The Allport Method
Most executive searches are built on a resume, a polished interview, and a reference the candidate chose themselves. None of those three reliably predict how someone leads under real conditions. Our process is built to close that gap.
Talent Scouting
Like a scout for a championship team, we define the traits the role demands, then actively seek out the leaders who fit, including those who aren't looking, rather than waiting for applicants to come to us.
Rigorous Interviews
Every candidate goes through structured interviews designed to surface how they actually think and operate under pressure, not just how well they present in a first meeting.
Assessment
We use validated, job-relevant assessment tools to evaluate fit against the specific traits the role requires, a structured measure alongside the interview, not a replacement for judgment.
Independent Expert Audit
Down-selected candidates are interviewed by independent subject-matter experts who pressure-test their technical depth and real-world capability, not just how convincingly they talk about it. Most firms leave this to your own interviews, spending your team's time discovering gaps we could have surfaced earlier. We front-load it, so every name on your shortlist has already cleared an expert bar before it reaches you.
Reference Calls, Our Way
The strongest predictor of performance is what someone has actually done, so we treat the track record as evidence to verify, not a story to take on trust. References are structured and behavioral; with consent we go beyond the names a candidate hands us to sourced, off-list referees who worked above, below, and alongside them; and we confirm the specifics: the real scope, their actual role, and whose results they were. All of it is triangulated against the assessment.
Presentation & Decision Support
We bring you a shortlist with a clear, structured rationale for each candidate, not just a stack of resumes, so the final decision is yours to make with real information.
Tools we own
Our method is sharpened by tools we build. The Allport Index is our proprietary scoring framework: it fuses every assessment input, personality and derailers, learning agility, the expert audit, and references, into a single, role-calibrated read of fit and risk. It is live and in use on every search.
We are also developing the Allport Signal, a situational-judgment simulation that reveals how a leader judges and acts under pressure and ambiguity, not just how they present in an interview.
Where this is going
AI is changing how executive search gets done, and not always for the better. We're actively testing AI-driven assessment tools, but will only include them in our assessment processes once they have been fully vetted. We hold ourselves accountable to the same outcomes we deliver for our clients, and as such each tool is being fully tested for measurable results and any bias. Technology should sharpen human judgment in leadership evaluation and selection, not replace it.