Selecting the wrong candidate to lead an organisation can be costly. If all candidates are suitably qualified, it can be difficult to choose between them. Here are some questions to help select the optimal person for the role.
- Who are 3 leaders in the organisation who you’ve helped become better leaders??This helps give more of an understanding around the leadership capabilities of candidates.
- How will you lead the company into the future??This question should reveal answers around agility, diversity and sustainability.
- Which candidate would you most prefer to have leading you and the organisation??This is a question for managers, as it’s also worth asking those who have worked with candidates to give their opinion based on their personal experiences.
- If you became CEO tomorrow, what would you do differently??Asking this both to the candidates and to those who have worked closely with them gives an indication of whether they’ve shown behavioural evidence of their leadership qualities in previous roles.
- How will you lead better than the current CEO??Keeping this question as a back up in case you fall short of discerning questions about a potential successor’s leadership is a good idea.
To make sure the right finalist is selected, leadership questions don’t have to be overly technical. What’s most important, is that they’re asked.
Based on an article by?Michael Useem
Published by Wharton School
https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/questions-help-pick-next-leader/
