“What’s your ultimate dream job?” If Jeff Weiner, the CEO of LinkedIn, could ask only one question in a job interview, that would be it, he told me in a wide-ranging conversation on how he recruits, manages and motivates a staff of more than 14,000 employees. “I find it so valuable because it helps me evaluate fit,” Weiner said about the dream-job question. “It also helps me get a sense of who you are by virtue of the specificity of your answer. Once you know what it is you ultimately want, you are that much more capable of manifesting it.” And what if someone answers the question by saying they want Weiner’s job? “I love that response,” he said. “Somebody who has that clear sense of what they want to do longer term is the kind of person you want to take the time to coach and potentially mentor, especially when they have the raw materials and the aptitude to do something like that.”

Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Given Weiner’s role running the professional networking site for the past decade, he’s done his share of interviewing to build his executive team. I asked him about the subtle X-factor that would draw him to one candidate over another, even if they were similar in skills and experience. “It's connection,” he said. “There are certain people I've had the privilege to not only meet but then ultimately work with who, within a few minutes of our interview, I felt like I had known and worked with them for years. You learn over time that you share a sense of values, a sense of purpose, a sense of humor — all of these things that I think help people forge stronger connections.” I pressed him about that sense of connection he might feel with someone. What does that look like as the working relationship unfolds over time? “One thing that can forge that connection is a strong ability to learn from one another,” he said. “Those are some of my favorite and most valuable people I've worked with — people who come from wildly different backgrounds than myself in terms of their upbringing, work experience, domain expertise and education. “Having awareness of your strengths and weaknesses, and being able to surround yourself with people that can fill in those gaps, is an enormously important and valuable part of building a world class team.”

If you could only do one thing, what would that one thing be? Then do it better than anyone else. Jeff Weiner CEO of LinkedIn