Authentic Candidates

In early February, I was working about the house on a Saturday when I received a call from the CEO of our Credit Union. This is a man of superior ability and great integrity, and unfortunately, he called to let me know that the “cold” he’d had since last summer had been diagnosed as cancer.

Since that time, I have watched his health deteriorate quite rapidly. I’ve also see what Ralph J. Bunche would call his “bigness,” that is, the full flowering of his personality in a time of personal crisis. At his insistence, the board of directors has been busy searching for, and interviewing candidates to be the new CEO.

Hiring is a basic business process. It begins with getting the word out and ends with a qualified, new employee. In between those two innocuous sounding steps is lots of reading, vetting, researching, interviewing, fact-checking, formulating, and “discussing.”

Finding an authentic candidate with the right fit is hard, time-consuming work for a selection committee. There are many well-qualified, good people looking for employment these days. When you advertise for a position like CEO of a Credit Union with $250 million plus in assets, you get a pool full of well-educated, highly-qualified people.

While I’m no novice at hiring, having done much during my career, hiring a CEO has been the most interesting experience I’ve had for a number of years. I’ve gained an appreciation for things I haven’t thought much about for awhile.

For example: The genuine article is quite impressive! The authentic candidate is the man or woman who has not been completely taken over by interview coaches and current hiring wisdom.

It takes a lot of courage to be authentic. You have to risk taking the wrong stand and being rejected.

Finding a “real” candidate with the right fit is made more difficult by our current formulaic process. It is tough for a candidate to be themselves. All the prevailing wisdom is pushing a specific formula for interviewing that often obscures the individual.

Frankly, if I hear another candidate say, “That’s a good question …” I think I’ll scream.

But lest you think it is only the candidate that perpetuates the formula, rest assured that silly interviewer questions like, “Please tell us one of your strengths and one of your weaknesses,” are a huge part of the problem. (“Ah, gee, let me see, my biggest weakness is that I am a workaholic!”)

Leading questions that get the candidate talking about their experience and experiences – and keep the candidate talking for most of the interview, give you the best opportunity to get to know them. All the facts can be checked. The important part is seeing who they are, and for that they have to talk, and talk, and talk some more.

You might be surprised what you learn when you give the candidate the opportunity to talk for roughly an hour about themselves and only interrupt for clarification. Authentic candidates eschew the formula, answer the questions and let the chips fall where they may.

Over the last eight weeks I’ve seen several candidates who “play the game” very well. Interestingly, not a one of them is progressing into our final interviews. Neither are any that have actively obscured facts we had at our fingertips. And neither are those who were qualified and genuine and just won’t fit with our direction or culture.

Our final candidates are all women or men with the confidence, integrity and courage to answer us directly and be themselves. They didn’t cover up, but they did explain when needed. And they will fit into our culture and appear to be capable of leading in an appropriate direction.

And when the final decision is made, perhaps I can get a good night’s sleep.