Michelle Edmondson works in executive search and advisory for senior technology and cyber leaders. Edmondson's posts describe CIO, CTO and CISO searches, executive assessment, and helping leaders explain their experience and impact.
Useful for evidence-led thought leadership on CIO and CISO hiring and executive assessment.
Best for
Search firms or boards hiring CIOs and CISOs who want practical hiring content.
Not for
Consumer brands seeking sponsored product posts for broad consumer audiences.
Key takeaways
Hiring a CIO or CISO is about fit for one mandate, not ranking who is best.
Interview performance is not evidence of capability.
Candidates have to make their own case, because the consultant makes it in the room.
Check first: Confirm sponsorship or content collaboration availability, deliverables, disclosure, and audience data.
Main ideas
Hiring a CIO or CISO is about fit for one mandate, not ranking who is best · The formally engaged model means taking responsibility for the appointment · Interview performance is not evidence of capability
Michelle Edmondson writes about executive search and advises CIOs, CTOs and CISOs on how to present their experience.
Their posts explain how hiring mandates shape a search, how to assess leaders on accomplishments rather than interview polish, and how candidates can make their decisions and impact clear.
They show their work from both sides: helping clients define what they need and helping executives explain what they have done.
Michelle Edmondson connects hiring needs to examples that can be tested.
They argue that an impressive candidate is not automatically right for a particular mandate, and that agreed criteria help teams look past a polished interview.
A transformation leader, for example, should be able to explain decisions made when things went wrong, how they handled resistance, and what changed as a result.
Their advisory examples apply the same focus to candidates: turning a six-minute answer into a clear two-minute account, or reshaping a transformation story around the leader’s decisions rather than the program alone.
Follow their work for practical explanations of executive search and senior-leadership assessment, grounded in specific hiring and coaching situations.
Michelle Edmondson writes about executive search for senior technology and cyber leaders, mainly CIO, CTO and CISO appointments.
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Their recurring arguments: search is about fit for a specific mandate, not ranking candidates; a formally engaged basis makes that possible; interview polish does not prove capability; and executives need to understand how search works, not simply try to get known. A parallel strand covers advisory work that helps leaders make their existing experience easier for the market to understand.
Hiring a CIO or CISO is about fit for one mandate, not ranking who is best
Edmondson argues that executive search is not a league table of the strongest candidates.
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A search consultant may meet an outstanding CISO and decide not to put them forward—not because someone better exists, but because the client needs something specific. The consultant’s job is to understand the mandate, advise the client on the market and the company’s needs, and find people whose experience and leadership fit.
Edmondson lists what a mandate can demand: someone who has rebuilt a security function after a breach, a CISO who can change how a board understands and responds to cyber risk, or a leader suited to an IPO, a more heavily regulated market or rapid growth. In a related post, they say a consultant cannot simply forward a CV with “they're good”; they must explain why the person makes sense for that business and where the client should probe further.
The formally engaged model means taking responsibility for the appointment
Edmondson argues that proper executive search is not a race among recruiters to get CVs in front of a client.
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In the formally engaged model described here, the firm is hired by the company and takes responsibility for the appointment before approaching any candidates. The work begins with understanding why the company is hiring, what needs to change and whether everyone involved in the decision agrees on what they are looking for.
Edmondson says those early conversations sometimes change a company’s needs entirely.
The process then moves to researching the market, approaching executives who may never have considered the opportunity, and assessing them against what the business needs.
The firm has delivered executive search for 15 years.
Candidates contacted about a commissioned assignment should expect proper communication and meaningful feedback, given the time senior executives invest in exploring a role.
Interview performance is not evidence of capability
Edmondson warns that a CIO interview process can end up selecting the best interviewer rather than the best CIO.
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Some executives are polished, articulate, quick on their feet and ready with a compelling answer.
That is impressive, but it does not prove they should lead a technology function.
The countermeasure is to agree on what is being assessed before interviews begin and give the hiring team criteria more useful than instinct.
