My favorite interview question—that often shocks the interviewee—is, “What’s the most common way you’re misperceived in the workplace?” No one preps for this question. And it requires a certain amount of self-awareness, humility, and transparency to answer it properly. I’ll never forget what one prospective Airbnb leader told me. “People think I’m a nice guy, but I’m really an a** hole.” We spent the next 30 minutes unpacking his answer, and in the process, we journeyed to the far-reaching provinces of this man’s heart and mind. A great interview question takes you off the linear freeway and plunks you on a meandering country road with your true GPS (Generally Prohibited Subjects). Of course, don’t send this blog post to your HR department—they probably won’t like it.
Dee Hock became Visa International’s CEO more than a half-century ago. In my 30s, when I was writing my first book, “The Rebel Rules: Daring to be Yourself in Business,” I interviewed Dee for the book and discovered a treasure trove of leadership wisdom. He told me that the one question he ponders when interviewing a potential hire is, “What if this person worked for our biggest competitor?” Wow, that was a revelation!
Not surprisingly, I found that question often attracted me to extroverted, driven candidates. Of course, filling your company with just this kind of person is probably not ideal. So, I delved a little further into the subject of hiring with my modern elder Dee, who offered this potent piece of advice:
“Hire and promote first on the basis of integrity;
second, motivation; third, capacity; fourth, motivation; fifth, knowledge;
and last and least, experience.
Without integrity, motivation is dangerous.
Without motivation, capacity is impotent.
Without capacity, understanding is limited.
Without understanding, knowledge is meaningless.
Without knowledge, experience is blind.
Experience is easy to provide and
quickly put to good use by people with all the other qualities.”
What would be your hierarchy of needs when it comes to hiring someone?