Amani Duncan on The Power of Difference, Empathy, and Instinct in Hiring
Music and entertainment marketing executive Amani Duncan joins Roy for a conversation about empathetic leadership, why she chooses to be a mentor-manager, how the justice, equity, diversity and inclusion movement impacts the kind and quality of the work you’re doing, and much more. Amani has more than 20 years of experience spanning a variety of industries. She began her career at Def Jam Recordings. She navigated a time of sweeping change in the music industry as she worked with iconic companies like Bad Boy Entertainment, C.F. Martin & Co, Virgin Records, Capital Music, and MTV/ViacomCBS. Most recently, she served as the CEO of creative agency BBH USA, where she and her team delivered data-driven, full stack marketing and strategic partnership support to leading consumer brands. Today, she serves on the board of Fender Music Instruments and FYLi. Highlights from our conversation include: How hiring happens in the music industry (5:55) What leaders can learn from the ever-evolving music industry (8:32) How being a mentor-manager influences her hiring approach (10:09) Balancing gut with calculated risk when hiring (13:20) Red (and green) flags when assessing a candidate (15:12, 27:29) How Amani and her team set a vision to diversify BBH... (17:16) ...And how their success transformed the business (20:41) The “spark” she looks for in candidates (24:27) How Covid impacted hiring... And how she handled mis-hires (29:04) The benefits and pitfalls of references (30:31) What teams need from leaders in this moment (33:33) Amani’s advice for candidates (38:08) Get your tickets for MO Summit 2023 : April 24th-26th in Austin, Texas! Tickets are available at mo-summit.com - use code NOTO for a discount. Visit HowIHire.com for transcripts and more on this episode. Follow Roy Notowitz and Noto Group Executive Search on LinkedIn for updates and featured career opportunities. Subscribe to How I Hire : Apple Spotify Amazon Google