For a complex transformation, Edmondson wants evidence that the candidate has led one: the decisions they made when things went wrong, how they handled resistance, where they changed course and what resulted.
For a CISO, talking brilliantly about board engagement is not the same as showing what they have done to change how a board understands cyber risk.
Clear criteria give the hiring panel more to discuss than “I really liked them”; Edmondson also helps clients write detailed assessment rubrics.
Getting known by search firms is not a strategy; understanding how search works is
Edmondson considers “get to know some headhunters” unhelpful advice.
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More useful, they say, is understanding how the system works and how to position yourself within it: how mandates are won, how firms identify potential candidates, how researchers and consultants map a market, why an executive might hear nothing for months and then suddenly get a call, and how to build relationships before a relevant role exists.
In a week of advisory sessions, one executive explored how commissioned search actually works, which relationships were worth developing and how to stay visible without appearing every few months with a résumé to ask whether anyone has a job. Edmondson frames this as a full module in their CIO and CISO advisory work.
Candidates have to make their own case, because the consultant makes it in the room
Edmondson says one question follows every meeting with a CIO or CISO: what am I going to tell my client?
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To put someone forward, the consultant needs to explain why they fit this business, what they have delivered, how they think, where they have made difficult decisions, what changed because of their leadership and where the client should probe further.
The client is paying for judgement, so the consultant must understand the candidate well enough to put their own credibility behind the introduction and argue the case when the candidate is not in the room.
The clearer executives make their case to the consultant, the stronger the consultant’s case will be.
Edmondson’s advisory work includes reshaping a transformation story that had become dominated by the programme itself.
They work backwards to the decisions, commercial context and leadership judgement that made the example interesting, then help the executive practise the revised narrative for different audiences.
One interview answer that ran nearly six minutes became a stronger two-minute executive story without losing substance.
The answer is rarely “you need more experience”: the people involved are already accomplished VPs, CIOs and CISOs.
The work is making their experience clear, memorable and valuable to the market.
This is the clearest starting point for understanding what executive search selects for.
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It explains why an outstanding CISO might not be put forward and why becoming “known” to recruiters is not the same as being positioned for a search.
Michelle Edmondson explains that executive search matches candidates to a specific mandate rather than ranking who is the best CISO.
The post gives examples of what a client may need: someone who has rebuilt a security function after a breach, a CISO who can change how the Board understands cyber risk, or a leader suited to an IPO, heavier regulation, or rapid growth.
It also warns that simply becoming known to many search firms is not much of a strategy.
Candidates need to understand how mandates are won, how firms identify candidates, how researchers map a market, why months of silence may precede a call, and how to build relationships before a role exists.
For brands planning a campaign
A thought-leadership partnership could build on this post to explain why “best candidate” lists mislead hiring teams and how defining the mandate changes the shortlist. It would suit a search firm’s client-facing education.
It explains what “retained” means in practice and how the model shapes client conversations and candidate experience.
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A newcomer gets a direct account of the process before it reaches interviews.
Michelle Edmondson argues that proper executive search cannot be done well by racing other recruiters to get CVs in front of a client.
The post describes taking responsibility for an appointment before approaching a single candidate: understanding why the company is hiring, what needs to change, and whether decision-makers agree on what they are looking for.
Those conversations can change the hiring need entirely.
The process then moves to researching the market, approaching executives who may never have considered the opportunity, and assessing candidates against what the business needs.
For candidates, an assignment means the search firm has been formally engaged by the company, understands the mandate, has access to decision-makers, and can give a clear picture of the opportunity and process.
The post also states that Edmondson Group has delivered executive search for 15 years.
For brands planning a campaign
This post could anchor a content collaboration on retained versus contingent search, decision-maker alignment, and what senior candidates should expect from a search process. It explains the commercial model behind the advice.
It explains how to distinguish interview performance from actual capability, with specific examples hiring teams can apply.
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It is a strong starting point for anyone assessing senior technology leadership.
