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As an employer, you want to hire the best leaders for your organisation. And these days, it's not enough for executives to simply be good at what they do—they also need to demonstrate that they can think strategically about how they will lead an organisation, and take a long-term view of how their role fits into the bigger picture.
However, effectively assessing whether an executive candidate is a strategic thinker is difficult. Most leaders claim to be strategic, and most assessments give you false positives. Yet, the ability to think strategically was ranked the most in-demand skill amongst future board members and company executives, with leadership and management skills and experience ranked second according to research by the Governance Institute of Australia.
This demonstrates that future board members will be valued for a skillset that goes beyond sector-specific experience. This is because people who are able to think strategically add value in a number of ways. By looking to the future, forward-looking boards help an organisation prepare for the unexpected. Second, their big-picture perspective can help an organisation avoid major problems and potential conflicts by understanding the interrelationships between different business elements and how they relate to one another. Third, their external focus and desire to learn and understand the world around them ensure that the company remains aware of emerging trends in the economy and the industry. And fourth, they have a global perspective.
Executives that are strategic thinkers have a global perspective. They understand the importance of looking at the big picture and how every action they take impacts the company as a whole. They're able to see how their role as an executive fits into the overall operation of the company, and they know how to use their expertise to make decisions that will help grow the company.
When searching for business leaders or executives that are strategic-minded, a good starting point is to consider looking for candidates who have worked at companies with international expansion plans or those who have experience working in multiple countries. A candidate with these skills has typically had to understand how his or her role as an executive fits within a larger plan for growth, which is something all good strategic thinkers do well.
Here are 5 ways you can screen for that kind of thinking:
Explore their Failures rather than their successes.
It stands to reason that most executive resumes detail a candidate's performance in terms of their success. The problem is this doesn’t give much of an indication as to how these individuals will perform in times of difficulty, nor does it give much insight into their ability to think strategically.
By asking them about their previous appointments in terms of what lessons they learned from each one, and how those lessons have helped them grow as a professional we can gain an insight into how they challenge conventional thinking, analyse what is changing and predict where the business is going versus where it should be going.
For example: "What was the biggest lesson you took away from your last executive position?" or "What was the most interesting project you worked on there?" These questions will help you determine if this candidate has been able to learn and adapt over time or has been stuck in a rut repeating past mistakes over and over again; either way could indicate a lack of strategic thinking skills.
Give Them a Real Problem to Solve.
The most effective approach is to give applicants a problem to solve during the interview. You can use a real unsolved problem, which has the advantage of allowing several potential solutions. You can also use a problem that you have already solved as an example, which means that you will already know the steps necessary to solve it.
The best problems are ones that are complex enough to require some thought, but not so complex that they’re impossible to solve. For example: “Why is our supply chain team failing at maintaining reliable and profitable supply?” This question will test whether your candidate can think strategically about how the issue relates to other parts of the organisation, as well as what solutions could help resolve it.
To properly evaluate the candidate's skills and abilities, ask them to walk you through the steps they would take to investigate and resolve a problem. The key to a successful response depends on the nature of the problem you have asked them to solve. But every answer should include:
- Information gathering
- compiling a list of potential problems
- checking the strategic plan
- review company and industry multiyear forecasts
- identify and track key industry and economic environmental factors
- identify and consult with key stakeholders across departments and business units
In addition to searching for these steps, you may also look for the following in their answers:
- identify interconnected and interdependent functional areas, including predictive metrics
- pretest solutions with your customers
- measure success after implementation and use data to make adjustments
In most cases, failing to perform critical procedures (e.g., checking with the customer) would be a clear knockout factor for any candidate. You should look for an answer that does not rely too heavily on tactical actions and contains a strategic focus.
Ask Them to Review a Flawed Strategic Plan and Identify Potential Problems.
You can also have executive candidates review a flawed strategic plan that outlines your company's goals and objectives. After they've read your company’s current strategic plan, ask them to identify potential problems with it, recommend solutions and present their findings. They should also be able to explain how they came up with their recommendations in the first place. This is a good way to identify their capability to problem solve but will also highlight whether they think strategically about the problem.
Ask Specific Interview Questions.
There are several questions that can reveal whether a candidate has strategic thinking skills, we have outlined some examples below:
- How would you go about identifying the interrelationships and interdependencies in a proposed strategic plan?
- When working on a strategic project in your current role, how do you identify the relevant stakeholders across the company?
- What steps have you taken during your career to improve your strategic thinking skills?
- What measures or indicators do you use to track and assess your growth in this area?
- How would you identify which candidates for a job are strategic thinkers? (The answer to this question will give you insight into the candidate's depth of understanding about the topic, as well as how they describe themselves against the criteria. It can also be useful in revealing ideas for how to improve your own assessment.)
Make sure you ask them to think about their own experience and give examples of how they have solved problems in the past, or adapt to change.
Finally, ask for examples of when they had to deal with conflict - this is important because it shows that they can problem-solve effectively under pressure and make decisions based on what's most important for the team or organisation.
Ask Questions That Reveal How Much They Value Strategic Thinking.
Many executives believe there are strategic in their thinking but do little to evaluate this. Therefore, it can be difficult to understand how much value these executives place on strategic thinking compared to conventional approaches to problem-solving. The best way to determine how much a candidate values strategic thinking is to ask them directly. You can do this by asking questions like:
- What do you think is the most important thing to do in order to achieve your goals?
- How would you solve a problem that you have encountered in the past?
Alternatively, you can ask the candidate to list their capabilities from most to least important. This will provide insight and an understanding of how important they think strategic capabilities are.
Consider the Questions They Ask You.
To assess a candidate's strategic mindset, consider the questions they ask you. If they are asking about your company’s goals or challenges—or if their questions show an interest in how their role contributes to the organisation's strategic goals—they are likely demonstrating a strategic mindset.
When interviewing, the best candidates may ask questions related to planned changes in the company’s strategy, the opportunities they’ll have to contribute to strategy, and what’s happening in the department. Because the best thinkers are typically action-oriented, they will likely ask questions related to how ideas will be implemented. This can often be a good indicator of someone who is strategic in their thinking.
If you want to know whether or not executive candidates have strategic thinking skills, it’s important to ask them the right questions. Those listed above will help you determine if they have what it takes. However, there are other ways of screening for these skills as well: look for strategic phrases within the answers to your standard interview questions, ask questions that reveal how much they value strategic thinking, consider the questions they ask you and lastly; examine their past work experience carefully for strategic approaches to problem-solving and goal attainment.
At ELR Executive we have refined our screening process over the course of 20 years, ensuring we identify the right leadership talent for our clients. If you'd like to learn more about how we can help you hire the right leadership talent, who can navigate your business forward, securing its competitive advantage to thrive in new markets, speak to us today.
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