Evaluating the Culture and Leadership of a Job

Evaluating the culture and leadership of an organization in the job interview process is critical. As you will learn in the client anecdote below, it’s important to know before you take the job if your supervisor will ask you to do tasks you are uncomfortable doing.

CFO RESIGNS FROM COMPANY DUE TO UNETHICAL LEADERSHIP

“So why did you leave your last job?” I asked my new client, an experienced CFO.

“The CEO wanted me to lie to the Board,” he said. “The numbers weren’t looking good and he wanted me to get creative with them. I had to tell him I can’t do that.”

“What did he say?” I asked.

“He said, if you don’t do it then I will accept your resignation effective now,” he replied. “I told him that I will resign.”

“You did the right thing,” I counseled.

“Yes, there are worse things than losing a job,” he laughed. “Going to prison is not on my list of things to do. The challenge is, I don’t know how to tell that story in an interview without it going badly.”

We helped him craft his narrative to make sure it conveyed the story but didn’t cause a backlash on him. Unfortunately, this is often the case. The hiring CEO understands but then has an emotional reaction that this guy won’t be completely loyal to him or her. It’s a fine line to dance.



After he accepted his new job our client said, “Thank you. Your help in evaluating the culture of the new opportunity and the leadership team to make sure it was not like the last one helped me tremendously. That one piece of help made the entire investment worth it.”

We were glad to help.