Fun questions to ask your CEO and senior leaders
- What has been your favorite project so far?
- If you could trade places with anyone for a day, who would it be and why?
- What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?
- If you could be a superhero, would it be?
- If you could have dinner with any nobel prize winner, who would it be?
- What book have you read recently?
- What’s your goto food when you are running short of time ?
- What’s the most memorable vacation you’ve ever taken?
- What’s the best concert or music festival you’ve ever been to?
- What’s your favorite hobby or pastime?
- If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
- What’s your favorite movie or TV show?
- If you could have any animal as a pet, what would it be?
- What’s your favorite sports team?
- If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
- Which is your favorite newcomer in the industry who has made it big?
- Who was your inspiration as a kid?
- What do you consider to be your greatest achievement as CEO?
- What is the last time you had to think outside of the box ?
- What is something you wish you had known before becoming CEO?
CEOs – their top priorities and challenges
While pitching your CEO, it’s necessary to be aware of their priorities and key challenges. The more your IT project aligns with their preferences and goals, the higher the chance you’ll get their approval. Aim for their top three priorities, if your idea doesn’t influence at least one of them, you’re off their agenda.
In terms of their biggest challenges, 37% of CEOs mention finding the right talent as their main challenge, followed by building better operational processes (28%) and aligning employees with strategy (28%).
When pitching your idea to the CEO, think about how your project can help them address their challenges.
What’s Next
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Company culture questions to ask a CEO
Company culture is everything. It affects almost every element of a company, and employees and leaders alike feel it every single day.
But bridging the divide between executive leadership and the general workforce can sometimes be tough (without the right tools). And getting culture right in a digital-first environment can be tricky – especially for CEOs struggling to adapt to the new way of working.
Why should you ask a CEO about company culture? Because employees need to hear their vision for what the company should be. Only then can you construct feedback loops to reconcile what is with what should be.
Best company culture questions
- Why did you start this company (or why did you join it)?
- What about this company makes you the most proud?
- What is something you hope to see change at this company?
- What is your desired timeline for that change?
- What are the warning signs that a company culture isn’t what it should be?
- Is there another organization or internal department whose culture you would point to as a model?
What types of questions should you ask a CEO and why?
As a people leader, you have more access to the CEO than the average frontline employee. Still, when opportunities arise to ask your CEO a question, knowing what exactly to ask isn’t always easy.
It might help to start by thinking about the types or categories of questions that would make the most impact, including:
- Questions about company culture
- Questions about employee experience
- Questions about employee engagement
- Questions about recruiting and retaining talent
- Questions about digital transformation
- Questions about diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB)
- Questions about risk management
- Questions about long-term vision
- Questions about executive challenges
- Questions about market competition
- Questions about industry challenges
- Questions about crisis communication
- Questions about business ethics
- Questions about environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
We’ll show you powerful examples in each of these categories. And stick around for the end, where we’ll reveal 30-plus CEOs’ responses to “What is the best question to ask a CEO?”
Digital transformation questions for executive leaders
Digital transformation can feel chaotic at times, but it’s also necessary for survival in most industries. The way we’ve always done it might still work. But does it still win?
Not when the competition is reinventing the way they do it (and embracing a new generation of powerful technology to do it faster and better).
Why should you ask a CEO about digital transformation? Because digital transformation is the key to survival in most business contexts. A CEO must have a plan for digital transformation (and be able to communicate that plan).
Best digital transformation questions
- What are the key elements of your vision for digital transformation?
- What is the role of leadership in pushing forward into digital transformation?
- How can we support, upskill, or reskill workers whose roles will be impacted by digital transformation?
- How will digital transformation affect roles, skills, and job functions in our company?
- How do you plan to combat resistance to change during digital transformation?
Организация работы и контроль
Один из основных обязанностей руководителя CEO – это организация работы сотрудников и обеспечение эффективности их деятельности. Руководитель должен разработать четкие правила и процедуры, которые позволят оптимизировать процессы и обеспечить эффективную работу всего коллектива.
Контроль является неотъемлемой частью организации работы. Руководитель должен регулярно проверять выполнение задач и достижение поставленных целей. Для этого он может использовать различные методы: от проведения периодических совещаний и проверки отчетности до использования специальных систем учета и контроля.
Одним из ключевых аспектов организации работы и контроля является делегирование полномочий. Руководитель должен распределить задачи среди своих подчиненных, определить ответственность и контролировать выполнение работ
Важно найти баланс между контролем и свободой действий сотрудников, чтобы обеспечить оптимальные условия для их работы и развития
Кроме того, руководитель CEO должен уметь эффективно коммуницировать с коллективом и развивать командный дух. Он должен быть готов к работе в режиме постоянных изменений и находить подходы к различным типам сотрудников. Постоянный обмен информацией, обратная связь и поддержка развития сотрудников – важные задачи руководителя в области организации работы и контроля.
