The Merger & Acquisition Leader's Playbook

CHAPTER 19Leadership: Starting with the Core Leadership Team

The third component of the organizational play book is leadership. The only thing you can do all by yourself is fail. Successful mergers and acquisitions require an interdependent team with its members all paddling in the same direction.

Select “new” management team members based on the alignment of their motivations, strengths, and personal preferences with your vision for the new combined entity.

There are only three job interview questions. In the vast majority of cases each of the candidates for your leadership team has the strengths required to do the job. And while the main reason people fail in new leadership roles is poor fit, that's relatively difficult to assess up front. This leaves motivation as the most important criteria for selection. Be ready to probe all three interview questions, but lead with motivation.¹

Let's unpack that.

There are only three true job interview questions:

1. Will you love the job?
2. Can you do the job?
3. Can we tolerate working with you?

Every question you've ever been asked or asked others in an interview is about understanding motivation, strengths, or fit.

Lead with motivation. As Simon Sinek put it in his TED Talk, “People don't buy what you do. They buy why you do it.”² It was true when he said it, and it's even truer as Millennials have become the largest cohort in the workforce ...