Issue No. 595 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting asks you what’s your interview style? Are you a Charmer, Challenger, Examiner, or Harmonizer? And Happy Valentine’s Day! Listen to “Chapel of Love,” by The Dixie Cups, in our new toe-tapping blog, Johnny Be Good, spotlighting 45 songs from yesteryear. Plus, click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies), and click here for almost 600 book reviews. To read last week’s review, by our granddaughter, click on the title here: Saint Valentine the Kindhearted.
The new book, Interviewology, identifies four types of people in interviews. Warning! “When a Charmer interviews poorly, it’s often because they are overly relying on their ability to talk.”
Your interview for the new position is wrapping up. You read somewhere that, before exiting, you should ask this question: “Is there anything I shared today that would give you pause or reservations about hiring me?” Oops!
“On the surface this is a fine question to ask, but when it’s combined with a Charmer’s need for approval it comes across as awkward and intense,” writes Anna Papalia. “And here’s the thing: hiring managers and HR people are not trained to give you feedback; they aren’t coaches, so they won’t answer this question honestly anyway.” Yikes!
“The interview process, as it currently stands, is deeply flawed,” says the author. Urgent! Forget everything you thought you knew about interviewing (as a job applicant and as the interviewer) and buy two copies of this new book immediately!
The New Science of Interviewing
Are you a Charmer, Challenger, Examiner, or Harmonizer?
by Anna Papalia
What’s a Charmer? Of the four styles you’ll interview, you should know that “When a Charmer interviews poorly, it’s often because they are overly relying on their ability to talk.” The author notes, “While it’s great that Charmers are expressive, this can come across as overconfidence.” (Perhaps...Charmers should bring duct tape?)
While a Charmer who interviews a Charmer may have a really good time in the interview—there’s danger ahead! The author warns, “A Charmer hiring manager will overlook issues in deference to how likable a person is. They are blinded by liking someone, and worse, if someone lavishes them with praise and compliments them, they are even more likely to ignore red flags.”
Papalia adds, “Praise and compliments are kryptonite for a Charmer. If you want a Charmer hiring manager to like you, just tell them that you like them, that you are impressed with who they are and what they’ve built.”
“The New Science of Interviewing” is how Anna Papalia describes “Interviewology,” her research-based methodology for finding the right person. She has coached more than 10,000 clients to interview better. Whew! She describes her 20+ years of experience as a "PhD in Interviewing!"
The four styles—Charmer, Challenger, Examiner, and Harmonizer—are explained in detail in this book and you’re already wondering—“What’s my style?” Gratefully, the last 20 pages of Interviewology include very practical help:
• Deciphering the Interview Styles (two scenarios)
• Interview Style Cheat Sheet (including “Each Style at Their Worst” and “Advice for Each Style”)
• List of Universal Truths, Myths, and Interview Principles (including “Universal Principles for Hiring Managers” and “Universal Principles for Job Seekers”)
How does each style approach interviews?
• “Charmers see interviews as a performance (on a stage).”
• “Challengers see interviews as an investigation (cross-examination in a courtroom).”
• “Examiners see interviews as a test (that will be graded).”
• “Harmonizers see interviews as a tryout (for a team).”
What happens when you’re stressed out in an interview—either as the hiring manager or the person being interviewed—or both? “Charmers coerce. Challengers demand. Harmonizers downplay. Examiners withhold.”
Is this really science-based? Papalia writes that her “Interview Style Assessment” tool has been validated by the third-party Assessment Standards Institute, but she adds, “I am sure there will be skeptics who might say that putting people into categories is the opposite of appreciating someone’s uniqueness.” She explains:
“I am not in the business of telling people who they are; I am in the business of holding up a mirror to empower them. I want my clients to be more confident, which doesn’t come from pretending to be something you’re not or memorizing answers. The confidence that gets you hired comes from self-awareness—knowing who you are and being fully aligned with it.”
Interesting! “Though we focus strictly on how people perform in job interviews, clients tell us that their Interviewology Profile results often line up with those from other personality assessments, such as DISC, Myers-Briggs, and StrengthsFinder, to name a few.
“But because our test focuses on how you are in an interview, it could potentially change over time, unlike a Myers-Briggs, which is NOT based in science and operates under the assumption that your personality is fixed over the course of your life. We assess what you believe and how you behave today, which means that as you gain more interviewing experience, your results may change to reflect your new skills.”
What about the four social styles assessment from Wilson Learning Corporation and TRACOM Group®? My opinion (note: my opinion) is that Papalia’s four interviewing styles align most closely with the four social styles (my favorite and easiest-to-remember assessment). There are nuances of differences, but I do appreciate this research that focuses on one critical niche: interviewing. I’ll link up the styles this way:
• Analyticals (Examiners)
• Drivers (Challengers)
• Amiables (Harmonizers)
• Expressives (Charmers)
While Papalia’s four-quadrant chart positions the four styles differently than a traditional social styles chart, both assessments agree on the most challenging pairs:
• Harmonizers (Amiables) have difficulty working with Challengers (Drivers)
• Charmers (Expressives) have difficulty working with Examiners (Analyticals)
In social style terminology, Analyticals and Drivers have “tasks” in common, while Amiables and Expressives have “relationships” in common. Analyticals and Amiables have “pace” in common—they are slower-paced. Drivers and Expressives have “pace” in common—they are faster-paced. Thus Analyticals and Expressives have nothing in common and often have conflict. Ditto Drivers and Amiables.
