IMPACT is the diagnostic system Sercxi uses on every engaged search — and the one we license to internal hiring committees through the Executive Hiring Lab. Six independent reads, calibrated across engaged placements since 2000, designed to expose the misalignments that account for most failed senior hires in the first twelve months.
IIntegration·MMotivational Archaeology·PPrecision Under Ambiguity·AAccountability Architecture·CConviction Depth·TTrust Mechanics
Full walkthrough below. To apply IMPACT to a live mandate, Meeting → or request the one-pager.
The Six Dimensions
In plain terms: each dimension is a separate test. A candidate can pass four and still be the wrong hire - IMPACT makes that visible.
Boardroom-to-build credibility
Can this leader navigate a matrix organisation's politics while still having the conviction to pull a request? Leaders credible in both the boardroom and the engineering standup are extraordinarily rare.
Diagnostic in Practice
A CTO candidate's infrastructure philosophy required an 18-month rebuild; the board wanted visible progress in six. Surfaced before final interview - saved a costly mishire on both sides.
Why they lead, not what they've led
Everyone claims to want a transformation. We ask why. The leader motivated by the problem itself - not the title it brings - is the one who stays through the hard middle.
Diagnostic in Practice
A VP Engineering candidate had moved laterally into a failing business unit nobody wanted. The driver was the technical challenge, not narrative polish. Pattern repeated across four career decisions.
Decisions when the map is still being drawn
Structured reasoning when the data is incomplete. In distributed infrastructure and regulated finance, reckless certainty fails as fast as paralysis.
Diagnostic in Practice
Committed to a cooling architecture before regulatory approval. We assessed what they treated as reversible, what they locked in, and what they deferred. Reasoning quality mattered more than outcome.
Scar tissue from staying when others left
Wisdom accumulated from migrations that went sideways and from rebuilding teams after the wrong hire. The strongest single predictor of future performance.
Diagnostic in Practice
A Head of Platform stayed to rebuild after a failed cloud migration. Second time: new team structure, vendor governance, escalation cadence. The scar tissue was the qualification.
Holding the line when the board asks 'are you sure?'
The quiet variable that determines whether a placement transforms an organisation or merely fills a seat. We measure it because hope is not a strategy.
Diagnostic in Practice
A Chief Data Officer rejected the board's preferred vendor after their own evaluation. Absorbed the political cost. Proven right eighteen months later. Conviction with evidence - not stubbornness.
Speed-to-trust across functions and cultures
How a leader builds credibility across functions, levels, and time zones simultaneously. Trust built in Singapore does not automatically transfer to Amsterdam.
Diagnostic in Practice
A regional CTO joining from outside achieved engineering buy-in in 60 days. Weekly technical deep-dives, transparent decision logs, one deliberate admission of what they didn't know.
Why It Matters
Most executive assessment exists to justify a decision already made. IMPACT exists to improve the decision before it is made - by giving the hiring committee structured, comparable reads on the variables that actually predict performance at this seat.
01
Most search firms over-weight one or two dimensions - usually domain experience or 'culture fit'. IMPACT forces six independent reads, so blind spots become visible before offer stage.
02
The framework catches the architecture-vs-roadmap, conviction-vs-board, and trust-velocity gaps that account for most failed senior placements in the first twelve months.
03
Hiring committees disagree because they don't share vocabulary for what 'good' looks like at this seat. IMPACT gives them six precise frames - not feelings.
04
Polished careers no longer dominate. Operators who navigated hard problems quietly - usually the strongest hires - now compete on equal terms with rehearsed presenters.
For the Hiring Committee
A board-grade artefact each stakeholder uses for a different decision - built once, defensible across the cycle.
Board Chair
A written, six-dimension read on the finalist that survives scrutiny in the next board cycle - not a recommendation built on instinct.
CEO / COO
Surface the architecture-vs-roadmap, conviction-vs-board, and trust-velocity gaps before the offer is extended, not after the first quarter.
CHRO / Head of TA
Replace 'culture fit' and résumé optimisation with six precise frames every interviewer scores against. Disagreement becomes structured, not personal.
Hiring Committee
Every candidate - Sercxi-sourced or internal - is read against the same six dimensions. The committee compares operators on equal terms.
Artefacts the committee receives
One-page IMPACT scorecard per candidate
Written diagnostic against the live mandate
Calibrated reference questions for the committee
90-day onboarding signal map for the placed hire
Apply to a Live Mandate
Bring a real C-level, VP or Director seat you are about to open - or one already in market - and we will run IMPACT against it with you. The output is a board-grade calibration of the role and a defensible read on what to assess for.
Book the Calibration Session60 minutes · Confidential · Partner-led · No obligation
Before the session
A short brief on the role, the buying group, and the outcome the hire needs to unlock. We pre-read against IMPACT.
In the session
We work through Integration, Motivation, Precision, Accountability, Conviction, and Trust against your specific stage, sector and stakeholders.
After the session
A one-page IMPACT scorecard your committee can use against any candidate - Sercxi-sourced or otherwise. No commitment to retain us.
The framework was built in 250+ engaged placements. The point of the session is to make it useful inside your next one.
The One-Pager
A single-page diagnostic reference covering the six dimensions, with prompt questions for each. Designed for hiring committees, board members, and talent leaders running senior technology searches.
PDF · One page · Print-ready
Prefer no form? Read the plain-text one-pager →
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Where IMPACT Lives
Every engagement starts with alignment. Choose the path that matches where you are.
Confidential · 30 minutes · Partner-led · No obligation
Three candidates, every one we would hire ourselves.
Commission a Search
You know the role. You need the operator. Define what this hire needs to unlock.
Begin AI Assessment
Two weeks of precision diagnostics before committing to a search. Know what you need before you hire for it.
See the AssessmentSubmit a brief without your company name. We confirm fit before any details are exchanged.
Request Partner Allocation
A confidential briefing with a resident corridor partner. No gatekeepers, no intermediaries.
Request Partner AllocationSecure calendar allocation — cross-border mandates only.