According to the Harvard Business Review, 2 out of 5 new CEOs fail at their job within the first 18 months. A major reason for this failure (over 82% of the time) was because the CEOs failed to develop good relationships and partnerships with subordinates and peers. These stats clearly show that in addition to the knowledge and experience of a CEO candidate, recruiters should be looking for the right personality traits to lead a company.
This is where executive search firms in Melbourne excel. When shortlisting candidates for the interview process, they not only look for relevant skills and qualifications, but also conduct thorough research on the candidate through their contacts to determine if they have the personality of a leader. But asking a few select questions in the interview can also help you determine if they are the right fit. Here are some of them:
Getting Started
Once the initial handshakes and introductions have been made, start out with the standard questions you would ask any candidate:
What makes this opportunity right for you?
Why do you think you are the right person to lead this company?
What do you know about the company and its challenges?
The right candidate will reply with confidence, be able to give concise yet informative answers that explain how your company fits into their own vision and professional aspirations. In addition, they should also be able to describe the skills they have that make them a suitable candidate for the position, which will allow you to dig deeper into their experience and the skills they possess.
Operational Questions
Once you have established why the candidate thinks they are the best choice to lead your company, it is time to figure out if they have the required knowledge about what you do as a company to be able to hit the ground running. These will also show you how they are likely to introduce your company to potential business partners and clients and communicate with stakeholders.
What would you do in the first month as CEO of this organisation?
Where do you see the company being in the next year? The next five years? How do you see yourself contributing to this change?
Who do you think are our biggest competitors and what sets us apart from them?
What are our biggest obstacles and threats, as well as opportunities you think we can tap into?
When making a big financial decision, how would you decide whether to go through with it or abandon it? Talk about your thought process and your rationale.
How have you solved a crisis in a previous position?
How would you pitch our company to a potential investor?
What would you do if a new project or service you launched failed to live up to the expectations?
Behavioural Questions
This is when the going gets tough. It can often be difficult to figure out a person’s real personality until you spend a significant amount of time with them. The limited time you have during interviews rarely allows you to do so. But a few targeted questions may be able to help you figure out their leadership style and team-building approaches, as well as what they think their areas of improvement are.
Give us a sense of the type of person you are. What are your motivations? How has your upbringing shaped you as a person? What do you aspire to, both professionally and personally?
What are your greatest strengths? How do you plan on using them to further the business and lead the team?
What would you say are your biggest weaknesses? How do you plan on overcoming them?
How would you describe your management style? How would others describe your leadership skills?
What do you think are the most important personality traits a CEO should have? How do you compare to the traits you mentioned?
What communication styles do you adopt with internal and external stakeholders?
Describe a time when two colleagues had a discord or conflict. How did you handle it?
How do you handle making tough decisions and having difficult conversations with employees and investors?
While there are several other questions you can (and should!) ask when interviewing a candidate for a CEO position, these few questions can make it easier for you to select the best person for the job. Interviewing for such an important position can be hard on the interviewers and can take up valuable time and money. As such, it can often be impossible to interview dozens of dozens of candidates who apply for the position. Leading executive search firms in Melbourne make it easier by shortlisting the most suitable candidates and only recommending the ones they think are the best fit.
