At a recent OnMedia NYC technology conference technology, CEOs met to discuss the media & advertising industry’s effects on doing business today. The event was filled with some of the industry’s most impressive leaders. In between the keynotes, panels and cocktails, I was able to speak with many of them. The most loaded question I asked each chief was, “How should talent be evolving to remain relevant and valuable?” The following highlights should be beneficial to hiring managers and candidates alike.

Always Be Learning

David Birnbaum, CEO of TAKKLE.com, stressed how key it is to have smart people who keep becoming smarter. David expects his employees to tell him about new technologies and trends, rather than the other way around. David’s advice (and mine) for staying savvy is to attend more conferences, read daily newsletters and be around brilliant people. In fact, we agreed that one of the primary reasons great people change jobs is to gain new learning and step up their intellectual property.

Employers can offer a dynamic workplace by being aware of their team’s goals, responsibilities and progress. Allow your salespeople to target new companies or verticals if they’re tapping out current opportunities or hitting roadblocks. Move a bored account person onto another project to reenergize them and also elicit fresh ideas. Observe warning signs and provide stimulation before they plateau.

Check Your Ego

It’s expected that successful people are confident, but egos have a harder time flying these days. Ajay Sravanapudi, CEO of LucidMedia, looks for a number of qualities when hiring talent; one of the most important attributes is being humble. Ajay recommended a book that does a great job illustrating this quality: "The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t".

Employers need to empower their players by giving them space, encouraging pushback and allowing change. Employees on the road to senior management need to lose their ego and practice the golden rule of how to treat others.

Sell Bigger and Better

Roger Wood, SVP & General Manager for Amobee, and I talked a lot about what it takes for salespeople to be successful. While recruiting for Amobee’s VP of Advertising Sales, Roger needed to find someone who could think very strategically and embraced a highly consultative approach. He wanted a person who thinks like a client, asks the smart questions and is able to land the larger size deals. Even when searching for junior candidates who might lack a strong rolodex, Roger and I agreed that sellers need to be excellent listeners, smart questioners and appropriately aggressive.

Highly Adaptive

Everyone I met with talked about how vital it is for their employees to be able to conform quickly. In the world of online marketing, changes happen in real time and individuals must be able to handle that. Managers have to embrace pattern recognition so they can see far down the road and help their teams change course appropriately. Salespeople and client service executives must be able to listen for what prospects/clients are sometimes not saying in order to pitch successfully.

Be a Talent Magnet

Hiring and retaining talent continues to be a huge challenge. Therefore, CEOs are looking for leaders who can effectively add staff and keep them happy. Our firm preaches that great people are drawn to other great people. If you have a mogul who is highly regarded in the industry, top talent will want to follow for an opportunity to work with him or her. Many of the CEOs I spoke to said how important is to land a department head first. For example, hiring a VP Sales before the Directors and reps will allow them to set the tone and, hopefully, bring in their followers.

Using any of these strategies can help you be more valuable as a candidate and more effective at hiring.