The Best Fit #2: Self Awareness

Here's post #2 to help you interview and hire candidates that best fit your organization.

Leadership Tip - Interviewing: Search for Self Awareness

In the past ten years, much has been written about EQ (Emotional Quotient or Emotional Intelligence) being a critical success factor for leaders. At the core of EQ is self-awareness. Self-awareness is understanding how my behaviors (positive and negative) impact others. An individual with a high self-awareness typically has a high EQ.

As a hiring manager in 2022, you need to work hard to understand each candidate's level of EQ. Higher-level jobs require leaders with a higher level of self-awareness.

You may be saying, "I'm with you so far, but how do I determine someone's self-awareness through an interview?" Ask questions that require inward reflection, then dig a bit when you feel the candidate needs to go deeper.

Here are a few good interview questions to help you gauge a candidate's self-awareness:

1- What role did you play in the personal development of your team?

2- If you could change one thought pattern throughout your career that negatively impacted the team around you and your results, what would that be?

3- What have supervisors done that stifled your performance in the past, and what role might you have played in being stifled?

Years ago, I was interviewing a guy for a key leadership role. I picked up on a theme from the candidate as he walked me through his work history. He shared that every one of his supervisors across many organizations was unwilling to invest in him over the years. I was struck by what he shared and the lack of investment people made into his personal development. When he finished recapping his career, I asked him to take a few minutes and self-reflect. I said, "In your best real-with-self moment, what may have contributed to why your supervisors did not invest in you?" He was a little set back by my question. I wanted to discern his level of self-awareness as he reflected on his career. He answered, "Envy. I think they were all jealous of me somehow and felt threatened by me." There it was. No ability to look across situations that did not end up the way the candidate had hoped and recognize his role in the outcome. Effectively zero self-awareness. As a side note, we did not hire this candidate.

I have watched, learned from, and led leaders for over 30 years. The leaders I admire the most are the ones who understand how they are impacting people and continue to make adjustments to have the most significant collective impact.

I hope this is a helpful resource. Feel free to share it with your team.

Happy Hiring!