Michelle Edmondson warns that some executives are exceptionally good at interviews: polished, articulate, quick on their feet, and ready with a compelling answer.
That can impress, but it does not necessarily show they are right to lead the technology function.
The post argues for agreeing what to assess before interviewing, giving the hiring team something more useful than instinct.
For a complex transformation, the search should look for evidence that the candidate has led one: the decisions they made when things went wrong, how they handled resistance, where they changed course, and what happened as a result.
For a CISO, talking brilliantly about Board engagement is not the same as showing what they have done to change how a Board understands and responds to cyber risk.
Communication matters, but it is part of the assessment, not a substitute for it.
The post concludes that a clear mandate and agreed assessment criteria give everyone more to discuss than “I really liked them.”
For brands planning a campaign
A partnership could produce practical content on structured executive assessment, reducing interview bias, and writing rubrics for CIO and CISO hires. It would suit an advisory or research-led campaign aimed at boards and hiring executives.
It explains what Michelle Edmondson does in advisory sessions and the problems they solve.
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This is the most accessible view of the day-to-day coaching behind the search and assessment advice.
Michelle Edmondson describes several advisory sessions from one week.
One executive examined how they described a major transformation: the experience was impressive, but the story centred on the program itself.
They worked backwards to uncover the decisions, commercial context, and leadership judgement that made the example interesting, then practised shaping the narrative for the audience.
Another session covered how executive search works, which relationships are worth developing, and how to stay visible without periodically sending a résumé and asking if anyone has a job.
A third challenged an executive on what they wanted to be known for: experience that could take them in several directions made it hard for the market to place them.
Interview work included turning an answer that ran nearly six minutes into a stronger two-minute executive story without losing substance.
The post concludes that the answer is rarely “you need more experience”: these are already accomplished VPs, CIOs, and CISOs, and the work often involves making existing experience easier for the market to understand, remember, and buy.
For brands planning a campaign
This is strong evidence for a content partnership on executive positioning, narrative coaching, and interview preparation. Concrete session examples show the advisory offer in practice.
It explains what a search consultant needs from a candidate and why it matters.
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It is a practical starting point for a senior executive looking to present their candidacy.
Michelle Edmondson says that after every meeting with a CIO or CISO, there is one simple question to answer: what am I going to tell my client?
The post explains why sending a résumé with “they’re good” is not enough.
When putting a candidate forward, the search consultant needs to explain why they make sense for that particular business, what they have delivered, how they think, where they have made difficult decisions, what changed because of their leadership, and where the client should probe further.
Executive search is not about finding five impressive CIOs or CISOs and passing their résumés across: the client is paying for judgement.
Before putting someone in front of the client, the consultant wants to understand them well enough to put their own credibility behind the introduction and make a compelling case when the candidate is not in the room.
The post then turns to candidates: they need to help the search consultant understand the value they bring, the decisions they have made, and the impact they have had.
The clearer the case a candidate makes to the consultant, the stronger the case the consultant can make to the client.
For brands planning a campaign
This could support candidate-facing content on executive storytelling, proof of impact, and working with a search consultant. It could also show clients what they are paying for in search.
Edmondson describes the firm's executive search model: it is formally engaged by the company before approaching candidates, works to understand why the company is hiring and what needs to change, researches the market, and takes responsibility for the appointment.
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They say the firm has delivered executive search for 15 years and draw a clear line between that model and racing other recruiters to put CVs in front of a client.
Each post walks through one part of a search — defining the mandate, researching the market, approaching candidates or assessing them against the hiring company's needs — and turns it into a lesson for the company or the executive being approached.
For brands planning a campaign
A credible voice for content aimed at companies defining a senior technology or cyber hire, or executives trying to understand what a search involves. The recruiter-side view sets this apart from generic interview advice.
Search is about fit to one mandate, not ranking the best candidate
Edmondson argues that executive search is about fit to a specific brief, not identifying the “best CISO.”
