Grading Advice No. 14: Leadership & Drive
This is part of a series on how to be a good mock partner and ask the right questions. It is also great for thinking like a hiring manager to better prepare for your pending interviews.
To see the rest of the articles in the series, find the list here.
Let’s Dive In
This article is specific to Meta but also applies to companies heavily influenced by Meta like Stripe and startups now led by ex-Meta folks. Jumping to the chase, these companies are grading for self-awareness, learning, and self-reflection.
The candidate’s stories need to illustrate examples of:
Seeking Feedback
Self-Reflection
Proof of Learning
Note: They don’t want you reflecting 10 years later on your mistakes. They are looking to see how you learn and self-reflect quickly. You need to be prepared to answer how you put the learning in place to avoid future problems.
How to grade:
Do any of their examples display seeking feedback?
When they self-reflect, do they take ownership of what they observed?
Where is the proof they learned?
Common Failures:
Picking a story that is too old.
Using language that blames other people.
Using language that makes them sound like the victim of a situation or person.
Getting overly defensive about a point that bothered them but doesn’t matter for the story or the company.
Other elements to Grade:
Cross-Functional (XFN) Collaboration: Build Partnerships
Conflict Resolution
Influencing to drive common goals
Communication: Succint and Organized
The more senior, the more it is about org-wide influence. The more junior the candidate, the more you want to see them building relationships with engineering, design, maybe customer success, marketing, legal and/or sales.