When hiring our first true external executive for a leadership seat, we struggle to look past their impressive resumes to evaluate if they can actually operate in our entrepreneurial, accountability-driven culture. How do we interview and assess external candidates to ensure they are a perfect fit for our operating system?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Impressive corporate resumes are a major trap for scaling companies. Executives from larger organizations are often used to having massive administrative support and struggle when they have to roll up their sleeves. To protect your culture and investment, you must evaluate candidates through the lens of your operating system.

Start by ignoring their technical achievements during the first round of interviews. Instead, focus entirely on your core values. Ask behavioral questions that require them to share specific examples of how they have lived those values in past roles. If they do not align with your core values, the hire will fail, no matter how talented they are.

Next, use the GWC™ framework to evaluate their fit for the specific seat on the Accountability Chart.
- Do they truly get the role? Ask them to explain the difference between managing a department and leading a department in a scaling business.
- Do they want the role? Ensure they are motivated by the challenge of building, not just maintaining.
- Do they have the capacity? Have them walk you through how they would manage their own capacity and hold their future direct reports accountable.

This structured evaluation process ensures you bring in leaders who can drive execution from day one.