companies.
Function Depth
Does the candidate have the specific functional expertise required? This is the dimension most search processes over-index on — necessary but not sufficient.
Founder–VP Alignment
Are the candidate's assumptions about authority, autonomy, and decision rights compatible with the founder's operating style? This dimension predicts the most common early-tenure failure mode. See: The Founder–VP Fit Model.
Team Building Capability
Can the candidate attract, develop, and retain the specific calibre of talent the function needs? VP-level hiring is a primary responsibility of every VP — not an afterthought.
Cross-Functional Authority
Can the candidate earn credibility and influence across functions at the leadership team level? A VP who cannot be heard in the room where decisions are made is not a VP — they are a senior manager with a VP title.
Reference Consistency
Does independent reference data align with the candidate's self-reported narrative? Significant gaps between interview presentation and reference content are a reliable risk signal.
How the Scorecard is Used
The Startup Leadership Scorecard is applied in Phase 3 of the Majhi Search Framework — after the initial candidate assessment but before shortlist submission. Each candidate receives a structured evaluation across all six dimensions, with supporting evidence from interviews and reference checks. The scorecard is shared with the CEO alongside the shortlist, so the evaluation basis is transparent rather than implicit.
The practical effect of structured scoring is a higher shortlist approval rate: Majhi Group's shortlist approval rate is 82% (the percentage of submitted candidates the CEO finds genuinely compelling and wants to interview). The baseline shortlist approval rate on searches we inherit from failed prior processes is 38%. The difference is not sourcing volume — it is assessment rigor.
Related Frameworks
- The Majhi Search Framework — how the Scorecard fits into the full search process
- The Founder–VP Fit Model — the alignment dimension in depth
- Executive Reference Check Framework — the independent reference methodology
“41 days. A $275K search. Two firms failed in 60+ days. That’s not luck — that’s a different system.”
— Majhi Group case study. Read the full case study →