The Black Widow Interviewing Mistake

Executive roles are different. You are expected to lead, and not just manage. Your focus shifts towards external results. For many senior managers and junior executives, they fail to get the job or make the grade because they don't switch their thinking from internal to external, from process to results. This is called the Black Widow Mistake. But The Black Widow Mistake also happens in interviews: too many executives fail to realize they won't just be expected to answer questions, they'll be expected to have a point of view, and in some cases, a complete strategy for success.

You're in an executive level interview. You are well prepared. You've done everything we recommend you do in our highly popular Interviewing Series of podcasts. You have all your accomplishments chosen that match the culture and role you're interviewing for. You can handle probing. You have good questions. You close.

And you don't get the job, 2-3-4 times in a row.. What's going on?

You have likely made the Black Widow Interviewing Mistake. You are still interviewing passively, when an executive is expected to be an active leader. Executive roles require those who can create a strategy for their division or department, rather than just waiting for guidance for the top. If you haven't thought through what your goals for your new organization are going to be, and how you're going to achieve them, you're not ready to win an offer out of an executive level interview/search.