В целом, организация работы и контроль – это процессы, которые позволяют руководителю CEO достичь поставленных целей и обеспечить эффективную работу всего предприятия. Умение правильно организовать работу, контролировать ее выполнение и поддерживать коллектив – важные качества, необходимые для успешного выполнения роли руководителя CEO.
Questions to Ask a CEO About Growth
What Is the Key to Success?
This is a question that will explicitly help you in getting to the top. While answering this, your CEO will share tried and tested ways of achieving success. Moreover, they may also share ways that are more specific to your career and situation.
Most importantly, this answer will showcase values that your CEO abides by. For example, the answer might be staying true and honest to work.
What More Can I Do to Achieve This Goal?
If you want to convey your investment and commitment to the company, this is one of the ways of doing so. When you ask such a question, your CEO will consider you as someone who wants to stay with the company and go above and beyond to ensure goal fulfillment.
Коммуникационные навыки
Коммуникационные навыки описывают способность руководителя CEO эффективно общаться с различными людьми внутри и вне компании. Эти навыки играют важную роль в установлении и поддержке командной работы, управлении конфликтами, принятии решений и воздействии на других.
Основные коммуникационные навыки, которыми должен обладать руководитель CEO, включают:
- Ораторское мастерство: способность выступать перед аудиторией, убедительно и эффективно представлять свои идеи, вдохновлять и мотивировать других;
- Слушание и эмпатия: умение внимательно слушать собеседника, проявлять понимание и сопереживание к его проблемам и потребностям;
- Навыки активного общения: умение задавать вопросы, вовлекать других в разговор, поддерживать конструктивный диалог;
- Культура обратной связи: способность предлагать и принимать обратную связь от своих подчиненных и коллег, а также предоставлять им конструктивную обратную связь;
Эффективное использование коммуникационных навыков позволяет главе компании лучше понимать своих сотрудников, находить компромиссы, строить доверительные отношения и устанавливать позитивный имидж как внутри, так и снаружи.
Однако, стоит отметить, что коммуникационные навыки требуют постоянной практики и совершенствования. Частые тренинги, курсы и саморазвитие помогут руководителю CEO укрепить свои навыки в области коммуникации и стать успешным лидером.
Key questions to ask executives regarding industry challenges
What’s happening in your industry matters. A lot.
Many of the questions we’ve covered so far didn’t matter all that much for auto companies in 2008 or real estate investors in 2009. Their industries were in freefall, and executive leadership needed to draw on a different set of skills to overcome industry-wide challenges.
Why should you ask a CEO about industry challenges? Because if you’re not encountering any now, you will soon. It’s helpful to know a CEO’s mindset or perspective on current or future challenges.
Best industry challenge questions
- What do you see as the biggest threats to our industry as a whole?
- How can we position ourselves better than the competition as we face those challenges?
- What developing technologies could challenge our industry in the next three to five years?
- What developing technologies can we use to disrupt our industry in the next one to three years?
Fun questions to ask your CEO
- What has been your biggest learning since becoming a CEO?
- Do you have a secret talent that no one knows about?
- What do you do for fun?
- How do you relax?
- What was your first job?
- What is the craziest thing you have done?
- What gets you up in the morning
- What motivates you?
- How are you doing today?
Next time you find yourself wondering what a CEO spends his time on, take a minute to reflect on who they are as human beings. What interests them? What gets them excited? What makes them laugh? What do they do to get away from work?
It’s these kinds of details that will allow you to truly get to know someone and connect.
Once you’ve done that, at the next appropriate opportunity… ask the question.
Below will highlight some personal questions to ask your CEO that might just create an impactful and real conversion.
Smart questions to ask your CEO — Garret Flower, CEO ParkOffice
“How do you manage your mindset in difficult times?”
“The role of a CEO can be complex with a myriad of issues to work through daily. Building your resilience and ability to cope with setbacks and ‘curve balls’ that will no doubt present themselves requires focus and intentional work. It can be interesting to understand some of the techniques that have been used by your CEO over time to help them succeed and assess whether these techniques would be worth bringing into your working routine.”
‘What does success look like for you?’
You can pose this question to your CEO when the company is embarking on a major change or new project, Kerr said.
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Alternatively, you can ask, «How do you think we should collectively define success?»
