“Do you have any questions for me?”
Most of us have been asked that question by an interviewer during the course of a job application process.
Are you looking to work at a company where servant leadership is practiced? Then these 8 servant leadership interviewee questions might help.
- “What attracted you to the company?” Servant leadership culture tends to be mission driven. Can you get a sense of whether people at the company, your interviewer included, are driven by the company mission? Or are they driven by other things, like pay, perks or status?
- “How does the company track employee engagement?” If the answer is, “we don’t,” then you might be a little worried. Servant leadership companies tend to seek and achieve high employee engagement.* And be a lot worried if the interviewer asks, “what’s employee engagement?”
- “Can you describe how professional development takes place at the company?” The growth and development of people is a key servant leadership goal. So, the answer will be telling. Is money budgeted for professional development? If so, that’s good proof professional development is important.
- “Can you describe how leadership development takes place at the company?” Servant-leaders develop other servant-leaders. So, again, the answer here will be telling. If the company values good leadership, then you should hear some good practices described – with enthusiasm.
- “How do employees give feedback about the things that affect them?” Employee feedback tends to be requested regularly – and taken seriously – more in servant leadership cultures. Are managers rated with 360-degree feedback? Are employees regularly surveyed?
- Assuming you are filling a recently-vacated position: “What happened to the person whose position I am applying for?” “The person was promoted as part of a rigorous professional and leadership development program” = good. “The person quit, I don’t know why” = probably not good.
- Assuming you are filling a newly-created position: “Why aren’t you filling this position from within?” “We are not confident in our homegrown talent” = probably not good. “We are growing fast and appreciate the chance to bring in new perspectives” = good.
- “Who do you consider a great leader within the company? Why?” The answers might tell you about the particular traits and practices that the company values. If your interviewer quickly identifies a great leader and describes why consistent with servant leadership, that would be a very good sign.
What do you think? What interviewee questions you would add to the list?
Thanks!
As always, we appreciate your views.