Hiring for

Attitude
Mark Murphy,
Chairman & CEO

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Everything based on research

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

The Hiring Study

46% of newly-hired employees will fail within 18

months, while only 19% will achieve unequivocal
success.
Why do people fail?

Coachability
Emotional Intelligence
Motivation
Temperament
Technical Competence

89%

11%

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

The need for attitude

If you dont have a good attitude, we dont want
you, no matter how skilled you are. We can change
skill levels through training. We cant change
attitude.
Herb Kelleher

Founder of Southwest Airlines

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Finding your Brown Shorts

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Finding your Brown Shorts

Characteristics of Low Performers

Whining, Negativity, Me-first, Blaming, dramatic, stir-uptrouble

Characteristics of High Performers

Dont quit until its right, team player, they take risks, or
they dont take risks, sense of humor, class and poise,
resilient, emotionally sensitive to others needs

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

How to discover Brown Shorts

1.

Think of someone in the organization who really represents our culture.

This is our poster child for having the exact right attitude for our
organization. Could you tell me about a time they did something that
really exemplifies having the right attitude?

2.

Without naming names, think of someone who works (or worked) in the
organization who just did not represent the culture. This is our poster
child for having the exact wrong attitude for this organization. Could you
tell me about a time they did something that really exemplifies having the
wrong attitude?

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Case Study: Microchip

In the global high-tech world, attitude is critical. But how do you
discover whether someone is both technically brilliant AND a
perfect fit with your culture? Moving way beyond standard
hiring approaches, Hiring for Attitude has deepened our talent
pool, shown us how to discover untapped talent, reduced the risk
of hiring the wrong person and cut turnover substantially.
Mitch Little, Vice President of Worldwide Sales and
Applications, Microchip

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Microchip Negative Brown Shorts

Condescending (e.g. Im the expert in our products,

youre not, so...)
Placating (e.g. here, have some free software and
stop complaining...)
Overwhelming (e.g. You want technical
specifications? Well, open the warehouse, because
Ive got a truckload of technical specifications...)
Challenging (e.g. That last request you made is
technically infeasible--tell me how you even arrived
at those calculations...)
2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Microchip Positive Brown Shorts

Caring (e.g. Even our best friends sometimes get

quarrelsome and difficult, but we dont abandon them or
refuse to help. In fact, when a friend is in trouble, it usually
makes us want to get in there and help even more...)

Persistence (e.g. I ended up staying on the phone with her

until almost midnight, but we finally got things figured out
and working right...)

Objectivity (e.g. When I felt myself getting defensive, I

took a mental step-back to get an objective take on how the
customer viewed the situation...)

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Eliminating bad questions

Avoid superficial and easily-gamed questions:

Tell me about yourself

What are your strengths
What are your weaknesses
What would you do if (hypothetical)
You have good teamwork skills, right?
If you could be any vegetable, what kind of vegetable
would you be?

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Brown Shorts

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Brown Shorts Characteristics

Positive Brown Shorts

High performers are highly

collaborative. They help each other
out without being asked, and without
any expectation of recognition or
reward.
High performers are self-directed
learners. If they dont know how to
do something, theyre incredibly
proactive in finding the necessary
information or other resources to
help them gain the skills and
knowledge they need.

Negative Brown Shorts

Low performers routinely want

individual recognition rather than
sharing recognition with the larger
team.
Low performers have a negative
disposition. When faced with a
new situation they regularly
respond with the reasons why
something will NOT work rather
than trying to figure out ways to
achieve success.
2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Differential Situations

When faced with an opportunity for recognition

When things go wrong

High performers demure, while low performers step on

anyone they have to in order to get that notice or reward.
High performers arent interested in finding a source of
blame. Low performers are quick to blame and eager to
escape accountability.

When asked to do something they dont know how

to do

High performers proactively acquire new skills. Low

performers immediately throw up their hands, resist, and
complain.
2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Could you tell me

Tell me about a time you lacked the skills or

knowledge to complete an assignment.

Could you tell me about a time you lacked the skills

or knowledge to complete an assignment?

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Leave it hanging

Could you tell me about a time you lacked

the skills or knowledge to complete an
assignment?

Could you tell me about a time you lacked

the skills or knowledge to complete an
assignment
and how you overcame that.
2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

How to ruin an interview question

Problem bringers/problem solvers

Tell me about a time when you had to adapt to a

difficult situation. What did you do?
Tell me about a time when you had to balance
competing priorities and did so successfully.
Tell me about a difficult situation with a coworker, and how you handled it.

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Could you tell me about a time you lacked the skills

or knowledge to complete an assignment?

Happened all the time; thats why Im interviewing with you guys.
I told them to find somebody else.
Thats why we have customer service; let them figure it out.

