there definitely is an ‘I’ in team
Rightly so, (nearly) everyone we speak with these days is very inclusive in interviews*. Team contributions are recognised. There’s lots of ‘we’ did this and ‘we’ did that. All very laudable.
And, as we’re interviewing leaders for the key maritime roles we search for, that’s exactly what we want: modern, inclusive, effective leadership. Leadership that produces results. Leadership that brings teams together and builds them into something amazing. Leadership that gives every member of the team a chance to contribute.
Which is why, perhaps counterintuitively, we always ask potential candidates for more of the ‘I’. We don't wait until the end of the interview but politely interrupt (always saying something like, ‘With no apologies but please stop saying ‘we’! Please tell us what exactly was your part in this). Why? For two reasons:
Firstly, we want to make sure that you had skin in the game. These are senior roles. We need to know that any candidate we put forward had accountability and significantly shaped events. Our clients ask this of us. In today’s matrixed organisations, it’s relatively easy to claim contribution where little credit is due. Be clear about your accountability (especially safety & risk responsibilities, change leadership, P&L, CAPEX etc).
Secondly, we want to know who you are as a leader. For leaders who manage large functions, divisions or even whole organisations, the ‘we’ is a given. Obviously, you didn’t run a port operation or a fleet entirely on your own. Clearly, you’re not the sole charterer on the floor. But perhaps what you did do was establish a culture, a clear set of objectives, a strategy. You delivered x results with y resource. And so on. You led the teams that did this. You made a difference.
So, when it comes to interviews, put aside the false modesty. Show us the real you. Be clear. Be ‘I’ and ‘me’. We get that you’re not ignoring what everyone else did. But, for just this once, we’re interested in you and not everyone else.
*stonefort marine talent is a small group of senior maritime professionals providing leadership development and executive search services. We use our expertise to provide probing first interviews for clients before finalising shortlists.