By Chris Westfall – Forbes

When you’re interviewing for an executive-level position, especially a place in the C-Suite, the conversation is different. The questions are different. And the way you answer those questions is the key to differentiating yourself. Here are four ways to prepare for that C-Suite executive interview, followed by three of the best executive interview questions.

1. Establish Your Own Questions: The leadership interview focuses on strategy over tactics. That’s according to Michael Ruiz, the founder, and CEO of GTS Recruiters, a firm that specializes in executive placement for the franchise industry. He says that execs in the job hunt need to understand the strategic challenges of the organization before they get into the room. “Don’t be afraid to ask questions of your interviewers,” Ruiz says. Digging deeper is part of any CxO job description, so it’s a good idea to generate a dialogue around what you need to know.
2. Listen Before You Speak: Have you researched the strategic challenges facing the company? What about the strategic challenges of the person right in front of you? For leadership roles, it’s vital to know the puts and takes of the personalities inside the hiring process. Executives walk right on through the Glassdoor. That’s right: leaders don’t stop at a simple online scan and call it a day. A conversation with a colleague, connection, or insider is almost always warranted when the stakes are high. Listen for the story that’s never going to show up online. Gain firsthand knowledge of the hiring team: check their references before they check yours. That way, your questions come from a place of insight and resourcefulness – two vital characteristics of executive leadership.
3. Embrace the Unknown: Near the end of a half-day leadership coaching session, I was asking the C-suite leaders a simple question. “What are you doing to do differently”, I wondered, “as a result of our time together?” Each exec had a chance to respond. The wheels came off the wagon when a senior leader started rambling, trying to find her way to a real reply. Her response contained everything except your mother’s birthday – or an answer to my question. As I shared in my book, Leadership Language, I had to cut her off and ask the question again. I wanted to know what she was going to do differently, so I pressed her for an answer. That’s when she shared the three words that changed the entire conversation. She paused, took a deep breath, and said, I don’t know. Wow. The truth had set her free. Because every true leader will tell you where the leadership journey begins: it always starts with what you don’t know. Leaders understand that there is power in the unknown – and they aren’t afraid to access it. If you walk into the executive interview with all the answers, you’re fooling yourself and operating outside of the world we live in. Leaders know how to navigate uncertainty. And high-integrity leaders only trade on the truth. Show how you have been resourceful, resilient, and innovative in the face of the unknown. And know this: that kind of honest, clear-headed courage is what every leadership team needs, right now.
4. Relationships Matter: Talent and skill counts – it’s what gets someone into the executive interview in the first place – but relationships are vital to the success of any well-functioning team. Can you see yourself fitting in with the personalities and dynamics of the organization? How will the Board of Directors react to your hiring? How has your personal network positioned you for success? When it comes to the top spots at a company, it often takes a village just to get into the interview conversation. Executive leaders concentrate on the people within the process. Going beyond your experience means looking at the relationships the drive the team’s ultimate success.

The C-Suite does not get downsized. They get replaced. While many of the working class are being punished by the coronavirus, businesses that are still operating (even operating under bankruptcy) are always doing so with a leadership team. Here are three of the best executive interview questions – how would you respond?

1. What skills are you lacking? The executive interview is a process of elimination, and lacking absolute candor around yourself and your skillset will eliminate you very quickly. In the leadership conversation, you will be asked and expected to tell people what they need to know – not just what you want them to hear.
2. What’s the first thing you’d do if given the job? Don’t walk into the interview without a plan. In my coaching practice, I talk about the first 100 days (sounds more presidential than a 90-day plan, but that’s just my preference). More than just a question about your vision or game plan, you have the opportunity here to share the potential challenges within the company. What do you know about the obstacles in your way?
3. What can you tell me about yourself that’s not on your resumé, or LinkedIn? I often coach my executive clients to open with this answer, and here’s why: if you can’t bring radical honesty into the executive interview, you are sitting in the wrong chair. The stories that go beyond the resume are often the ones worth sharing. What’s the most honest thing you can say – a story that’s authentic, clear, and compelling – that shows a level of skill that might not be fully evident online, or on paper?

Today, smart companies are planning for an eventual upswing and a job market that may be wildly different from today’s landscape. And ineffective leadership teams – unable to adapt to the shifts caused by the pandemic – may be headed for a transition. That transition means opportunity. Remember, opportunity comes to those who prepare for it. The executive interview is one conversation that can change your career – and your life.