“Tell us how you implemented profound changes as General Manager at XYZ in the first four years of your previous organization…”
“Let’s focus on three strategic impacts of your decisions as CEO.”“How would you describe the leadership style in your current (logistics) organization – and how does it align with your personal values?”

By: Christoph Szakowski

At first glance, these questions seem inconspicuous. Perhaps even trivial – for candidates at the highest level, they are an invitation to well-formulated, flawless answers.

But this is exactly where the challenge begins: In these moments, the true strengths – and weaknesses – of both the executives and the companies evaluating them are revealed.

The Pitfalls for Companies

A question becomes a dead end when it is asked but not precisely anchored: When the answer does not provide clarity about suitability, style, and impact. This is why questions must not only be balanced – they must be consciously embedded in the overall context of the executive search process.

The Pitfalls for Candidates

Many candidates fall into the misconception that a confidently sounding answer automatically conveys leadership strength. In reality, stereotypical formulations quickly expose the limits of their actual experience – corporate rhetoric then acts more like a mask than an authentic leadership profile.

1. The Question of Change

When asked correctly, this question opens a clear view of a candidate’s priorities and achievements. For example: Those who equate “significant changes” with savings on office supplies or internal administrative policies are unlikely to convince.

However, what matters is the how: The methodological approach, the strategic depth, the transformation behind the numbers. Those who merely shine with figures (“€24 million EBITDA impact”, “X% revenue growth”) without making the path to that point understandable leave an impression of superficiality.

2. The Strategic Impacts of CEO Decisions

Here, companies assess whether a candidate not only makes decisions but also creates real impact – and how they navigate complex structures, such as global matrix organizations.

Pitfall for candidates: A lack of awareness of how their decisions manifest at lower levels – whether in operational quality or customer perception.
Pitfall for companies: Probing too deeply, making the conversation feel more like an examination by a competitor than a professional selection process.

3. Leadership Style – The Maturity Test

A typical example: “It’s a French company, changes are hardly possible here… I don’t feel comfortable.”
A remarkable statement – especially when it comes from someone who has been there for years.

This question tests the maturity and self-reflection of the candidate: Do they recognize the interplay between personal leadership style and corporate values?
Risk for companies and headhunters: Favoring candidates who resemble their own style, thereby overlooking those whose different cultural or strategic perspectives could bring the crucial added value.

Conclusion

In the selection of executives, it is not the number of questions that matters, but their quality – and the ability to look beyond the answers. This is where the true art of executive search begins.

Example of a Recruitment Sequence: Triumph vs. Disaster

Below is a practical example from CCO recruitment that shows how a process can unfold – either successfully or doomed to fail.

Successful Recruitment – Within 14 Weeks

1. Strategic evaluation with consultant + analysis of key factors – Week 1–2
2. Management assessment and competency audit – Week 3–4
3. Definition of the required leadership competencies – Week 6
4. Position briefing and mission – Week 7
5. Market screening – Week 8–10
6. Presentation/discussion of the longlist by executive search – Week 11
7. First interview round – Week 12
8. Second interview round with follow-up – Week 13
9. Selection, negotiations, contract signing – Week 14

Result: Within three months, the organization secures the best available top professional to lead a unit with over 1,000 employees and a revenue in the high three-digit million range (EUR).

Failed Recruitment – A Negative Scenario

10. Vaguely formulated need in several minds – Week 1–4
11. Forwarded to HR – Week 5–6
12. HR creates job profile – Week 7
13. Board approves with minimal adjustments – Week 8
14. Internal recruitment team searches – Week 9
15. No internal candidate suitable – Week 16
16. Board sifts through networks – Week 17–20
17. External recruitment decided – Week 21
18. HR requests instructions – Week 23
19. Search through ads – Week 24
20. Waiting for responses – Week 25–32
21. Two interviews – Week 33–34
22. CEO returns from vacation – Week 35–37
23. Candidate A is favored but withdraws – Week 39
24. Interim solution with sales coordinator – Week 41–44
25. Promotion of the sales coordinator to CCO – Week 48
26. After six months, dismissed due to lack of competence.

Result: The company stagnates. No strategy, demotivated sales teams, departing key accounts.

Conclusion

You have a choice:
– Professionally and structured – win the best candidate with experts.
– Or remain in chaos – with bureaucracy, weak communication, and misplacements.

Choose wisely.

Christoph Szakowski is Managing Partner of LogCon East, an executive search and consulting company specializing in the logistics industry, which has been helping clients of various sizes and orientations find management and specialists for 15 years. Christoph operates from Warsaw, both in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in the German-speaking region.

The graduate in business administration (University of Hamburg) has 24 years of industry experience and has been a manager at companies including LKW WALTER, Logwin AG, and DB Schenker. He speaks German, English, Polish, and Russian and sees himself as an internationally operating “bridge builder” between companies and candidates.www.logconeast.com/