My Big Take-Away? Both Interviewology and social styles emphasize the importance of adaptability and versatility. Not wishy-washy “all things to all people,” but intentionality in understanding the comfort zones of others. (For a video on social styles in the boardroom, view my short talk.)
This book pushed me to think more deeply about the dynamics in the interview process of BOTH the hiring manager (and his or her style) and the job seeker (and her or his style). Especially:
• When a Charmer is interviewing an Examiner (not much in common).
• When a Harmonizer is interviewing a Challenger (not much in common).
Anna Papalia’s transparency is refreshing. She writes about a “lightbulb moment” that changed her perspective on hiring forever—she was biased. “At that moment, I was humbled. I realized that for years the way I had been evaluating talent was all wrong, misguided.” She wondered, “How many candidates have I overlooked?” So she quit her corporate job and launched her own firm. Her first client was Temple University.
While you’ve already guessed at your interview style, the author cautions, “…you may be surprised. Some introverts come across as extroverts in interviews. Some people who are Harmonizers at home are Charmers in an interview. Only way to know for sure is to take the assessment.” So buy two books—one for you and one for a team member.
There are dozens of call-outs (critical insights) highlighted in the book and each chapter concludes with key take-aways and coaching tips. You can snack on the book’s charts and graphics quickly and return later for a full meal. You’ll appreciate:
• Interview principles for job seekers (for each style)
• Interview principles for hiring managers (for each style)
• “How to Interview with an Examiner Hiring Manager” (etc.)
• “How to Interview an Examiner Job Seeker” (etc.)
• “How an Examiner Interviews With Their Opposite—the Charmer” (etc.)
Last month, I noted this insight from Charlie Munger (1924-2023), “I never allow myself to have an opinion on anything unless I know the other side’s argument better than they do.” So I urge you to read this new book and give serious consideration to this new research.
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Interviewology: The New Science of Interviewing – Are you a Charmer, Challenger, Examiner, or Harmonizer? by Anna Papalia. Listen on Libro (6 hours, 28 minutes). And thanks to the publisher, Harper Business, for sending me a review copy.
YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS:
1) Interviewology notes that “The most important business decisions are made in interviews. Who you hire changes your team, the effectiveness of the department, and the culture of your organization, yet 90 percent of hiring managers are never trained to interview.” (Yikes!) Question: How many people have you interviewed over the years—and how many hours or days have you invested in learning how to interview? What team member should read this book first?
2) For years, I’ve talked about “The 3 Powerful S’s: Social Styles, Strengths, and Spiritual Gifts”—and how those assessments have been helpful. For more, read Mistakes #16, #17, and #18 in Mastering Mistake-Making: My 25 Memorable Mistakes—and What I Learned, by John Pearson with Jason Pearson. Each mistake highlights books I should have read much earlier in my career. Question: What’s your preferred assessment tool—and do you leverage that knowledge when job seeking and/or interviewing job seekers?
Mastering 100 Must-Read Books - Part 11: Hall of Fame Sports Stories
Book #65 of 100: Coach Wooden One-on-One
For your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by spotlighting Book #65 in Mastering 100 Must-Read Books.
Coach Wooden One-on-One:
Inspiring Conversations on Purpose, Passion
and the Pursuit of Success
by John Wooden and Jay Carty
Books #61 through #65 spotlight five stunning sports stories with leadership and management lessons. As Peter Drucker was to management, John Wooden was to coaching. A master at mentoring his teams during his 40-year coaching career from 1948 to 1975, Wooden’s UCLA basketball teams won 10 NCAA national championships, including seven in a row! ESPN named him the "Greatest Coach of the 20th Century."
• Read my review.
• Order from Amazon: Coach Wooden One-on-One
• Download the 100 Must-Read Books list (from John and Jason Pearson).
I mentioned in my 2008 review that the Los Angeles Times had recently asked sports readers, “If you could have dinner with a local sports personality, whom would you choose?” Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Tom Lasorda, USC football coach Peter Carroll [who just stepped down in 2024 after 14 years with the Seattle Seahawks], Serena and Venus Williams, David Beckham, and Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully all made the Top 10 list. But it was former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, then 97, who received the most votes! (He lived to 99!)
Song #6 of 45
"Chapel of Love"
In 1964, “When roughly 75 million baby boomers were 18 or younger, going to the chapel seemed like the right thing to do.” Charting at #1 for three weeks, “Chapel of Love,” by the Dixie Cups, is Song #6 of 45 in our blog series, Johnny Be Good. Read the blog here. Reminder: Guest bloggers invited! More info here.
Experiencing God in Angola Prison!
Read my second review of Experiencing God, my 2021 book-of-the-year, and my tribute to Henry Blackaby (1935-2024). Guarantee: your best investment of 23 minutes this week will be to view the video from Lousiana's Angola Prison. See my review. And for more book reviews, visit the Pails in Comparison Blog.
PEARPOD | TELLING YOUR STORY. Pop Quiz! You have three highly qualified candidates for your marketing and communications position. How do you pick the right one? We can help you discern the best person for the job. Contact Jason Pearson at Pearpod (Design, Digital, Marketing, Social). And check out our new company, FiveHive Studios.
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