I’m often asked how best to interview VP Engineering or other engineering leadership candidates. It’s a hard problem. One of my standard answers seems to work for a lot of people, so here it is.

I think it matters a lot to probe for a leadership candidate’s beliefs about their ability to create change. There are plenty of passive managers: hire to budget, run the standup, file the performance report, repeat. A leader should not be passive.

In past situations, what did they see that needed changing and how did they go about trying to change those things? What worked and what didn’t work? How do they understand their successes or failures to create change?

Change for the better is both completely possible and necessary. I want to see that the candidate is thoughtful and resilient in their approach to it, and that they believe it is their job and their cohort’s job to make things better for employees and for the company.

A leader who is reactive or fatalistic will have a hard time being great at their role. I have been that way at times; maybe we all have. I look for proof they both can and want to rise above those faults.

If a leader is not committed to constant improvement, it can be very hard for those in less-senior roles to make change happen in their stead. Conversely, driving for change sets the right example throughout the organization.

Make things better. That’s the job.