Article by Ken Glover,
President & Managing Partner, HumanEdge
I recently started playing pickleball and have been surprised to discover several unexpected parallels with my world at HumanEdge and executive search.
At first glance, pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, and executive search, a discipline dedicated to finding and placing executive and senior-level talent, seem entirely different. One is played on a court with paddles and a wiffle ball, while the other unfolds in boardrooms and offices across a wide variety of professions and sectors. Yet there are some striking similarities.
Strategy and Positioning
In pickleball, success depends heavily on positioning. Players must maintain control of the “kitchen line” (the non-volley zone line), dictating the pace and forcing opponents into reactive play. Strong positioning allows a player or team to anticipate returns, cut off angles, and maintain an offensive advantage.
An executive search similarly hinges on positioning – though not on a court, but in the talent marketplace. Search professionals position themselves between organizations in need of leadership and executives with the skills to deliver results. Just as players have to read the court, search professionals need to understand industry trends, market dynamics, and client needs. Both require strategic foresight. The pickleball player must anticipate where the ball will land, while the search professional must evaluate their client’s unique situation and goals to identify the best leadership candidates for their current and future needs.
Skill Development and Mastery of Fundamentals
Pickleball is accessible to beginners, but mastery requires commitment to the fundamentals: consistent serves, effective dinks, sharp volleys, and tactical lobs. Skilled players study the game and refine their technique to the point where execution becomes instinctive.
In executive search, fundamentals also underpin success. Search professionals must master research, candidate evaluation, screening, interviewing, and relationship-building. Like refining a pickleball serve, a skilled search professional refines their ability to assess candidates’ technical and leadership experience, competencies, cultural fit, and capacity to contribute to the client’s success. Continuous improvement is key in both fields. A player who neglects footwork eventually falters; a search professional who neglects due diligence risks placing a candidate who underperforms for the client.
Adaptability in Dynamic Situations
No pickleball match unfolds predictably. A sudden change in pace, a surprising lob, or an unforced error can shift momentum. The best players adapt instantly, reorienting their position and recalibrating their strategy mid-rally.
The Role of Patience
Pickleball rewards patience as much as aggression. Skilled players often engage in extended rallies, waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack. Impatience – hitting too hard or too early – often leads to errors and lost points.
Executive search also requires patience. The right candidate rarely emerges overnight. Professionals invest weeks or months in cultivating prospects, building trust, and ensuring alignment. Acting too hastily can backfire, just as a rushed pickleball shot can cost the rally. Both endeavours remind us that timing is everything: success comes not from moving fastest, but from waiting for the right moment to act decisively.
Teamwork and Communication
Executive search is equally dynamic. A candidate may withdraw late in the process, a client’s needs may shift with market realities, or economic conditions may alter the search parameters. Just as a pickleball player should keep calm under pressure and adapt to the bounce of the ball, an executive search professional must remain flexible and adjust tactics and tools without losing sight of the ultimate goal.
Doubles pickleball, the most common form of play, depends on teamwork. Partners coordinate positioning, call shots, and back each other up. Effective communication prevents overlaps and ensures the players cover the court efficiently.
In executive search, teamwork is equally vital. Researchers and client partners collaborate to deliver optimal results. Team coordination ensures that high-potential candidates are accurately identified, pursued, and thoroughly vetted. Just as doubles partners rely on trust and complementary skills, executive search teams depend on shared vision and clear communication to succeed.
Reading People and Anticipating Moves
Pickleball requires players to “read” opponents – anticipating tendencies, spotting weaknesses, and exploiting opportunities. For example, a player may notice that an opponent struggles with backhand returns and then target that side strategically.
Executive search also demands a strong ability to read people. Professionals assess not only skills and experience, but also motivation, leadership style, personality and cultural alignment. The ability to anticipate how a candidate will respond in a new role mirrors the way a pickleball player anticipates how an opponent will respond to a shot. Success in both requires skilled observation and intuition.
The Pursuit of Fit
At its heart, pickleball is about finding balance – between power and finesse, offence and defence, patience and boldness. Players who find the right “fit” between these elements excel on the court.
Executive search is fundamentally about fit as well: aligning a candidate’s skills, values, and aspirations with an organization’s leadership needs, competencies, culture and strategy. The best searches result in placements that allow both the executive and the organization to thrive, much like a doubles partnership in pickleball thrives when partners’ strengths and styles complement each other.
Conclusion
Ultimately, both pickleball and executive search teach broader lessons. They remind us that preparation, adaptability, and relationships are central to success. They show that patience and timing can outweigh brute force or speed. They highlight the joy of connecting people, whether it is a rally across the net or a career placement.
At first glance, pickleball and executive search may appear to have nothing in common. Yet both embody the same essence: a blend of strategy, patience, adaptability, and human connection. Each requires mastery of fundamentals, constant learning, patience, and the ability to anticipate and respond with agility. Both thrive on teamwork, trust, and the pursuit of fit.
They also prove that disciplines as seemingly disparate as sport and business can share common principles of strategy, skill, and human connection. It is a reminder that, whether on the court or in the talent marketplace, success comes not from brute force alone, but from strategic, thoughtful, well-timed action.
Both are journeys that reward those who commit to strategy, patience, and partnership – ultimately delivering outcomes greater than the sum of their parts.