Read more
They give concrete examples of what a mandate can demand: someone who has rebuilt a security function after a breach, a leader who can change how a board understands cyber risk, or a candidate suited to an IPO, a more heavily regulated market or rapid growth.
The same logic runs through a post on shortlisting: a recruiter cannot simply pass on a CV and say the person is good.
They must explain why the candidate fits the business, what they delivered, how they think and where the client should probe further.
Edmondson says an outstanding candidate can be left off a shortlist because the client needs something specific, not because someone better exists.
For brands planning a campaign
Supports content explaining why two similar-looking shortlists can differ and why a detailed search brief matters. Useful for campaigns aimed at hiring committees rather than individual decision-makers.
Edmondson warns that a CIO interview process can end up selecting the best interviewer rather than the best CIO.
Read more
They describe agreeing on what to assess before interviews begin and helping clients write detailed assessment rubrics. They look for evidence of decisions made when things went wrong, how resistance was handled, when the course changed and what resulted — for a CISO, what they have actually done to change how a board understands cyber risk.
For brands planning a campaign
A concrete, experience-based territory for advisory content on assessment design and structured interviewing, including the common mistake of deciding on instinct and leaving the panel with nothing more substantial than “I really liked them.”
Teaching senior executives how search actually works
Edmondson's advisory work explains how search operates rather than simply handing over a list of firms to contact: how mandates are won, how firms identify candidates, how researchers and consultants map a market, why an executive may hear nothing for months and then get a call, and how to build relationships before a relevant role exists.
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They argue that “get to know some headhunters” is less useful advice than understanding how the system works and how to position within it.
For brands planning a campaign
Well suited to content collaborations for senior technologists who want to be findable and understood by search firms. The material is specific and process-based, making it easier to build a partnership around than broader career coaching themes.
Coaching leaders on narrative, positioning and self-presentation
Edmondson describes advisory sessions that rebuild an executive's transformation story around the decisions, commercial context and leadership judgement that made it interesting, then practise it for different audiences.
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Other sessions cover deciding what an executive wants to be known for, since a market that cannot place them is a problem even when their experience is strong, and cutting a near six-minute interview answer to a stronger two-minute executive story without losing substance. They also connect this work to search: the clearer a candidate's case is to the recruiter, the stronger the case the recruiter can make for them when they are not in the room.
Edmondson says the challenge is not gaining more experience — the people involved are already accomplished VPs, CIOs and CISOs — but making existing experience easier for the market to understand, remember and buy.
For brands planning a campaign
Opens up executive communication and personal branding with a hiring-market angle: how a senior leader's story lands with a board, a search firm or a prospective employer. Useful for partnerships targeting leadership audiences rather than entry-level career content.
Michelle Edmondson writes in the first person about Edmondson Group, the executive search firm.
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The posts show one business relationship and mention no sponsorship, affiliate or investment relationships. Client companies are referred to only generically; no individual client is named.
Edmondson Group
Employment
Michelle Edmondson writes as part of Edmondson Group, saying the firm takes responsibility for CIO, CTO or CISO appointments and has delivered executive search for 15 years for clients who engage it.
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Ask whether they own the firm or hold a senior role within it.
Michelle Edmondson's posts offer a recruiter-side view of how senior technology and security appointments get made.
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Start with the post on why the firm works only on a basis and the post on fit to a single mandate; together, they explain how an assignment is set up before candidates are approached.
The interview-assessment post covers how candidates are judged once a shortlist exists.
Two advisory posts show the other half of the work: helping CIOs and CISOs make their experience easier for a hiring market to read.
For comparable perspectives, Warren Beazley covers technology leadership hiring from the employer side, Marc Okeon writes about mandate and stakeholder mechanics for startup executive roles, and Roy Ripper treats search as a commercial model for a recruitment business rather than a hiring method.
Beazley writes about executive search for senior technology leaders, making the same argument as Edmondson: a CTO, CIO or Chief AI Officer appointment is consequential enough to warrant a strategic search, not just an advert and shortlist.
