10 Questions Leaders Should Ask Themselves About Their Company's Culture

FastCompany has an article on their website titled "10 questions to ask in a job interview that will really expose a company's culture.” The article is for people actively interviewing for a new job, but hiring managers and company leaders can unlock insights into their own company’s culture by asking themselves the questions.

Below is a sampling of questions from the article. I recommend saving or printing the rest of the questions in the article and taking some time to go through them and writing down your initial thoughts.

“Tell me about a time a team member changed your mind.  This lets you know if the leader feels they are the only one who has the answers or if they are open to different opinions. You are going to learn how they prefer to receive information and what they value.” 

“Tell me about someone you are proud of. This is going to let you know which behaviors and skills they value. You can also learn their attitude towards developing people and celebrating success along the way.” 

“Tell me about a disagreement or conflict on the team. Every team is going to have conflict. It is a great way to generate ideas and different thinking when the team has the right tools to navigate constructive conflict. You want to see is if the leader says: "We don't have conflict." This could mean that different opinions aren't welcome, and the team sits in silence. Or the leader is trying to avoid the hard conversations that yield better results. The leader should be able to talk about people having different opinions they had to work through.”

“Tell me about the last person you recognized. Recognition can be a thoughtful conversation, an email, an award, or even a mention in an all-hands meeting. You want to see if the leader struggles to come up with an example or easily mentions individual and team recognition. Does the leader have the mindset that development includes helping people see the contributions they are making?”