Who is Blackshaw Partners?

If you want to understand who Blackshaw Partners is and why you should consider working with them on your executive search and talent needs, the first step is to get to know Brian Blackshaw.

Brian is a purpose-driven, highly intelligent, intensely passionate person with a genuine desire to help people. Each step of his professional life has led him to help businesses succeed and connect with people in a meaningful way.

We sat down with Brian recently to learn more about his professional background, experience, and the journey of building Blackshaw Partners into the executive search business leader it is today.

Can you tell us about your early experience? How did you get started in the Search Business?

Brian: I joined the Singer company in the early ‘70’s right out of college. When I joined, the company was really beginning to diversify and prioritize talent acquisition and development. Singer was hungry to compete with other major brands like IBM and Xerox, so they started Singer Business Machines.

With Singer Business Machines, I was leading campus recruiting for about a year and a half, mostly because I was young, single, and could better relate to the students! It worked well for me and the Company! That role really ignited my passion for identifying, attracting, and delivering great talent and led into a more senior role doing corporate and executive recruiting for Singer Business Machines.

At Singer, I had the opportunity to act as a liaison between executive searches that Singer and some of the larger companies were doing. I was able to meet with executives at top companies which further piqued my interest in talent recruiting and executive management work.

When I left Singer in July 1976, I did so with just enough capital (and plenty of vision!) to  start my own practice.   Building my own business further fueled my passion for executive search.

In 1986 I teamed up with three other partners to form Blackshaw, Olmstead, Lynch & Koenig, which is the name the company maintained until 2009, when my other partners retired, and I carried this great practice forward as Blackshaw Partners.

Has Blackshaw Partners always been a global business?

Brian: The company really went global when we brought on Yuri Sugawara and Angela Caine in 2012. Yuri splits her time between Tokyo and North Carolina while Angela splits her time between Germany and Atlanta. It was the influence of these two amazing women that accelerated our reach and influence internationally. They are exceptional and bring so much global insight.

Today’s technology has also accelerated our international growth, allowing us to do searches anywhere in the world. A great example is our current work in Saudi Arabia. Our global footprint also includes Mexico, Canada, and France.

What sets Blackshaw Partners apart from other Executive Search firms?

Brian: One thing to realize in executive search is that we’re all very good. It’s similar to searching for a good lawyer or a good CPA; they’re not difficult to find.

What I believe makes us exceptionally good is the amount of attention and care we offer our clients. It’s our personalized interaction and persistent hard work!

The ideal executive looks different across different industries, different organizational maturities, etc. What we do with superior results is identify and deliver executive talent that is a precise cultural fit for our clients – executives that will drive results and success long-term.

What specifically makes Blackshaw Partners successful?

Brian: With Blackshaw Partners, you’re getting seasoned professionals in the industry with myself, Greg, Angela, Yuri, etc. You’re not just getting any regional representative or a randomly assigned employee; you’re dealing directly with senior search experts and a trusted team. Also, having that one-on-one relationship is so important to many clients in their search for executives.

One thing we are not is generic or institutional.  

It’s not something you can necessarily brand and package on a mass scale. We take each project personally, so we can customize our solutions.… We take great care and pride … and it shows.

Are there specific challenges you find when you’re searching for candidates?

Brian: It’s important that we look at each candidate not as a whole but as how they will fit into specific company cultures and the open roles. Of course, it is important to examine their executive experience in their specific fields, but maybe more important is their leadership style and how that will fit with the company and their goals. Chemistry.

We ask ourselves each time: Does the executive candidate’s leadership style closely fit the company style that will ultimately mean success for both? It’s our job to understand this intuitively, as quickly as possible, to ensure success for the candidate and for the client.

How do you see the industry of executive search changing in the coming years?

Brian: I remember when LinkedIn launched in May of 2003.  It was a shock to the search industry, and everyone immediately assumed that our industry was dead. They all told us, “Executive search firms will be obsolete,” and that our kind of recruiting won’t be needed anymore because we have the internet. What we have clearly seen is just the opposite. It all co-exists in synch, and LinkedIn, AI, plus advanced CRM platforms, are invaluable business tools serving candidates, companies, and executive search firms… like Blackshaw Partners. Finding the right executive talent is hard, and AI doesn’t solve that. If anything, the world of executive search is stronger than ever.

Do you have any suggestions for companies that may be preparing for a change of leadership and planning for the future?

Brian: Any smart CEO or chairman has a succession strategy in place. It is incumbent on senior level executives to be looking around internally and assessing who may be able to replace them or other key executives in the company. Smart executives also recognize the need to search outside and across industries for the very best talent.

If you want to be a global winner, be prepared, open the dialogue, and start a conversation with me and our team. That way, if and when the day comes and the need arises, the lines of communication are already open; and we are briefed and ready to help.

Finding the right executive can be overwhelming, and the stakes are high. Blackshaw Partners has the experience, the international reach, and the passion to make it happen. It’s more than simply finding candidates; it’s about finding the ideal candidate for your company’s specific goals with the right chemistry to succeed.

Contact Brian or one of his trusted partners today to be on your way to finding the ideal executive for your leadership role. Even if you’re not yet ready for that transition, start the conversation today.

When the time comes, you’ll be in trusted hands.

For more information about Blackshaw Partners, email info@blackshawpartners.com.