Trends, Technology, and Leadership

Rapid AI development, increased cybersecurity risks, and an increasing need for expert communicators are just some of the challenges facing today’s IT leaders. Tino Mantella talks about this, executive search, the state of nonprofits, and more in his recent interview with John Ray, host of North Fulton County Business Radio.  

Tino is President & Managing Partner of Retained, a leading executive search firm specializing in the Technology and Nonprofit sectors. During the discussion, Tino and John touched on several topics, including Tino’s background, industry trends, what he’s doing with Retained, and more. 

Challenges Facing Technology Leaders 

Speaking on some of the unique challenges facing IT leaders like CIOs and CTOs, Tino shared how things have changed over the years and how these types of roles have evolved.  

“Now they (speaking of Tech Leaders) have to be next-level communicators, where they may be sitting with the CEO, or they have to go before the board to discuss security concerns and assurances. Their sophistication as communicators is really important.” 

On top of that, companies must be sure of what they are looking for in a Tech leader, like a CIO. Are they maintaining the status quo or are they on the cutting edge of innovation? Are they going to help their organization migrate its data if necessary?  

“So, when looking for a company’s next leader, It’s really about understanding their needs,” explains Tino. I leverage my personal network, Retained’s nationwide network, AI, and other available resources to say, ‘OK, here’s three to five candidates that we think would be really good for this role.’”  

A little later in the discussion, John mentioned the difference between understanding what clients might be looking for and providing advice or discernment on what they should be looking for. From Tino’s perspective, it’s not about changing their mind but broadening their perspective and asking the right questions.  

“What happens is people are looking for somebody who has red, yellow, or green, and maybe my opportunity is to say, have you thought about blue? This is in terms of something they can contribute that the client wasn’t considering.”  

Leadership in Executive Search 

Tino has held many leadership roles over his storied career, and one of his more recent roles was as President & CEO of Turknett Leadership Group, a leadership development firm based in Tucker, GA. During that time, Tino had the opportunity to see some of the challenges that leaders faced and the types of leadership principles that could be applied to remedy those challenges. This gives Tino a distinct advantage in the role by applying that knowledge to his searches and interviews.  

“At TLG, we were coaching around 300 individuals, many of whom were at the C-Suite level. I got to see every opportunity they had and every challenge they had, which really helps me to see when I’m doing an executive search.”  

When asked by John who would be an ideal client, Tino emphasized their flexibility and capability to serve a diverse range of businesses, from large companies to mid-cap. “Really, companies of any size, in this case, would be a good fit,” explains Tino. “I’m beginning to communicate with PE firms and VC firms even. Maybe they’re looking to expand their team, or now they have majority ownership, and they’re looking for new leadership that we can do those searches.” 

While Retained partners with larger corporations, Tino acknowledged that even small-cap companies could benefit from their services. Tino also highlighted the importance of focusing on emerging sectors of technology. “I’d love for a young company to say, ‘I need to hire my first head of marketing,’ or ‘I need to hire my first CIO or VP of technology.’ Many of them now are CTOs because they are using more of the cloud.”  

Executive Search Reengineered 

Check out the full recording to hear the rest of Tino and John’s conversation. Retained is reengineering the search process, simplifying the executive search process while maximizing the effectiveness of our proven recruitment strategies. We’d love to help you find your next leader. Visit our solutions page to learn more about what we have to offer, and contact us today to get started.