Last weekend I was struck by an interview on leadership lessons in The New York Times. It appeared in the “Corner Office” column of the Sunday Business section. The interview was conducted with Tracy Matura, general manager of the Smart car division of Mercedes-Benz USA. During the interview, Tracy was asked a question about what she asks prospective candidates whom she is seeking to hire. Here is what she said.
“Tell me who your favorite boss was and why, and tell me who your least-favorite boss was and why.” Tracy commented that this gives you a sense of what leadership style works best for this individual. “I would also then ask them about a time they took a risk and failed. I have never hired people who have told me they’ve never failed. You don’t learn if you don’t fail.”
The interviewer then challenged her on the issue of whether anyone ever admits that they have never failed. Tracy responded by saying that people might say, “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever really had a complete failure. Really. I don’t even ask the question in terms of just business. Everybody has had some failure in their life.”
This led the interviewer to try to understand the underlying rationale for the question. This was her response. “Here’s what I want: My leadership style is to be transparent and authentic, so if you’re going to tell me you’ve never failed, then it makes me wonder if you always hide your failures. I don’t like that - - surprises are bad for everybody. I can’t fix or try to fix something I don’t know about. Some people have that fear factor if they admit to failure, as if they say to themselves, “If I say I failed, she’s going to think I’m a loser and not hire me. Quite the opposite.”
While Ms. Matura’s comments reflect what she is looking for in a prospective employee, the person being interviewed has an obligation to try to determine the management style of the prospective boss. In order to make this assessment, the interviewee needs to ask a similar set of questions. “Tell me about the employees you hire with whom you have had the most successful relationship and why, and tell me about the employees you hired that were the least successful and why. How would you describe your leadership style? Please share with me some of your teams’ successes and failures. How do you describe your goal-setting process, how do you measure results, how do you communicate those results and what is the performance review process? Also, please describe the work environment that you try to create.”
During or at the end of an interview, many interviewers will ask the question, “Do you have any questions you would like to ask me?” Well, this is your opportunity to ask these key questions that can determine your potential success or failure with your new employer. Take advantage of this opportunity to do your due diligence.
This issues raised in the interview caused me to reflect on my many years in the corporate world and the other ramifications of the question being asked by the interviewer. Success and failure are terms that have relevance in the context of specific measurable outcomes. This goes back to Tracy’s question about good bosses and bad. Chances are your good bosses worked with you to set challenging but attainable goals. The yardsticks were clear and understandable, the communication was good, the support was there along with the autonomy when needed. As you progressed towards the mutually agreed upon goals, you received progress reports along the way. The result is that success comes from working with a boss who is honest and open, who communicates well and provides an environment within which one can succeed. Failure often comes from working with a boss who is not as forthcoming, not as supportive, where the goals are not clear and who does not communicate well.
Success or failure will come from hiring good people as Ms. Matura defines above. But it will also come from prospective employees selecting “good bosses” with whom they can work in a collaborative and productive environment.
Note: A new Freight Management Best Practices group was created on LinkedIn last week. Over 80 people became members of the group in week 1. Please feel free to join the group and share your thoughts on how to improve our industry.