KonMari Your Executive Interview
You know Marie Kondo, right? She’s the essentialist organizer who’s popular Netflix show “Tidying Up” has created major zeitgeist fandom. In essence, Kondo’s technique named KonMari is all about the mindful reduction to the most essential element(s) through joy-sparking analysis. As an example, when sorting through a closet of clothes, she’ll assess whether a piece sparks joy or not. If yes, it stays and if no, acknowledge it for its service and out it goes. Kondo is an expert in minimalist organizing and at the risk of oversimplifying her method, I invite you to check it out on YouTube or Netflix.
So how can the KonMari method apply to an executive interview process?… Here’s how.
You will be seen as the best fit candidate if you continually spark joy in your interview. This will happen when you expertly demonstrate three things:
- You understand their challenge
- You have a solution for their challenge
- You’re a fit with the organizational culture
Here’s the breakdown of each…
You understand their challenge: This boils down to experience. Your future employer is going to assess whether or not you have a unique perspective on their: industry, customer, product or service, and team leadership. They’re also listening for your successes and failures that prove your resiliency and ability to carry on toward revised success.
In the interview, express your understanding of their challenge by providing evidence-based examples that you’ve “been there, done that”. In preparing for the interview, research the heck out of their current market position, finances, and products/services to fully understand their challenge. Then make a list of examples where you solved a unique business challenge that had similar relevance. Think about career wins in which you were particularly innovative, adaptable, and collaborative. Also, consider how you were specifically involved in each example. Were you leading the people that did the work or did you have a direct hand in business development, customer satisfaction or employee engagement? Make sure you give a specific and relevant example and state your role in the solution. This will spark joy and encourage your interviewer in visualizing you as the ideal candidate.
You have a solution for their challenge: The second joy-sparking phase of your interview will come when you can clearly articulate your vision and strategy for solving your future employer’s challenge. While you mustn’t assume you have all the answers, having a general framework of how you’d support the organization is essential. Your future employer is interviewing you to hear more about your problem-solving approach. Spark joy for them by communicating you have bright ideas on how to solve their challenges. Then, ask them how your vision and suggested implementation aligns with their organizational culture. Listen for opportunities to tweak your approach, reshaping your solution real-time. For example, you might say, “Hearing [ABC company] values consensus building, I would recommend adding a few focus groups to the change management component of my strategy.” Boom, more joy being sparked as you real-time problem solve based on the needs of the organization. Consider being prepared with a 90-Day plan which also shows preparation and commitment; two more joy-sparking attributes.
You’re a fit with the organizational culture: Being a former HR professional, I’ve had the unfortunate role of letting people go. The majority of those individuals were let go because they were not performing in their role (even after multiple attempts to course correct the performance). Most commonly, the non-performance was rooted in a “fit” issue such as: the pace of expected results delivery, incongruent communication styles, or interpersonal team dynamics. When you’re interviewing, you can spark joy by communicating the type of culture you would thrive in and having it match the culture of their organization. Here’s the catch… you can’t just pay lip service and say what they want to hear. They’ll read right through that and it will NOT spark joy. You must answer genuinely. The truth is, even in you have the right experience, the best vision and a proven plan to solve their challenge, if the “fit” isn’t right, it’s not going to be a job you’d be happy in long-term. Simply lead with your authentic description of a winning organizational dynamic and leave the rest to them.
Spark joy throughout: Additional joy will be sparked when your interviewer receives a rigorously prepared candidate delivering excellent, thought-out responses. To that end, make sure you can thoughtfully answer these three interview questions, which you can download here, complete with response strategies. Get out there and KonMari your next interview!