«This question shows proactive engagement and a desire to learn, help, and move the business forward. This question is not about the CEO, but about ensuring that peers are aligned in how to drive a successful outcome,» Andrew Rubin, the CEO and co-founder of Illumio, told Insider.
Read more: A former Googler and Facebook exec says asking your boss this simple question when you start a new job is the best way to ensure success from the get-go
Открытые вопросы для опроса
Опрос – один из лучших методов получить статистику мнений. Рассмотрим его особенности. Анкетирование – шанс познакомиться с точкой зрения разных людей. Используя статистику, можно понять мнение большинства. Опрашивание потребителей – неотъемлемая часть разработки стратегии развития и взаимодействия с клиентами компании. Опросы помогут закрыть “дыры” в пользовательском опыте – это положительно скажется на комфорте потребителей.
Определитесь, какой конкретно тип вопросов вам подойдет. Специалисты разделяют открытые вопросы для сбора данных на 5 категорий, а именно:
- Вопросы о поведении клиентов — Позволяют понять, по каким причинам пользователи принимают те или иные решения.
- Вопросы для получения отзывов от клиента — Направлены на изучение мнения клиентов о компании и о ваших продуктах.
- Вопросы для проверки концепции — Используются для изучения мнения клиентов о новой концепции продуктов компании.
- Вопросы для маркетингового исследования — Применяются для оценки маркетинговых стратегий. Позволяют оценить эффективность разработанных планов, необходимость доработок.
- Вопросы для конкурентного анализа — Используются для оценки конкурентности ваших продуктов по отношению к аналогам других компаний.
Анкеты на основе открытых вопросов подходящего типа способствуют достижению успеха в нише. Регулярные, хорошо составленные опросы определят проблемы в пользовательском опыте, недостатки в маркетинговой стратегии и других элементах развития бизнеса.
Кто такой руководитель Ceo 1?
Руководитель Ceo 1 – это высшая должность в компании, обозначающая интересы и цели организации. Иногда также называют исполнительным директором (Chief Executive Officer). Руководитель Ceo 1 имеет значительные полномочия и отвечает за принятие стратегических решений, привлечение инвестиций, установление приоритетов компании и развитие бизнес-модели.
В обязанности руководителя Ceo 1 входит управление всеми подразделениями компании, принятие решений о найме и увольнение сотрудников, а также установление бюджета и стратегических целей компании. Руководитель Ceo 1 является самым высшим руководителем в организации и отчитывается перед советом директоров или акционерами компании.
Руководитель Ceo 1 также играет важную роль во взаимодействии с внешними стейкхолдерами компании, включая партнеров, инвесторов, клиентов и общественность. Он представляет компанию на внешних мероприятиях и ведет переговоры с партнерами и инвесторами.
Успех руководителя Ceo 1 в значительной степени зависит от его лидерских навыков, умения строить команду и мотивировать сотрудников. Он должен быть в состоянии предвидеть изменения на рынке и разрабатывать стратегию компании в соответствии с этими изменениями.
Для того чтобы достичь успеха на должности руководителя Ceo 1, необходимы хорошие аналитические и стратегические навыки, умение принимать решения в сложных ситуациях, коммуникативные и лидерские способности. Однако, роль руководителя Ceo 1 может варьироваться от компании к компании в зависимости от ее размера и отрасли, поэтому требования могут различаться.
Question to ask leadership
- How do you tackle the generation gap with your new and young hires?
- How do you motivate your employees when they feel down?
- What tips would you give to an interviewee who wants to get hired in this company?
- Have you ever laid someone off?
- What’s the most possible reason for big layoffs from your company?
- How does your company allow employees to advance their careers?
- Who is the most inspiring employee that you’ve ever come across? What inspired you about them?
- How do you measure the efficiency of your HR department?
- Can you describe the company’s approach to marketing and communications?
- If you were given a $10,000 marketing budget, what would you do with it?
- If you could take anybody to advertise your company, which celebrity would you reach out to?
- Do you give a pep talk to your sales team?
- How do you define employee engagement?
- What do you do to promote employee engagement in your company?
- What do you do to make employees feel valued at work?
- Do you think companies should focus on employee happiness at work?
Questions to Ask a CEO About Diversity and Inclusion
What Do Diversity and Inclusion Mean to You?
This question will demonstrate your CEO’s perspective and how important do they feel this topic is. It will tell you that the company does not believe in discrimination and it will make you feel proud of being associated with such an organization.
How Does Our Company’s Leadership Support D&I Strategies?
Here, the CEO will throw some light on the strategies that the company is or will take to augment Diversity and inclusion. It will give you a chance to participate and make you feel motivated to work for a company that believes in giving equal opportunities to people.
