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<title>Leadership Selection – Michel Fortin</title>
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<title>Leadership Selection – Michel Fortin</title>
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<title>Why the Quietest Person in Your Leadership Team Might Be Your Most Valuable</title>
<link>https://michelfortin.com/quiet-power-leadership/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Michel Fortin]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 2026 17:47:32 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Expert Leadership]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Fractional Leadership]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[DiSC]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Executive Hiring]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Executive Presence]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Leadership Assessment]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Leadership Selection]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Personality Profiling]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Quiet Power]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Strategic Leadership]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://michelfortincom.bigscoots-staging.com/?p=5253</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Companies over-index on charisma when hiring senior leadership. The fractional model demands a different profile: someone who diagnoses before they prescribe and listens before they lead.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<div class="wp-block-group article-summary"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained">
<h2 id="article-summary" class="wp-block-heading">Article Summary</h2>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Executive hiring over-indexes on charisma and undervalues the rare leader who listens before speaking and diagnoses before prescribing. My own DiSC assessment returned Dominance and Steadiness tied at 67%, i.e., the high D/high S combination that assessors flag as uncommon. This post unpacks what that profile looks like in practice, why it’s particularly well-suited to fractional engagements, and three signals to look for when you’re hiring for it.</p>
</div></div>
<div role="navigation" aria-label="Table of Contents" class="simpletoc wp-block-simpletoc-toc"><h2 class="simpletoc-title">Table of Contents</h2>
<ul class="simpletoc-list">
<li><a href="#article-summary">Article Summary</a>
</li>
<li><a href="#the-charisma-trap-in-executive-hiring">The Charisma Trap in Executive Hiring</a>
</li>
<li><a href="#a-personality-profile-most-people-have-never-seen">A Personality Profile Most People Have Never Seen</a>
</li>
<li><a href="#what-quiet-power-looks-like-in-practice">What “Quiet Power” Looks Like in Practice</a>
</li>
<li><a href="#why-this-matters-for-fractional-executive-hiring">Why This Matters for Fractional Executive Hiring</a>
</li>
<li><a href="#how-to-spot-this-profile-when-youre-hiring">How to Spot This Profile When You’re Hiring</a>
</li>
<li><a href="#the-leader-who-sees-around-corners">The Leader Who Sees Around Corners</a>
</li>
<li><a href="#frequently-asked-questions">Frequently Asked Questions</a>
</li></ul></div>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I’ve been in rooms where the loudest voice won the argument and the company lost the quarter. It happens more often than anyone admits.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The charismatic executive pitches a bold plan. The room nods, the board approves. Three months later, the plan is abandoned because nobody bothered to stress-test the assumptions or build the operational foundation to support it.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This isn’t a personality flaw. It’s a hiring pattern.</p>
<h2 id="the-charisma-trap-in-executive-hiring" class="wp-block-heading">The Charisma Trap in Executive Hiring</h2>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">When companies hire senior leadership, they almost always over-index on energy and presence. The candidate who commands the room gets the offer. The one who listens more than they talk gets passed over.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Recruiters know this bias exists. So do boards. Yet the pattern continues because charisma is easy to evaluate in a 60-minute interview, while judgment, steadiness, and diagnostic ability are not.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The result is a leadership bench that’s heavy on vision and light on execution. Plenty of people who can inspire a team to charge the hill, but not enough who can tell you whether it’s the right hill in the first place.</p>
<h2 id="a-personality-profile-most-people-have-never-seen" class="wp-block-heading">A Personality Profile Most People Have Never Seen</h2>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Personality assessments have been around for decades, and most executives have taken at least one. DiSC, Myers-Briggs, Big Five, Enneagram. The results usually confirm what people already know about themselves.</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I know this profile from the inside. My own DiSC assessment came back with Dominance and Steadiness both scoring at 67%, tied at the top, well above average. In DiSC terms, that’s a high D/high S combination, and it’s rare enough that assessors often pause when they see it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Dominance drives results, takes charge, and pushes through obstacles. Steadiness builds trust, maintains relationships, and finishes what it starts. Most people lean heavily toward one or the other. When both are elevated in the same person, you get someone who can push hard for outcomes without burning out the team. They have the internal fire to take charge, but the reliability and calm to see it through.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">They don’t need to be the loudest voice to carry the most weight.</p>
<h2 id="what-quiet-power-looks-like-in-practice" class="wp-block-heading">What “Quiet Power” Looks Like in Practice</h2>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This is how I operate in almost every engagement. In a strategy meeting, I’m rarely the one pitching the plan.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">They’re the one asking the question that changes the plan. They listen to every perspective before forming their own. They process information deeply rather than quickly. And when they do speak, the room tends to stop because what they say has been pressure-tested internally before it ever reaches their lips.</p>
</blockquote>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This isn’t indecisiveness. It’s the opposite. It’s the discipline to resist premature certainty.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In my own career, I’ve found that the most impactful work happens in the gap between hearing the problem and proposing the solution. That gap is where assumptions get tested, where the obvious answer gets challenged, and where the real strategy emerges.</p>
