Ask More: The Power of Questions to Open Doors, Uncover Solutions, and Spark Change pdfdrive com

What’s your favorite aisle at the grocery store?
I thought about her supermarket question and how I’d answer it personally.
Maybe I’d go for the coffee aisle. The shelves show how deliciously diverse the
world is, from Ethiopian Yergacheffe to Two Volcanoes Guatemalan. It’s an
aromatic reminder that each day should start with a flavorful celebration. There’s
evidence of human inventiveness and innovation—drip and espresso and single
cup—amid the complexity of globalization and the challenges of human labor.
The rise of organic and fair market coffees suggests that change is possible and
prosperity can be shared. Coffee, you might say, is a metaphor for our times.
Don’t know if it would get me Case’s job, but maybe I’d qualify to be a
barista somewhere.
The Candid Candidate
Job interviews often happen in intimidating or artificial surroundings—in front
of a search committee or in a paneled office. The best candidates come confident
and well prepared. Having practiced their answers and anticipated the questions,
they walk in with their brains crammed with carefully crafted responses. It’s
understandable. But the most fruitful interview ends with a genuine sense of the
real candidate, not the one projected in the perfectly planned out answers.

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No one is better rehearsed than political candidates running for office.
Interviews with political candidates are simply public job interviews.
Why do you want this job?
What have you done to deserve it?
What will you do if you get it?
The most public job interview of all, the U.S. presidential debate, puts the
candidates side by side, with a bunch of cameras recording every moment. While
no reasonable employer would ask applicants to submit themselves to a routine
like this, these debates offer some interesting lessons to consider. The most
important one: Candidates want to stay on message. They ignore questions they
don’t like. They say what they think people want to hear. So the interviewer
should know it may take two or three swipes at a topic to pry loose an answer to
the question at hand.
I decided to visit Bob Schieffer, someone who spent years trying to cut
through canned responses for a living. He worked for CBS News for nearly half
a century and hosted the network’s Sunday interview program, Face the Nation,
for fourteen years. He moderated three presidential debates—Bush-Kerry in
2004, Obama-McCain in 2008, and Obama-Romney in 2012.
Imperturbable, with a good-old-boy southern smooth about him, Schieffer
was one of the most dedicated, straight-shooting journalists of his time. His goal
in the debate-as-job-interview was to get candidates to offer some insight on
how they’d handle the job, the decisions they’d make, and the character they’d
bring to it. Schieffer had years of practice interviewing people who were
frustratingly disciplined at staying on message, sometimes ignoring questions
entirely in order to say what they wanted to say. His challenge was to get his
guests to do more than rehash their focus group–tested talking points.
Schieffer’s advice to candidates and questioners alike: be direct and be
yourself. Be genuine. A highly effective interviewer, Schieffer was always
known for his straightforward, conversational style. He never projected the self-
important, smart guy approach that typified many pundits and talk-show hosts.
In his debate questions, Schieffer tried for a more three-dimensional view of the
candidates by mixing topics and alternating questions about policy.
He recalled one exchange in 2004, when George W. Bush was running for
reelection against challenger John Kerry. The country was at war in Afghanistan
and Iraq. Schieffer asked Bush a question of faith.

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“Mr. President … you were asked … after the invasion of Iraq if you had
checked with your dad. And I believe you said you had checked with a higher
authority,” Schieffer said. “What part does your faith play on your policy
decisions?”
Schieffer knew Bush often invoked his religious faith and that faith was an
important part of life for millions of Americans. It was also part of Bush’s
personal narrative of redemption. Schieffer also knew the stories suggesting that
Bush went to war in Iraq to settle an old score for his father, who cast a daunting
shadow over the Bush boys. Schieffer touched three live wires—faith, family,
and war—and stepped back to see what would happen.
Bush didn’t give away the store, but his answer provided some texture and
insight into how he thought and how his faith sustained him. Yes, he said, faith
played a “big part” in his life, and he prayed a lot:
“I pray for wisdom. I pray for our troops in harm’s way. I pray for my
family. I pray for my little girls. But I’m mindful in a free society that people can
worship if they want to or not. You’re equally an American if you choose to
worship an Almighty and if you choose not to. If you’re a Christian, Jew, or
Muslim you’re equally an American. The great thing about America is the right
to worship the way you see fit.”
He didn’t duck the question.
“Prayer and religion sustain me,” Bush said. “I receive calmness in the
storms of the presidency … I never want to impose my religion on anybody else.
But when I make decisions I stand on principle. And the principles are derived
from who I am.”
Schieffer could have pressed harder. He could have followed up. But
whatever a viewer thought of Bush or religion and prayer, Schieffer’s question
offered Bush an opportunity to talk about an important aspect of his life. I don’t
recommend asking a question about faith in a job interview unless you want
your friends in HR all over you. But in presidential politics all is fair game, and
Schieffer’s question brought together the personal, the professional, and the
provocative to ask about philosophy and motivation.
History will determine George W. Bush’s stature among presidents. The
public will decide whether it hired the right man at the right time. But in that
moment, in front of a search committee of more than 50 million viewers,
whether they liked the response or not, the public got a sense of Bush’s attitude
toward faith and how he explained its role in his decision making. It wasn’t
ground-breaking but it provided texture, and in the context of the presidential job

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interview, texture adds interest and insight.
If you want to know what drives your candidate, you can fashion a question
that explores similarly complex terrain. Connect a decision to principles and
values. Ask in a curious but matter-of-fact way. Know why you’re asking, and
what you’re listening for.
Asking for the Team
Active listening drives good job interviews. It focuses in on compatibility
markers such as complementary experience, shared interests, interpersonal skills,
integrity, work ethic and a sense of professional mission. Experienced job
interviewers listen for experience that corresponds to the job. They listen for
insight into personality traits—energy, creativity, imagination, humor, risk
tolerance—that align with the culture of the place.
For Jim Davis, CEO of New Balance, much revolves around teamwork. Jim
has been an athlete all his life and is a naturally competitive guy. When he
bought New Balance in 1972, it employed six people and was making thirty
pairs of shoes a day. When we spoke, New Balance employed more than 6,000
people worldwide and was a $4 billion enterprise doing business in 140
countries. It still made its shoes in America.
Jim told me that he was always more of a listener than a talker. He shunned
the spotlight. But he knew what he wanted and where he was going. Focused and
confident, he explained that he built his business over the years by assembling a
team he trusts. He believes that “the team” is a company’s most important asset,
and he approaches his recruiting like the general manager of a major league
franchise. He looks for exceptional talent but thinks about where and how he
needs it and the effect it will have on the overall effort. He asks candidates
directly how they function in a team environment.