10 Critical Differences between Executive Job “Candidates” and Executive Job “Getters”
(Part 2 of 2)

(Concluded from Part 1!)

“Sing from your toes.”
My little sister earns her living as a musical theater actor. The advice she was given before she started auditioning for Broadway shows was to always “sing from her toes.” It turns out that that’s the minimum requirement for having a shot at a role: treating each audition as if it is the last performance she will ever give in her entire life. She holds nothing back. Not surprisingly, auditions are exhausting for her. Perhaps also not surprisingly, she has been consistently employed ever since graduating from NU six years ago. If you want the job, you need to want the job more than anyone else out there—that’s the essence of singing from your toes. Direct all your passion and energy on the one goal of getting the job. Fill the room with your presence. Be larger than life. Extend your energy outwards as far as it will go… and then hold it there for the entire interview. Sing from your toes… because this may be the only shot you get.

Avoid intense language and extreme positions.
Would you want to work for someone who described former bosses as “horrible,” bounced between “awesome” and “awful” weekend experiences, and thought “every” project you did was either the “best they’d ever seen” or the “biggest pile of garbage you’ve ever produced?” Sounds exhausting, doesn’t it? Sort of like high school all over again? Believe me, it can be exhausting for an interviewer, too. It’s one thing to sing from your toes, but it’s quite another to show the self-control needed to manage that energy and keep it positively focused.
 
Watch the clock.
How can you make the interviewer’s job easy, demonstrate respectfulness, detail orientation, time management skills, and also show that you are capable of hitting tough deadlines? Watch the clock! When giving answers, give an overview and then get increasingly granular as necessary to support your case. This way, you’ll avoid the pitfall of getting lost in a story only to find you don’t have sufficient time to tie together all those loose ends you’ve created.

“Yes, and…”
The greatest thing I learned while taking classes at The Second City was the very first thing they taught: “Yes, and...” In improv, you keep scenes alive by accepting whatever you are given and then adding to it or amplifying it. There is no space on stage for “No…” “I’m sorry, you’re mistaken,” or “Yes, but…” because those transitions kill energy, set up interpersonal conflict, engage the ego in a defensive posture, and stymie forward progress. Apply the principle of “yes, and…” in an interview to demonstrate an effective approach to conflict management, as well as a willingness to work with—rather than against—authority.

Treat everyone with respect.
Your interview for a position begins the minute first contact is made and never really ends. (That sentence is worth reading a second time—there is a profound implication in there about the constancy of judgment.) You should be aware that executives are generally savvy enough not to trust the façade others put on display for them, and they will often look to administrative assistants and other staff for guidance about what individuals are “really” like. I have seen more than one candidate sunk because his kiss-up, kick-down style was exposed by a receptionist, administrator, or other staffer.

There you have them: 10 key success factors that differentiate executive job “candidates” from executive job “getters.” One of the things that should stand out is that actions speak louder than words in an interview—a skilled assessor much prefers to see behaviors on display rather than hear you talk about it. (Anyone can learn to talk a big game.) A second thing that should be apparent from this list is that soft skills—the things that indicate an ability to move beyond doing and into leading—become much more important at the executive level. These skills are in addition to a mastery of the industry, company, and product/service. (Yes, it’s a lot. I know. If you had only been born a little earlier, you would have had it so much easier… and that’s all the time we have today for commiserating.)

Good luck!