They ask questions that barely scratch the surface of leadership style, chemistry, and maturity. Nor do they spend enough time finding out what the candidate has actually accomplished and how. Everyone has them. For instance, if the candidate would be leading a large public company, find out how she or he feels about building a relationship with Wall Street. One newly hired CEO hated that part of the job, but no one knew that until after the appointment.
Some shortcomings are easy to remedy.
For instance, one board encouraged the CEO to hire a vice chairman to handle government relations because the CEO was weak in that area. Allow time to get below the surface, by arranging to meet with the top three to four candidates over the course of a weekend, for instance. One or two directors should meet with each candidate for a minimum of two hours. After each interview, directors should share their views, compare notes, and design new questions. Once all the directors have spent time with each of the candidates and considered all the information, a consensus will begin to emerge.