Ten years ago, the SOCAN board of directors hired André LeBel as CEO. André initiated and led changes that transformed SOCAN into one of the leading music-rights organizations in the world, and one of Canada’s Top 25 employers. Hiring the CEO is the single most important decision a board of directors makes. Get it right, as the board did 10 years ago, and the organization will flourish.

André will retire in May 2010, and your board of directors is actively engaged in finding a successor. The process began more than a year ago, when the board began developing a profile of the kind of CEO SOCAN will require to lead it through the unprecedented changes taking place in the music industry and rights management. The document the board developed provides a detailed and comprehensive vision of the knowledge, skills and personal attributes we are looking for in an ideal CEO.

The next step in the process was to select an executive search firm to work with the board to find the best candidates for the job. After meeting with several of the leading firms in Canada, Odgers Berndtson was chosen because of its very strong presence across Canada and internationally. Carl Lovas, the chairman of Odgers Berndtson, is leading the search.

At the first board meeting after the election, the board of directors set up a search committee, chaired by Rosaire Archambault. Other members are Bill Henderson, Michael McCarty, Stan Meissner, Pierre-Daniel Rheault and me. Four of the committee members were on the search committee that selected André, and their successful experience will be invaluable.

This past September, an advertisement for the position appeared in major Canadian newspapers as well as Billboard and the International Herald Tribune. From all the applications it received from the advertisement, from its extensive database of contacts and from candidates already working at SOCAN, Odgers Berndtson will prepare a long list of potential candidates for the search committee to consider. From this list, the search committee will choose who they wish to interview. In December, the committee will be interviewing the candidates and preparing their recommendation to the board.

If all goes according to schedule, the board will meet early in the new year to make its decision, and by February or early March, the board will announce the incoming CEO to SOCAN members and staff.

The process of selecting the new CEO is long and arduous. Throughout this process, the board has been receiving excellent advice and support from André and from Randy Wark, SOCAN’s vice-president of Human Resources. I am confident that the board of directors has established a procedure and criteria to ensure the next CEO will be a worthy successor.

Earl Rosen Is president of the music label Marquis Classics and publisher De Sade Songs. he served a previous term as SOCAN president in 2003-06.

Uploaded Winter 2009

Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
Send them to Rick MacMillan, Words & Music Corporate Editor, at wordsandmusic@socan.ca