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Candidates should be assessed on what they have led and delivered, not on stack familiarity or interview polish. Both build posts around a clear mandate and a handful of assessment questions.
Beazley writes from the employer's side of the hire, framing the case with market data and AI-adoption research for New York technology businesses. Edmondson focuses on how the search works and the candidate-facing side, including advisory sessions on narrative and positioning.
Okeon covers the same internal mechanics Edmondson describes: defining what the role is for before assessing candidates, holding stakeholders to that specification when late vetoes arrive, and screening for people who can do the work rather than for a title.
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Both explain the hiring process from the recruiter's chair.
Okeon's examples are startup marketing and operating hires, including CMO roles, and their posts draw on client conversations and pipeline statistics. Edmondson focuses on technology and cyber leadership at CIO, CTO and CISO level, and writes directly to the executive being approached as well as the hiring company.
Ripper makes the same retained-versus-contingent comparison as Edmondson in explaining why the firm only works on a basis, including how committed revenue and an agreed staged process shape the work.
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Both present the model as a deliberate operating choice, not a pricing preference.
Ripper covers the commercial side of running a recruitment business: forecasting, pipeline versus forecast, and the risks of depending on one instinctive individual. Edmondson writes about conducting searches and advising the executives involved, not recruitment-firm economics or founder dependency.
The only measured audience figure in Edmondson’s posts is 10,501 LinkedIn followers, recorded on 9 October 2026.
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Their five posts focus on CIO, CTO and CISO hiring and executive advisory, targeting senior technology and cyber leaders and the organisations that hire them.
For a thought-leadership or advisory collaboration on CIO/CISO hiring, the topical fit is clear, but the posts do not report audience demographics, reach or engagement.
Ask for follower demographics by seniority, function and country, plus per-post impressions and engagement over the past three to six months on CIO/CISO hiring and executive-search topics.
If platform analytics do not provide a seniority breakdown, ask whether an audience survey or other documented reader research exists.
Do not accept claims such as ‘a CIO audience’ on follower count alone.
LinkedIn followers
10,501
LinkedIn profile for Michelle Edmondson, the same account that published the reviewed posts · 2026-10-09
Michelle Edmondson's posts describe commercial work in executive search and one-to-one advisory, not sponsorships or brand content partnerships.
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Edmondson Group has delivered executive searches for 15 years, taking responsibility for CIO, CTO and CISO appointments from brief definition through market mapping and candidate assessment.
Edmondson also describes advisory sessions with individual CIOs and CISOs, including a module on how executive search works and how to engage with it, and weekly sessions on reshaping an executive's narrative, interview answers and market positioning.
These services are sold to companies hiring executives and to executives themselves; neither is presented as a paid placement, sponsored post or co-produced content slot for a brand or agency.
The posts include no media kit, sponsorship policy, published rate card, disclosed brand collaboration or public partnership inquiry route.
A search firm or agency considering a thought-leadership or advisory content collaboration would need to approach Edmondson directly and agree on scope, deliverables and disclosure.
Ask whether Edmondson offers this work and on what terms.
Strongest fit: a search firm wants an evidence-led thought-leadership collaboration for boards and hiring teams appointing a CIO or CISO.
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Edmondson’s posts offer specific material: define the mandate before approaching candidates, assess evidence against agreed criteria, and explain why a candidate fits a particular business rather than calling them the “best”.
These ideas suit practical content such as a hiring-committee discussion guide or an interview with examples.
The commercial fit is plausible, not established: Edmondson’s posts describe search and executive advisory but don’t say whether sponsorship or content-collaboration formats are available.
The firm would need to agree participation, deliverables and disclosure directly.
The available follower count doesn’t verify that Edmondson’s audience includes hiring decision-makers, so request audience and post-performance data before buying distribution.
When to choose a specialist
Poor fit: a consumer technology brand wants a sponsored LinkedIn post promoting a product to a broad consumer audience.
