Interview Questions To Ask Prospective CEOs
As an executive search firm, we’ve spent years researching, testing and fine-tuning methods of assessing executive leaders to uncover the top traits of high performers and how to identify them.
The CEO position is one like no other, and finding the right person for the role is an equally unique process. You will be interviewing people who are extraordinarily charismatic and well-spoken. Expert headhunters and board members need to use the precision and deliberation of a surgery to uncover the truth behind a candidate’s qualities and experiences.
The needs and expectations of both consumers and employees continue to be re-shaped by ongoing technological and social disruption. What made an exceptional CEO 10 or even 5 years ago is not the same today, and COVID-19 has further increased the skills gap of leadership teams. Hiring the right CEO has never been more critical to the success and growth of a company.
If you’re interviewing a CEO, you’ve likely compiled a list of standard questions you should be asking. We’re here to help you go beyond the basics to find the best leader for your needs today and in the future. Below are tips for identifying top candidates and example interview questions.
Probe for weaknesses over strengths
The best leaders know their weaknesses immediately. It’s similar to asking a professional athlete what part of their game they’re working on. They strive to get better all the time. Look for meaningful answers without fluff and ask for specific examples of how the candidate has overcome their weaknesses in the past. Great leaders are aware of weaknesses, can describe the efforts they take to mitigate them, and show improvement over time.
Executive candidates are experts at artfully dodging questions that could reveal weakness. You have to be explicit when questioning on weaknesses and attentive to the patterns in their examples. That’s why we recommend interviewing from the bottom up of their resume. Ask the candidate about the challenges they’ve encountered and areas of weakness in their very first jobs right up to their current position. Honesty and consistency are what you’re looking for. The stories need to make sense and feel right. You can then cross reference these stories and insights with key reference checks with each of the candidates past bosses during reference checks.
You’re listening to see if some of the problems or themes described early on are the same challenges they face today. If they are the same, the candidate may not have a firm grasp on how to overcome their weaknesses. Consistency in strengths is equally important, as it shows that their strengths are an ongoing part of their behaviour and not isolated to one or two events.
EXAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Name two of your strengths and two weaknesses and how they can impact your responsibilities as a CEO.
Provide an example of a time when you had lacked a skill or experience that made you less effective. What actions have you taken to overcome these areas?
What’s your position and process around getting 360 feedback and performance reviews? How do you seek constructive feedback? Describe a time you acted on constructive feedback you received from your board or executive team in the past.
Personal values are just as important as leadership values
A CEO’s values need to be homogeneous with those of the organization. If the candidate’s personal and leadership values do not fit the organization’s or vice versa, this is a deal-breaker and you’re best to look elsewhere for your next CEO.
When we think about leadership values or style, it’s easy to imagine how they will impact a CEO’s performance. What about personal values?
Personal values are just as likely to impact a CEO’s performance as their leadership values. Values around collaboration, honesty, determination, innovation or accountability - just to name a few - shape a CEOs behaviour and employee behavior in response. A CEO’s values penetrate their leadership style and have the potential to strengthen or deteriorate your company culture.
“Determine what behaviors and beliefs you value as a company, and have everyone live true to them. These behaviors and beliefs should be so essential to your core, that you don’t even think of it as culture.”
- Brittany Forsyth, Chief Talent Officer of Shopify
When hearing past experiences of success and failure, listen for how the candidate has positively impacted other team members. All-star leaders (or G.O.A.T.s as we like to call them) are leaders who empower and encourage others. Through their leadership and guidance they generate a higher level of performance and commitment from their team and organization as a whole.
You can see this when asking their reports or junior staff what they like best - and equally, what they dislike - about their CEO. Strong leaders are first to take responsibility when shit hits the fan and last to take credit for achievements. The G.O.A.T.s we admire let their actions speak for themselves.
EXAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
What are your personal values? How do these shape your leadership style or working behavior? Give examples.
What were you known for in previous organizations? How would your executive team and front-line employees describe you?
What one example of your leadership style would we only know if we worked within your organization?
Empathy & vulnerability are critical
In today’s modern economy, progressive cultures require leaders who put their people first. It’s not about lip service, ego or smarts. It’s about listening and meeting employees at their level. Gen Z and Millennials respond to honest and direct conversation. Leaders who have the confidence to show vulnerability and the human side of their character are better able to foster trust with employees at all levels of the organization.
And it doesn’t stop at employees. The pressures of the pandemic have revealed the true colors of many leaders, and the world is watching. Consumers want to see that an organization prioritizes their employees and customers. Furthermore, empathy is critical to innovation. It allows you to identify the needs of others and understand their experience.
“Empathy makes you a better innovator. If I look at the most successful products we [at Microsoft] have created, it comes with that ability to meet the unmet, unarticulated needs of customers.”
When we assess CEO candidates, we look for people who are capable of admitting weaknesses and mistakes and those who have demonstrated empathy in their business decisions, processes, and leadership.
EXAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
If you were a member of our executive team, what qualities and traits would you want to see in our next CEO?
Give some examples of how you have gotten the stakeholders and front-line staff to support process changes. How did you involve levels of the organization in designing and implementing these changes?
In what ways do you believe you could impact employee satisfaction as CEO? Give examples of how you have improved employee satisfaction in the past.
Innovation & disruption are non-negotiables
The world is changing faster than most organizations. CEOs need to be the leaders of innovation and disruption, and not just reactors. CEOs and executive leaders have the best opportunity to create widespread change in processes, culture, and organizational alignment, which is why innovation starts at the top.
There are plenty of fiscally responsibly and operationally excellent candidates out there. However, competently staying the course and small, iterative improvements are no longer good enough. CEOs must be comfortable with change and seek it out on an ongoing basis to ensure the company can keep up with changes in technology, people, competitors and regulations.
When we interview candidates for a CEO position, we look for people who have not just participated or accepted change, but those who have actively identified opportunities to re-invent the business and lead those initiatives.
EXAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
How have you guided the creation of new business models, products, or strategic initiatives in the past?
Describe a time when you created or launched a new product or service that resulted in a new revenue stream.
Provide examples of where innovation occurred within the company based on your leadership.
Being part of finding and selecting the right CEO for a company can be a daunting responsibility. [Uncertain times, COVID demonstrates leadership is even more important today. Companies need CEO’s that see this time as an opportunity to innovate] If you’re looking for experts in executive search, our team can help.
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