These are awesome questions. I've used similar ones for years. They completely change my ability to choose better and better employers and assess what I'm about to commit to.
A question I specifically ask my future managers:
"Tell me about what you do leading up to taking vacation"
I get them to tell me the steps they take before they feel they can leave their teams for a while. I'm paying attention to a few things. Do they take vacations or is there too much to do? How many things to they need to arrange/fix/organize for their teams before they leave? When they leave do they actually leave or are they still calling and emailing?
I'll have a pretty good idea if this manager is someone who can truly trust their teams and delegate well or are they trapped feeling like they have to control everything.
I also ask everyone, "If you had authority, what one thing you would change here?" I wanna hear about the less glamorous side of things too.
These are awesome questions. I've used similar ones for years. They completely change my ability to choose better and better employers and assess what I'm about to commit to.
A question I specifically ask my future managers:
"Tell me about what you do leading up to taking vacation"
I get them to tell me the steps they take before they feel they can leave their teams for a while. I'm paying attention to a few things. Do they take vacations or is there too much to do? How many things to they need to arrange/fix/organize for their teams before they leave? When they leave do they actually leave or are they still calling and emailing?
I'll have a pretty good idea if this manager is someone who can truly trust their teams and delegate well or are they trapped feeling like they have to control everything.
I also ask everyone, "If you had authority, what one thing you would change here?" I wanna hear about the less glamorous side of things too.
I like the vacation question, great indirect approach! Thank you for sharing.