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Edmondson’s posts focus on CIO/CISO hiring, executive assessment and senior-leader advisory; they don’t show consumer reach or product-promotion experience.
Nor do they say whether a sponsored-post format is available.
A search firm shouldn’t assume that subject-matter alignment means Edmondson offers paid placements, or treat the follower count as proof of campaign reach.
Unless Edmondson confirms interest and the brand can establish audience relevance, choose a creator with documented consumer campaign work and verified audience data instead.
A worked campaign example
A search firm seeking to help boards make more evidence-based CIO and CISO appointments could use this angle: “From polished interview to proven leadership: what a hiring panel should assess.”
Build a short article or interview around three practical steps: agree on the mandate and assessment criteria before interviews; ask candidates for specific examples of decisions, resistance and outcomes; then distinguish persuasive communication from evidence of capability.
Use Edmondson’s example of testing what a CISO has actually done to change how a board understands cyber risk, rather than relying on a strong answer about board engagement.
A companion checklist could ask panel members to record the evidence supporting each criterion and the areas that still need probing.
This draws on Edmondson’s posts about search and assessment without implying they have accepted this format.
Before commissioning, confirm their interest, the deliverables and disclosure, and request audience and performance data relevant to senior hiring decision-makers.
For thought leadership from a search firm hiring CIOs or CISOs, consider Beazley when the campaign should focus on technology-leadership mandates and the business case for a strategic search.
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Beazley’s posts argue that technology leaders should be assessed on what they have built and delivered, and that hiring teams should define the role’s outcomes. This gives a campaign a more technology-hiring-centered angle than Edmondson’s posts on candidate assessment and executive-search process.
The reviewed examples emphasize CTO and broader technology-leadership hiring, including AI and engineering concerns.
They offer less direct material on CISO assessment or executive candidates’ career positioning.
Confirm identity, interest and audience fit before treating this as a commissioning recommendation.
Consider Okeon when the hiring need is specifically about startup executive roles and aligning stakeholders.
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Okeon’s examples address changing or unclear criteria during a search and the distinction between a senior title and hands-on operating ability. They give a search firm concrete material for a campaign about setting a realistic brief and keeping a hiring process focused.
The posts concern startup CMO searches and recruitment more broadly, not CIO/CISO hiring.
They are a less direct subject match for a campaign aimed at technology-security hiring teams.
Confirm identity and campaign interest before proceeding.
Consider Ripper if the campaign focuses on the commercial side of running a recruitment business rather than CIO/CISO hiring.
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Ripper’s examples discuss how assignments affect revenue forecasting and how a founder’s or recruiter’s individual skill can become a growth bottleneck. That material is more relevant to recruitment-firm operators than Edmondson’s mandate and candidate-assessment themes.
The posts do not address CIO/CISO hiring or executive-candidate advisory directly.
The revenue-forecast post’s saved text is not verified as complete, which weakens its fit for a campaign aimed at boards or hiring teams.
Confirm identity and the specific campaign fit before commissioning.
Michelle Edmondson's five LinkedIn posts cover executive search, fitting a candidate to a single mandate rather than ranking who is best, assessing CIO and CISO candidates on evidence rather than interview performance, how executives can engage with search firms, and advisory sessions with CIOs and CISOs on narrative and positioning.
These posts were published on LinkedIn as of 9 October 2026.
They do not include individual publication dates, so the arguments are described without a dated sequence.
No long-form articles, newsletters, video or transcripts are published alongside these posts, which are short-form.
Michelle Edmondson's posts do not establish earlier career history, any book, show or other signature work, or the exact position held at Edmondson Group: the posts show first-person work for the firm but do not say whether that is ownership or a senior role inside it.
They also do not document any sponsorship or paid content format, or any audience demographics, reach or engagement data, so campaign and distribution claims are not supported by the posts.
Comparisons with other creators rest on two LinkedIn posts each for Warren Beazley, Marc Okeon and Roy Ripper.