Impactful questions to ask your CEO
A well-adjusted team contributes significantly to a company’s success. An engaged and motivated team will go the extra mile without having to be asked. This is what ultimately leads to growth in every sense of the word.
Though it may seem like an afterthought, team culture is an incredibly important part of running a successful business.
Yet, many people struggle to recognize how important team culture is.
Questions to ask the CEO about team culture
- How do you know which team cultures are most effective?
- Is there a particular team or organization whose culture you admire?
What motivates people to work well together? What can we learn from successful teams? How do we build a team that works well? How can we identify good leadership techniques? These are important topics for discussion at any level of organization. Whether we realise it or not, the things we do as a team impact everyone else on the team and the company. Good team culture helps you get things finished on time, recognises the need to deal with problems quickly, and promotes creativity within a group.
What are the signs of a sub-par culture?
If you feel like your company doesn’t have a good culture, you may be right. Culture defines what is expected of employees, how social interactions are conducted, and even which activities are acceptable in the workplace
- What sort of behaviours can improve the culture of a team?
- What makes a team successful in your opinion?
- What is the best way to build a great team?
Being part of a team means you do your best when no one’s looking, taking responsibility for the success of everyone in the company. It means building respect among peers and earning trust with customers. It means always putting others before yourself.
Smart questions to ask your CEO — Ruari Kelleher, CEO Immedis.
«What does a good team culture look like to you?
“This is a great question and one I have spent some time considering. I enjoy answering this one.
Good team culture is built around strong visions and values that enable behaviours to be actioned every day. It should be articulated simply, ‘how things are done around here’.
There is a strong sense of trust among a great team, the ability to engage in conflict and have powerful and vulnerable conversations. The human experience and understanding the whole person… that is a key part of team culture.
One of the most celebrated leadership books of all time, Patrick Lenoconis “Five Dysfunctions of a Team” talks about the key dynamics of a team.”
Impactful questions to ask CEO
- Why did you start this company?
- How did you go about researching and validating your idea for this company?
- Why did you join the position of a CEO?
- How did you get to this point in your career?
- Can you give some tips for youngsters who aspire to make it big like you?
- What are your personal goals?
- Do you have any hobbies outside of work that help become a better boss?
- Whom do you look up to for inspiration?
- What other companies do you admire in your industry?
- What’s the average number of meetings you take up in a single day?
- What according to you makes a great team?
- What was your most difficult career-related decision so far?
- What inspired you to take up this path in life?
- What is the most important skill a CEO must have?
- How did you grow into your role as a CEO?
- What is the best advice that someone has ever given you?
- Were you always sure of this career path? If not, what did you want to do instead?
- What was your first goal when you joined the company as a CEO?
- How do you handle negative feedback from the board of directors or financial advisors?
- If you could, what other industries would you like to partake in?
- What’s the latest technology that you think can change your industry?
- When you started, what was the position of the company in your industry?
- Do you think Artificial Intelligence (AI) can take jobs in your industry?
- Would you ever substitute employees with AI? If yes, in what positions would you make the change?
- Do you think there’s a place for new startups in this industry?
- Would prefer industrial talks with a new businessman or an experienced C-suite officer?
- How do you stay motivated and focused on goals?
- How do you stay informed about industry trends and developments?
Открытые вопросы о продажах. Пример
Продажи – вот ниша, в которой открытые вопросы востребованы больше всего. Безотказные поставщики оперативной информации – вопросы используются во всех нишах продаж, независимо от типа продукта и размеров компании.
Открытые вопросы сферы продаж имеют ряд отличий. Они направлены исключительно на получение информации о клиенте и его впечатлениях. Основываясь лишь на ответах клиентов, вы можете создать эффективную маркетинговую стратегию в кратчайшие сроки.
Далее – примеры открытых вопросов для торговли:
- С какими проблемами вы сталкиваетесь каждый день?
- Как вы можете повлиять на сложившуюся ситуацию?
- Каких инструментов вам не хватает для достижения цели?
- Есть ли риск, что вы не сможете решить сложившуюся проблему?
- Что вы думаете о нашем товаре?
- Что вы скажете о нашем сотрудничестве?
- Как вы считаете, чего не хватает вашим специалистам для достижения необходимого результата?
- Сколько времени вы тратите на отслеживание потенциальных клиентов?
- Что побудило взяться за этот проект?
- Каковы цели вашего бизнеса?
- Что вы хотите получить от нашего сотрудничества?
- Какие возможности вы видите в данный момент?
- Как вы считаете, требует ли наш продукт каких-то изменений?
- Как наш продукт повлиял на решение вашей проблемы?
