Stephen H Baum Leadership

Job Interview

Past blogs have focused on experiences that provide insights into leadership. This one is about a job-seeker who demonstrated both being authentic and being “good on his feet (one of the archetypal shaping experiences in my book).”

Interviewing for a position in an operating company with the CFO, the job-seeker knew that two positions were up for grabs: a board-supporting strategy group role and a divisional operating role.

The CFO expressed the view that “This is a business in which both excellence and comparative advantage lie in the day to day details.” He then asked: “Which gets your juices flowing more: big ideas and strategies or involvement in the daily detail of the business?”

The job-seeker replied: “I’ve run a board-supporting strategy group and managed a divisional P&L. My view is that detail is important in both. And by way of example, your website page presenting the senior team has a typo in the name of the Chief Operating Officer.”

We don’t yet know if the CFO recognized this reply as the legendary job interview response it is, but it demonstrates being good on your feet and being authentic. The job-seeker is, in fact, a conceptual thinker, an effective team leader and a person who cannot stand errors in the detail.

Any successful entrepreneur will agree with the job-seeker. Visit one of my favorite websites listed below which specializes in entrepreneurial businesses.

That is my view, what’s yours?

small business advocate