Fortune 500 companies do it and so do national nonprofits. Cities and counties do it, too. We're talking about executive recruitment, and it is among the most important tasks any organization will undertake. Why? Because matching the best candidates with important positions does not happen by chance.
CEOs and members of boards of directors bear responsibility for tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of people's livelihoods. There is no margin for error. Executive search consultants are valuable members of the team for they ensure the decision-makers are presented with the best possible candidates to fill the most important roles.
In politics, however, who runs and subsequently who wins an election is too often left to chance. In recent years, too many winning candidates chose to run because they either were termed-out of office of their prior post or had the financial backing of narrowly focused interest groups – not because they were the best person for the job.
With an annual state budget larger than most national budgets, we need to do more than hope the best-qualified people make it through this gauntlet. We need to actively encourage them to run for public office.
In the Republican Party, a new effort has been launched to take up this challenge. Its name: California Republicans Aligned for Tomorrow, or CRAFT.
CRAFT's mission is to identify, develop and support strong Republican candidates who can win key statewide general elections in California. With an independent board of directors, a diverse advisory committee and a professional team to provide training, resources and support, CRAFT's goal is to encourage candidates to run who not only reflect the diversity of this state, but most important of all, who will do a great job for the people of California once they are elected.
I first saw the need for CRAFT as chairman of the California Republican Party. As I traveled the state, I was impressed with the quality and diversity of our legislative, regional and local leaders, and the incredible talent in the private and nonprofit sectors. However, very few of these gifted men and women were even thinking about running for statewide office. To unlock what is truly our state's most valuable resource, our people, it was clear to me it was going to take a comprehensive plan that potential candidates could depend on over a period of years.
Some may ask, "How will you find these potential leaders?" I've been fortunate to develop relationships throughout California in business, politics and the nonprofit world. The same is true for every one of our board members. Through this network, we already have identified more than 25 potential candidates – and we have only just begun.
In the end, many of these individuals will decide not to run this cycle and some may decide never to run. However, the concept is that we are building a farm team from which the best will rise to the top. And we believe that is what our Founders had in mind more than two centuries ago.
One recent conversation captures what California Republicans Aligned for Tomorrow is all about. I met with a woman who is one of the leaders in her field and represents the best of our diverse culture. This person told me that her next step was to run for a regional office. I asked if she had ever thought of running statewide. Her response essentially was: "It is the last thing I think about before I go to sleep and the first thing I think of when I awake. However, only a fraction of our state's 37 million people know who I am, and it takes so much money to run statewide."
Since when does name recognition or personal wealth represent the only qualifications to hold elective office? That's got to change, and it will.
Like an executive search firm, we will start at the end and work backward. Our first question will be: Does this person have the potential vision, experience and commitment to be a strong statewide officeholder? If the answer is yes, we then will sit down with them, the Republican Party, our grass roots, the donors and campaign professionals to develop a game plan to unlock that person's potential for the good of the party, but more importantly for the good of the state. And if we listen, if we stay focused and if we stay humble, we hope our joint effort will pay dividends for decades to come.