- Почему вы стали клиентом нашей компании?
- Какой, по вашему мнению, продукт нам стоит создать следующим?
- С какими проблемами вы столкнулись сегодня?
- Как, по вашему мнению, изменение этой области может улучшить вашу повседневную работу?
- Как бы вы описали уровень обслуживания у вашего провайдера?
- Какие меры вы приняли бы для решения ваших проблем?
- Как вы оцениваете поставщиков в вашей сфере обслуживания?
- Какие изменения беспокоят вас в этой отрасли?
Ответы могут ощутимо повлиять на позитивные изменения в вашем бизнесе. Именно поэтому открытые вопросы столь популярны среди компаний самых разных масштабов.
You should create a culture
As a CEO, one of your jobs is to create and uphold a culture that differentiates your company. A culture is more than just a cool office, flexible work hours, and beer at 4:00 on Fridays. A culture is defined by the inherent values, energy, and actions that drive you and every team member to do their best work. It’s a comprehensive spectrum of factors including goals, benefits, environment, rewards, tasks, respect,and personality traits that create a culture. Each employee must fit into and value these elements or they will hold you back.
ACTION STEP: Do a comprehensive assessment of your company culture to identify where you are now, where you want to be and the gaps you need to close to get there—then implement them.
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9 tips to pitching your IT project to your CEO
1. Frame the problem and explain how the product will benefit the company
Focus on the problem first; describe the context, and emphasize the pain points. Try to build a sense of urgency around resolving the challenge. A mistake frequently made is focusing too much on the solution instead of building a strong case for immediate action. And it’s the problem, not the answer that your CEO is most keen on learning about.
Treat your CEO like an internal investor. Investors will only put their money into projects which have a high ROI potential. Your idea probably isn’t the only option available; there will be other projects on the table, so why should they invest in yours?
Explain clearly how your project will benefit the company. Will it lead to improved profits? Will it increase market share, or maybe it will have a positive impact on brand reputation?
Your project can’t be disconnected from the company vision, whatever your idea is, make sure it supports it.
2. Have an action plan ready
A good pitch requires an action plan. You need to demonstrate to your CEO that you really gave this idea a lot of thought and that you take it seriously.
- What you should consider:
- What are the project objectives?
- What is the deadline?
- What are the main milestones?
- What is the budget?
- Who will lead the project?
- Who will be involved?
- Will it be done internally or externally (more about it later)?
- An idea which lacks a plan will most probably be ignored.
3. Explain how you will measure success
What will you call a success, and how will you measure it? You should list the project’s success factors to make managing and evaluating it easier. Here is an example of success metrics you can use: product adoption rate, increase in market share, profit increase, number of newly acquired customers, decreased churn rate.
You’ll also have to set specific goals, for instance, what’s the profit increase you’re anticipating?
4. Identify issues that could go wrong
Things hardly ever go according to plan, and it’s perfectly fine as long as you foresee potential failures. While pitching your IT project to your CEO, you need to be able to mention problems that could occur, and explain how you will handle them.
This will assure your CEO of your readiness to tackle any issues and will give them peace of mind.
5. Be ready to defend your idea
You’re asking your CEO to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in your project. It’s normal they’ll try to challenge you. You need to be able to counter their objections with reasons why they should proceed with the project.
Here are some of the most common objections you might face:
- I am ok with the current situation
- We don’t really need it
- We have no time for it right now
- We have no budget
- We don’t have the right people
- How long will we have to wait to see results?
6. Speak their language
CEOs are interested in numbers; they don’t have to understand how the product works. What they want to know is what impact it’ll have on the business. They’re hungry for data.
The CEO wants to know how much it will cost, what the potential ROI will be, and how your project will maximize existing assets.
7. Keep it short and to the point
You’ll only have a few seconds to grab their attention, so make sure your opening line is catchy! Include crucial information only, information that speaks to their needs and motivation. If you manage to hit their emotional level, it will make your pitch fly.
8. Be confident and enthusiastic
Show confidence and enthusiasm. Even though it might sound obvious, it’s one of the most important tips when it comes to pitching your project to your CEO. Enthusiasm is contagious; you have to make your CEO believe that you can handle the project. Energy and confidence will also help you in getting buy-in from your team members, and that’s also very important to your CEO.
9. Practice
Practice makes perfect. Before you present your pitch to the CEO, why don’t you pitch your idea to your colleagues? They will be able to provide you with invaluable feedback. Ask them to challenge you, and to ask you difficult questions. Some of them might come up during the actual CEO pitch. You will gain new insights which will help you improve your pitch and make it bullet-proof.