When applicants go through the job interview process at DiMassimo Brand Advertising in New York, Chief Executive Officer Mark DiMassimo makes them take an unorthodox approach to an otherwise routine question.

DiMassimo asks, “What gives you satisfaction?” But he’s not looking for some cliched answered, so put away your boilerplate stuff about being a team player and pursuing your passion. Those answers won’t fly.

The CEO wants a list of 10 specific things the applicants have done that gave them satisfaction — including five that occurred before their 18th birthdays. He makes it clear that he wants candid responses about life as well as work, explaining that “I broke up with my boyfriend” could be an excellent answer.

People’s early successes tell him a lot, DiMassimo explains in one chapter of Eric Yaverbaum’s book “Leadership Secrets of the World’s Most Successful CEOs: 100 Top Executives Reveal the Management Strategies That Made Their Companies Great” (Dearborn Trade Publishing). The book has a variety of anecdotes and insights that can inspire executives and employees.

DiMassimo tells the author how a short story he wrote in the seventh grade drew a strong reaction from his parents and the head of his school’s English Department — and made DiMassimo feel powerful. He said he reviews the applicants’ lists to gain insight into what their roles might be with his company.

“I look for themes, like courage, creativity, independence, adventure, rebellion, belonging, discovery,” Yaverbaum quotes DiMassimo as saying. “Once I have a sense of a candidate, I can match the satisfaction to the job. This helps not only with hiring, but with every interaction with that team member for as long as we work together. I have a sense from the beginning how things will go right and how things could go wrong with this person.”

I appreciate DiMassimo’s approach, although I can understand why many job hunters would cringe at the thought of it. But if you’re an applicant and you can’t stand that approach, at least you would know right away that the company wouldn’t be a good fit for you. That’s a lot better than taking a job and getting a rude surprise.

One quote in the book that will resonate with many rank-and-filers comes from David Brandon, CEO of Domino’s Pizza. “If you want to know whether someone is a good leader, ask the people who work for them,” Brandon tells Yaverbaum. “They will tell you what is real.”

More CEOs need to appreciate Brandon’s point. Many companies end up promoting middle managers who are great at politicking with their superiors, but simply don’t understand how to manage people. And the people in upper management are oblivious to what is happening because rank-and-filers aren’t involved in giving performance appraisals to managers.

So the company sputters, and the executives don’t understand why. That’s because they never bother to ask the right people.

A similar approach comes from CEO Roger Berkowitz of Legal Sea Foods. He tells Yaverbaum how he holds quarterly meetings with randomly selected employees on what he calls the President’s Advisory Council.

“I hold PAC meetings without any management present, and I encourage the participants to ‘cut loose’ with their ideas and suggestions,” Yaverbaum quotes Berkowitz as saying. “Having over 50 enthusiastic, unencumbered employees at my disposal is an incredible opportunity.”

The meetings led him, for example, to eliminate surcharges on some vegetables and side dishes because they annoyed customers — and to revamp the company training program.

Yaverbaum also includes an anecdote from Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy, who recalls what a Dallas businessman told her about solving one of her company’s major problems.

“‘He delighted in telling me that I reminded him of a farmer whose cow got stuck in a ditch,’” Yaverbaum quotes Mulcahy as saying. “So she asked him what she could do about it. ‘He said, “You’ve got to do three things. First, get the cow out of the ditch. Second, find out how the cow got in the ditch. Third, make sure you do whatever it takes so the cow doesn’t get in the ditch again.”’”