The One Interview Question This Exec Always Asks Senior Leaders

Talent is so top of mind in the C-suite right now.

As LinkedIn COO Dan Shapero launched his new #LearningWithLeaders video series, he asked Donna Morris, the chief people officer at Walmart, “What is something you do that is really effective?”

Donna did not share a time management hack or a favorite tech stack. Instead, she zeroed right in on talent. 

“We talked about a question she asks in interviews with senior leaders,” Dan says in a two-minute video that employs his signature walking delivery — yes, Dan talks the talk and walks the walk. “She asks, ‘What would the people that know you the best say about you?’” 

Donna’s go-to question resonates with Dan and — judging by the comments left in his feed — his audience. 

“The power of such an open-ended question,” Dan says, “is that it gives the candidate a chance to take it in any number of directions. There’s no right or wrong answer, but it reveals how openly are they comfortable talking about themselves in an authentic way, as leaders often need to do. Are they self-aware? Do they show humility?”

LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky comments that he, too, loves this question and uses it frequently.

“What I’ve found,” Ryan writes in the comments on Dan’s post, “is that while most candidates focus on positive traits, once in a while people candidly share areas where those close to them have indicated there’s some room for improvement. For me, this vulnerability is often a sign of maturity and a willingness to evolve.”

Open-ended questions such as Donna’s give candidates a chance to expound, open up, and provide you deeper insights

Gene Demby, the founding cohost of NPR’s award-winning podcast Code Switch, extols the need for open-ended questions when doing a broadcast interview. “You don’t want to ask questions that let someone say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or give you a really quick answer,” Gene says. “You want them to sort of expound.” 

Consider the many advantages of open-ended questions in job interviews: They open a window into problem-solving skills, thought processes, motivations, and communication styles. They give candidates a chance to share as much detail as they’d like, and they give interviewers a chance to learn something unexpected. 

And, given that there are no right or wrong answers to them, open-ended questions such as Donna’s can even relax candidates and help them open up.

Donna’s question allows candidates to discuss their connection to an organization’s purpose

As Dan notes, candidates can go many places with their answers to Donna’s question. At its best, the question can prompt an answer that delivers deep insight into how a candidate connects to an organization’s mission and purpose.

“The slogan at Walmart is ‘Save money. Live better,’” Dan says. “That’s the corporate slogan, and oftentimes what [Donna] finds is that the best leaders have something in their background or something deep down in who they are as a person that makes that slogan resonate.” 

This observation strikes a chord. “A personal connection to the mission sets leaders apart,” writes Paula Fontana, VP of global marketing at iluminr, in the comments. “It’s more than a job. It’s purpose woven into the fabric of their identity.”

Dan speaks of how he finds so much connection to LinkedIn’s vision of delivering economic opportunity to every member of the global workforce. “I grew up,” Dan says, “hearing stories about my grandparents and their parents, who were immigrants, and the importance of economic opportunity and what that can mean for a family.” 

Donna’s question doesn’t ensure an answer that is tied to purpose and motivation. But it tees up the possibility nicely. “It totally makes sense to me,” Dan says, “that something about people’s personal stories and how they connect to the values and purpose of the organization plays a huge role in how successful they are.”