<h2 id="why-this-matters-for-fractional-executive-hiring" class="wp-block-heading">Why This Matters for Fractional Executive Hiring</h2>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The fractional model is built for this kind of leader. A <a href="/fractional-cmo/">fractional CMO</a>, <a href="/fractional-cro/">CRO</a>, or <a href="/fractional-cso/">CSO</a> enters an organization for a defined period with a specific mandate. They don’t have time to build political capital through months of relationship-building. They need to deliver strategic value immediately.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">That means the job requires someone who can read a situation fast, build trust without dominating, and drive results without leaving a trail of broken relationships behind them. The loud, charismatic archetype often struggles in this context because the fractional role demands precision, not performance.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">When I enter an engagement, my first instinct is never to announce what I’m going to do. It’s to understand what’s already been tried and why it didn’t work. The <a href="/diagnostic-advantage/">diagnosis comes before the prescription</a>. The listening comes before the leading.</p>
<h2 id="how-to-spot-this-profile-when-youre-hiring" class="wp-block-heading">How to Spot This Profile When You’re Hiring</h2>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">If you’re a recruiter or a senior leader evaluating fractional executives, here are three signals that indicate quiet power rather than loud confidence.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">First, ask about their diagnostic process. Leaders with this profile will describe how they read a business before they act on it. They’ll talk about frameworks, lenses, and assessment periods. If someone immediately jumps to deliverables and timelines, they may be the action-first type that burns bright and fast.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Second, ask about a failure. Quiet power leaders tend to give honest, reflective answers about what went wrong and what they learned. They’re not trying to spin every experience into a win. That honesty is a signal of the steadiness that makes them effective over time.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Third, pay attention to the questions they ask you. A leader with this profile will ask about your team dynamics, your current positioning, and your <a href="/oath-formula/">buyer’s awareness level</a> before they ask about budget or timeline. They’re diagnosing before they pitch.</p>
<h2 id="the-leader-who-sees-around-corners" class="wp-block-heading">The Leader Who Sees Around Corners</h2>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Every company needs people who can energize a room. But the ones who consistently grow are the ones who also have a leader who can see around corners. Someone who anticipates problems before they surface, who reads the market before it shifts, and who builds strategy on evidence rather than enthusiasm.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">That person is rarely the loudest in the room. They’re often the one sitting quietly, processing what everyone else is saying, and waiting for the right moment to redirect the conversation toward what actually matters.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">If your leadership team doesn’t have someone like that, you might want to rethink what you’re optimizing for in your next hire.</p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
<h2 id="frequently-asked-questions" class="wp-block-heading">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>
<div class="wp-block-wpseopress-faq-block-v2 is-layout-flow wp-block-wpseopress-faq-block-v2-is-layout-flow">
<details id="what-is-the-charisma-trap-in-executive-hiring" class="wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow"><summary><strong>What is the “charisma trap” in executive hiring?</strong></summary>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">It’s the pattern of over-indexing on energy and presence during evaluation because those traits are easy to read in a 60-minute interview. Judgment, steadiness, and diagnostic ability are harder to assess quickly, so they get underweighted. The result is a leadership bench heavy on vision and light on execution — people who can inspire a charge up the hill but struggle to determine whether it’s the right hill.</p>
</details>
<details id="what-is-the-high-d-high-s-personality-profile-and-why-is-it-rare" class="wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow"><summary><strong>What is the high-D/high-S personality profile and why is it rare?</strong></summary>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">It’s a combination where both Dominance and Steadiness score at the top — results-driven and decisive on one side, dependably patient and team-loyal on the other. Most people lean strongly toward one or the other. When both are elevated, you get someone who can push hard for outcomes without burning the team out. My own DiSC assessment returned Dominance and Steadiness tied at 67%, which assessors flag as uncommon. The APT framework calls it the Specialist or Achiever pattern.</p>
</details>
<details id="what-does-quiet-power-look-like-in-a-strategy-meeting" class="wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow"><summary><strong>What does “quiet power” look like in a strategy meeting?</strong></summary>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I’m rarely the one pitching the plan — I’m usually the one asking the question that changes it. That means listening to every perspective before forming my own, processing information deeply rather than quickly, and resisting the pull toward premature certainty. When I do speak, what I say has already been pressure-tested internally. That discipline is the opposite of indecisiveness. It’s how sound strategy gets made rather than announced.</p>
</details>
<details id="why-does-this-profile-suit-fractional-executive-work-particularly-well" class="wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow"><summary><strong>Why does this profile suit fractional executive work particularly well?</strong></summary>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Fractional engagements require delivering strategic value fast, without months to build political capital. That demands someone who can read a situation quickly, earn trust without dominating, and drive results without leaving broken relationships behind. The charismatic archetype often struggles in that context because the role demands precision, not performance. Diagnosis before prescription. Listening before leading.</p>
</details>
<details id="what-are-three-hiring-signals-that-identify-a-quiet-power-leader" class="wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow"><summary><strong>What are three hiring signals that identify a quiet power leader?</strong></summary>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Ask about their diagnostic process — this profile will describe how they read a business before acting on it, using frameworks and assessment periods rather than jumping straight to deliverables. Ask about a failure — they give honest, reflective answers rather than spinning everything into a win. Watch the questions they ask you: they’ll want to understand team dynamics, positioning, and buyer awareness before they ask about budget or timeline. They diagnose before they pitch.</p>
</details>
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