So much has been written about leadership personality and style that hiring managers are in danger of neglecting the most critical factor in executives’ success: intelligence. More specifically, those responsible for hiring and promoting haven’t been given the tools necessary to evaluate the cognitive abilities that allow a person to consistently reach the “right” answer. How could they recognize such smarts? Historically, the only reliable measure of such brainpower has been the standard IQ test, which, for good reasons, is rarely used in business settings. But in rejecting IQ testing altogether, hiring managers have turned their backs on the single most effective assessment of cognitive abilities, simply because there isn’t a version that applies to the corporate world. They have dismissed the one method that could help them identify business stars.
Hiring for Smarts
Reprint: R0511F
Yes, it’s nice when a leader is charismatic and confident. And a great résumé can tell you a lot about a person’s knowledge and experience. But such assets are no substitute for sheer business intelligence, and they reveal very little about a leader’s ability to consistently reach the “right” answer.
How can hiring managers flag individuals with such smarts? Historically, the only reliable measure of brainpower has been the standard IQ test, which is rarely used in business settings because of the specific subjects it tests for—math, reading, and spatial reasoning—and because of its multiple-choice format.
Despite its shortcomings, the standard IQ test is still a better predictor of managerial success than any other assessment tool companies currently use, Justin Menkes argues. It’s true that there isn’t a version of IQ testing that applies to the corporate world, but in rejecting IQ tests altogether, hiring managers have thwarted their own attempts to identify true business stars.
The author defines the specific subjects that make up “executive intelligence”—namely, accomplishing tasks, working with people, and judging oneself. He describes how to formulate questions to test job candidates for their mastery of these subjects, offering several examples based on real situations. Knowledge questions, such as those used in standard behavioral interviews, require people to recite what they have learned or experienced; intelligence questions call for individuals to demonstrate their abilities. Therefore, the questions in an executive intelligence test shouldn’t require specific industry expertise or experience; any knowledge they call for must be rudimentary and common to all executives. And the questions should not be designed to ask whether the candidate has a particular skill; they should be configured so that the candidate will have to demonstrate that skill in the course of answering them.