“The CEO has to exemplify wellbeing, that’s the zeitgeist,” says Joseph Teperman, Managing Partner of Amrop in Brazil. Assessing the C-suite and board are two critical aspects of preparing a sustainable CEO hire. What about the candidate? “There is a high awareness of CEO capital, and the importance of the nomination,” says Fredy Hausammann. Given the stakes, the assessment of a CEO’s resilience requires a range of instruments, tests and investigations. From psychometric testing to deep interviewing, these blend data and discernment.  

Sandy McKenzie is a Managing Partner of Amrop in the UK. He asks: “What will this person look like under pressure? What blind spots appear?”  

Just as a CV can gloss over difficult moments, senior interviewees may throw up smokescreens. After all, leaders are primed to perform and manage impressions. Many find it difficult to discuss their weaknesses or failures, especially if they’re caught up in the vicious cycle seen in our last article. 

Nakki Furuta estimates that at least 60% of CEOs are incapable of the self-observation that enhances emotional intelligence. This matters, as EI and resilience are close bedfellows. “One factor for the 40% who can, is their experience of overcoming failure. The rest don’t admit to it.”  

Roland Theuws, a Partner in Amrop Netherlands, always asks candidates to give an example of something going wrong. He likes a tactic of his colleague Eelco van Eijck, who asks: “If you could buy a strength or a capability, which would it be? The candidate then has to admit what they lack. Some get nervous, start looking at the ceiling.” Candidates may offer platitudes or disguise a strength as a weakness: ‘patience’, or ‘slowing down’. 

“Self-questioning also means questioning one’s actions,” confirms Emilie Boullet Lacoste at Amrop NESS in France. “But they don’t have time – the world goes too fast today. And, because they're mostly very clever, they say they do. Then you ask them to give examples. And you have your answer.”