There’s a natural tendency for businesses to look to “new leadership” when the world feels upside-down. Given the pandemic, rising inflation, and social upheaval of the past several years, it’s no wonder we’ve seen a shift toward charismatic and unconventional leaders at the biggest companies in the world, tasked with turning operations on their head and finding new avenues to shake up the status quo.

But should Elon Musk’s rocky tenure as Twitter CEO really be what we now base our executive searches on? Should the old-versus-new leadership tug of war that played out at Disney be our roadmap forward? And is the era we’re facing today—one rife with questions about where and how we work —best left to the whims of ego?

These are all important questions—ones I consider daily as I help my clients find top-level executives and well-aligned board members. I’ve seen economic turmoil and unexpected market shifts play out before, and there are certain leadership qualities that serve organizations well during tough times, and other characteristics that prove more timeless. By adjusting your search strategy toward candidates offering both time-sensitive and evergreen qualities—and away from leaders who check buzzword boxes like “resilient” and “transformational”—you can significantly shorten the time it takes to fill your biggest roles.

Selecting new leadership for your organization is a tremendous responsibility, especially now. By asking the right questions about each candidate’s ability to handle the job at hand—and about their timeless leadership qualities—you can narrow your search faster and feel more confident about your ultimate hire.

Here are three leadership questions you should ask every candidate, and why the answers matter in both the short and long term:

DO THEY HAVE THE RIGHT RÉSUMÉ?

By the time you’re vetting someone for a high-level position, they usually have enough name recognition to go beyond a résumé. Right? Wrong. I’ve seen enough CEO and executive credentials to say we don’t scrutinize the résumés and CVs of our potential future leadership as intensely as we should. Don’t hesitate to dig into the details and ask for references. No candidate, whatever role they’re applying for, is above the standard level of hiring due diligence. Importantly, the right candidates will embrace this higher level of scrutiny and keep their ego in check along the way.

Timely application: It’s gotten harder to describe what we do day to day, especially in a remote world. But CEO candidates with skeletal credentials or bulleted lists of job titles aren’t off to a good start.

• What did you do at each step?
• How did you achieve results?
• What have you learned from previous experiences and how would you apply those takeaways in a new environment?

Timeless application: Seeing a solid résumé isn’t just assurance at the time of hire that you’ve found the right fit; it’s also a guarantee for the future. Looking hard at a candidate’s résumé and utilizing deep-dive structured interviews during the hiring process can uncover potential weaknesses or similar challenges they’ll face at your organization, as well as how they may complement or overlap with your existing leadership team.

• Is that six-year gap without a promotion a concern?
• What about a major career or industry shift?

Asking questions during vetting never hurts anything but an ego—in which case, see the third bullet.

DO THEY USE THE ‘SCIENCE’ OF LEADERSHIP RESPONSIBLY?

There’s a right and wrong way for a candidate to profess “science” as part of their strategy when taking the reins. We all want a leader who makes data-driven decisions, but that’s table stakes, right?

When it comes down to the details of a strategic approach, make sure candidates aren’t fudging the numbers or blurring the research when it comes to how they’ll perform at your company. Make sure you also understand what happens when strategy becomes execution in terms of how they rally their team and the company overall. A great strategy without strong execution and a winning culture means nothing.

Timely application: We often ask candidates questions about their leadership styles or how they’ll champion our organizational culture. In chaotic economic times, this can look like asking how someone handles a financial turnaround or makes difficult decisions about the best path forward. Be wary of candidates who claim to be able to “science” their way out of difficult situations or into a new leadership style, whether through some combination of self-help books, speed learning, or reporting. It’s impractical and just doesn’t work.

Instead, find a leader with the leadership style you need from the very start—science can’t do much here to fill in gaps according to most experts who really know what they’re talking about.

Timeless application: Candidates worth exploring will always show a natural curiosity and a hunger for constant learning. It’s probably because most candidates I’ve encountered that are worth their salt are all constantly striving to make their organizations more agile and entrepreneurial. Look for a leader that can pair data-backed decision-making with the agile mindset of an entrepreneur, and you’ve found an executive that can thrive in a more rapidly changing business environment.

IS THEIR EGO MANAGED?

All leaders suited for a CEO or executive position come with an ego—they’re lying to you if they say they don’t have one. The important factor is if they can consistently manage their ego with self-awareness. Most of the time, a mismanaged ego is easy to spot—it demoralizes teams and muddies the waters around shared goals.

Do your homework early in the vetting process to spot an outsized ego, digging into this quality through hypothetical scenarios and other exercises designed to test their in-moment reactions and how their actions may affect others. Especially in uncertain times, ego at the top can steer your company off course and overpower critical observations from across levels and departments that will help you pivot through difficulties.

Timely application: No one wants to do layoffs, but they’re sometimes an inevitable part of running a business. Is the candidate you’ve been talking to likely to be tone deaf during a difficult time, or will they keep their ego in check, source input, and make decisions that benefit the majority? Layoffs, reductions, and downsizing always lead to unwanted attention—don’t hire a CEO or executive that’s a magnet for more.

Timeless application: A candidate who can manage their ego is a long-term asset to any organization. The best kind of managed egos are ones that know how—and when—to be vulnerable in front of their teams. Likewise, leaders should always be willing to connect with entry-level employees and never be too big to get their hands dirty. Look for these qualities, as opposed to a candidate who projects inauthenticity or an unwillingness to jump in where needed.

By aligning your search strategy to identify candidates that possess both time-sensitive and timeless qualities, you can more effectively find the exceptional individuals ready to lead your business today—and tomorrow—and ensure they can really gain the confidence of a team that will follow them into battle.