I wasnt afraid to admit that I lacked the skills I needed and was
easily able to find a peer who caught me up to speed.
I enlisted the help of someone from corporate who was familiar with
the tool I did not know how to use. I didnt have to solve the problem
from scratch, and it sure felt good to share the credit for a job well
done.

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Brown Shorts Questions

Proactive (they dont wait to be told to take action)
Could you tell me about a time when you had to make a
really important decision at work?
Could you tell me about a time you saw a coworker
struggling to complete something?
Adventurous (theyre willing to step outside their standard role)
Could you tell me about a time you lacked the skills or
knowledge to complete an assignment?
Could you tell me about a time when you had to think
outside the box?
2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Brown Shorts Questions

Resilient (they bounce back quickly when things go wrong)
Could you tell me about a time when you were given an
assignment that you were sure wasnt going to succeed?
Could you tell me about the most difficult customer youve
dealt with?
Optimistic (they believe that theres always a solution to every
problem)
Could you tell me about a time you couldnt find a solution to
a problem?
Could you tell me about a time an error occurred on a
project to which you were assigned?
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You need an answer key

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Developing Answer Guidelines

Could you tell me about a time you lacked the skills or
knowledge to complete an assignment?

WARNING SIGNS
I just gave up
Did not ask for help or assistance
I took it straight to my manager for her to deal with. It is not in
my job description to fix that
I am never wrong or it is always the other persons fault.

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Answer Guidelines: Warning Signs

When you dont know how to do something you just placate

the requestor and obfuscate the issue until hopefully it starts to
go away. Ive found it to be pretty common for a customer or
boss who gets all hot and bothered over an issue to completely
forget it within 72 hours.
I had one boss who was terrible at communication, and a lot of
times it negatively affected the procedures and workflow in our
department. I know it really impacted my work and made my
life pretty miserable. There were a lot of times when I didnt
find out about process changes until after the fact. This slowed
me up a lot, and I spent a lot of days just frozen, unable to do
anything, because I literally didnt know what to do.

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Developing Answer Guidelines

Could you tell me about a time you lacked the skills or
knowledge to complete an assignment?
POSITIVE SIGNALS

Did not give up

Learned from the experience
A willingness to be flexible.
Listening to ideas other than their own.
Detailed explanation of why the improvement didn't work, what
exactly was done when the fix didn't work, the thought process
around the original recommended fix, and why the chosen final
course resolved the situation
2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Answer Guidelines: Positive Signals

I initiated a forum of really talented people from all over the

organization at my last job. I set it up so we met once a week to
discuss our challenges and problems. It was a great way to get
feedback and advice, especially when I wasnt sure how to do
something.
I was honest with the customer and explained that I wasnt
familiar with what they were looking for, but that I would
connect them with the person in our company who was the
expert on this. I made this connection within the 24 hour
window I had promised to the customer, and I kept in touch
with both the customer and our expert throughout the
process. Then I went and learned as much about the issue as I
could so next time I would be prepared.
2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Textual Analysis

First Person Pronouns: The high performer answers

(the ones in the Positive Signal category) contain
roughly 60% more first-person pronouns (e.g. I, me,
we) than answers given by the low performer
answers (the ones in the Warning Signs category).
Second Person Pronouns: Low performer answers
contain about 400% more second person pronouns
(e.g. you, your) than high performer answers.
Third Person Pronouns: Low performer answers use
about 90% more third person pronouns (e.g. he,
she, they) than high performer answers.
2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Textual Analysis

Past Tense: Answers from high performers use 40%

more past tense than answers from low performers.
Present Tense: Answers from low performers use
120% more present tense than answers from high
performers.
Future Tense: Answers from low performers use
70% more future tense than answers from high
performers.

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Textual Analysis

Adverbs: Answers in the low performer category

contain 40% more adverbs (think of words ending in
-ly, like quickly, totally, thoroughly, etc.) than the
high performer answers.
Negation: Low performer answers use 130% more
negation (no, neither, etc.) than high performer
answers.
Absolutes: Low performers use 100% more
absolutes (always, never) than high performers.

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Evaluation

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

How many questions?

60 minute interview

10 minutes rapport building

10 Minutes close
40 minutes of content

How many minutes in an answer does it take to get

past the canned stuff?

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

The (Universal) Coachability Question

1. What was your bosss name? Please spell their full

2.
3.
4.

5.

name for me.

Tell me about NAME as a boss.
Whats something that you could have done (or
done differently) to enhance your working
relationship with NAME?
When I talk to NAME, what will he/she tell me your
strengths are?
Now everyone has areas where they can improve, so
when I talk to NAME, what will he/she tell me your
weaknesses are?
2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

Everything based on research

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

More Resources
info@leadershipiq.com
www.leadershipiq.com
800-814-7859

Contact us for information about our

employee engagement surveys, eLearning,
onsite training or keynote speaking

2012 LEADERSHIP IQ

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