Executive Reference Check

Template Overview

Superficial reference checks yield little beyond polite platitudes. The Executive Reference Check template conducts forensic inquiries with former supervisors, cross-functional peers, and direct reports, uncovering managerial blind spots, crisis behavior, and true cultural impact in Markdown.

Markdown Template Structure

Copy the block below or click Download .md File to add this template directly to your personal vault:

---
title: "Executive Reference: [Candidate Name] - [Referee Name]"
date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
caller: "[[Chief Executive Officer]]"
candidate_name: "[Candidate Name]"
target_executive_role: "VP of Engineering"
referee_name: "[Referee Executive Name]"
referee_title: "[Former CEO / Board Member]"
working_relationship: "Managed candidate directly for 3.5 years at Enterprise Corp"
tags: [reference-check, executive-hiring, leadership, due-diligence]
---

# Executive Reference Check — [Candidate Name]

## 1. Reference Relationship Context
- **Working Duration:** Managed the candidate directly from 2022 to 2025 during their growth from Series B to Series D.
- **Reporting Hierarchy:** Candidate reported directly to referee; led an organization of 65 engineers.
- **Ground Rules:** Confidential executive dialogue; unvarnished candid assessment requested.

## 2. Core Operational & Leadership Inquiries
### Question 1: Delivery Velocity & Technical Craftsmanship
- **Inquiry:** "What was their single greatest technical or operational achievement under your leadership?"
- **Referee Assessment:** "They completely restructured our fragile deployment pipeline, reducing regression outages by 90% while doubling feature velocity."

### Question 2: People Leadership & Talent Magnetism
- **Inquiry:** "Did top talent follow them, and did they build strong succession benches?"
- **Referee Assessment:** "Exceptional talent magnet. When they joined, 4 top senior architects from their previous company followed them within 6 months."

### Question 3: Management Under Pressure & Blind Spots
- **Inquiry:** "When things went wrong or board targets were missed, how did they handle the pressure?"
- **Referee Assessment:** "Extremely steady. Never scapegoated frontline engineers. However, they can be stubborn about engineering perfection and need a strong product counterpart to balance scope."

## 3. The Ultimate Acid Test
> [!IMPORTANT] The Re-Hire Question
> **"If you were starting a new company tomorrow, would you re-hire this person into their target role without hesitation?"**
> **Referee Response:** *"In a heartbeat. They were the best engineering executive I have ever worked with."*

## 4. Organizational Success Conditions
- The candidate thrives when given clear autonomy over architecture and hiring.
- Ensure they are paired with a pragmatic product counterpart who excels at commercial deadlines.

## 5. Caller Summary & Hiring Recommendation
- **Verdict:** **Validated Strong Hire**. Reference checks confirm exceptional leadership integrity and technical depth.
- [ ] Incorporate reference findings into final compensation proposal.

Filled Real-World Example

Here is a realistic example demonstrating how this template captures actual deliberations:

---
title: "Executive Reference: Alistair Vance"
date: 2026-10-05
caller: "[[Robert Sterling]]"
candidate_name: "Alistair Vance"
referee_name: "Margaret Hughes, Former Board Chair"
tags: [reference-check, executive]
---

# Executive Reference: Alistair Vance

## 1. Summary
Robert Sterling spoke with Margaret Hughes regarding Alistair Vance. Margaret provided an unreserved recommendation, praising Alistair's intellectual honesty during turbulent board transitions.

When to Use and When to Avoid

When to Use

• Use during final executive due diligence before extending VP or C-level employment offers.
• Use when conducting 360 reference checks across former supervisors, peers, and direct reports.
• Use to identify the specific organizational conditions needed for executive success.

When to Avoid

• Avoid using for entry-level or junior role reference verifications.
• Avoid using as a substitute for primary technical interviews.

On-Device AI Integration

Summarize your recording in Oyma with this local instruction:

Analyze the executive reference check audio recording:
1. Extract the referee's assessment of the candidate's greatest achievements and talent retention impact.
2. Outline disclosed blind spots, management tendencies under pressure, and success conditions.
3. Record the referee's explicit answer to the 'would you re-hire' question and final hiring recommendations into Markdown.

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