When you go for a Leadership job interview the HR professional will be very curious to know the experience that makes you fit to lead, your accomplishments and your style of leadership while you are working as a team leader.
In preparation for interview questions on leadership, take note of the leadership qualities that are best fitting for the job that you would be interviewed for. Check the job listing for available information about the kind of leader they are interviewing for as well as the types of tasks he will need to perform.
Some of the most commonly questions related to leadership are
- Tell me about a time you showed leadership
- Describe your leadership style in 3 words
- Tell me about a situation you demonstrated leadership skills
- Please describe your leadership style
Leadership does not only connote managing others, it also implies being a powerful example to others, and inspiring the people in your environment. So, even though you are not seeking a leadership role, questions on leadership might still be thrown at you.
Find below some crucial Leadership Job Interview questions and answers and its PDF version to download
Question: What can you say are the most significant values you possess as a leader?
Answer: Integrity is the most important value that I have. Trust and honesty are my watch words in all I do in order to establish credibility suiting for a leader.
Question: describe how you have garnered commitment from members of your team?
Answer: I usually garner commitment from members of my teams through persuading and influencing them to set specific goals and likewise monitor its achievement by buying into the process. Immediately they have established cohesion and cooperation, they will attain the goal in no time.
Question: Is it possible for a leader to fail? Describe a time when you failed as a leader.
Leaders are not immune to failures and can fail if they don’t keep members of their team abreast of the goals of the company. Certain factors outside a leader’s influence may also cause failure such as time constraints, available resources as well as the economy.
In the example you cite concerning a time when you failed as a leader, ensure you talk about how you handled a difficult problem and failed and how you analyzed the failure which you viewed as a setback. Endeavor to explain how you sought honest and objective feedback to ensure that you turned around the failure and learned from it.
Question: Differentiate between a Team manager and a Team Leader
Answer: The difference is while a manager can handle responsibilities and tasks and make sure that other employees get their job done, a leader will inspire and motivate his team members to achieve their set goals.
Question: What can you say is your biggest strength?
Answer: My greatest strength is my ability to lead and inspire my team members to function at their peak and try to achieve goals. I can do this through being passionate about the goals, influencing people around me and building of relationship.
Question: What do you see as your biggest weakness?
Answer: My biggest weakness is delegating a duty that I know can be better done by me. Nevertheless if I decide not to delegate, it then means I would have more work load than I could deal with myself. In order to deal with this weakness I had to take programs in Time Management and have learned how to adequately delegate duties thereby overcoming the weakness.
Question: Describe how you get other employees to buy into your ideas?
Answer: I share with them the benefits of the idea as well as how to apply it for the overall good of the organisation. I don’t stop there, but stay receptive to other thoughts and modify my views in a way we all can agree. It is important to get others to accept the idea as this will guarantee the ease with which the set goals will be attained rather than make it compulsory for others to follow procedure.
Question: How would you praise a member of your team in public?
Answer: Praising a member of the team will encourage other team members to work harder and follow best practices. Hence I would wait for a period all members of the team are gathered together like a meeting where every member of the team is present. At the appropriate time I would call him up and mention what he did, this way the whole team will learn to imbibe best practices.
Question: How often would you have a meeting with your team?
Answer: Communication within the team is crucial to the achievement of set goals, so that would be a great chance to discuss their challenges and share ideas to move the forward. I would meet with my team members once a week at least and make sure every member is present and participate very adequately. We will meet and discuss when the team gets to a milestone, a promotion or award is given, new project starts or when there is a daunting situation. We will meet together to celebrate or brainstorm when there is a challenge.
Question: When there is bad news, how do you convey it to your team?
Answer: As members of the team they need to know what happens whether good or bad, so I would call a meeting of all members and disclose the news. I would give details of what happened, why and what strategies we ought to take in future. We would share our concerns, our opinions as to prevent its recurrence and answer questions as I give them the opportunity to speak.
Question: Discuss a situation when a team member opposed your instruction and what you did to handle it.
Answer: Varying opinions are welcome, so I will listen to him and know why he disagrees with my directive. I would consider going back to re-explain more elaborately the directive and why it was given. I would give them opportunity to get feedback from them and consider reviewing the directive with it. Nonetheless, I would stick to the details as to why their commitment is significant.
Question: Describe a time when you were tasked to make a decision without all the important facts.
Answer: I had to take a decision that I didn’t have all the facts about when I saw it as the best compared to all other options laid out before me. I picked it because it seemed the best to turn out as most successful. However, since I didn’t have all relevant facts about I had to create a very strong monitoring and feedback system to ensure it wouldn’t fail.
For example, I had to decide if our company would involve itself in a new marketing drive that would use social media to advertise its products. At that time we didn’t have relevant facts on how our social media marketing drive in the past fared. In order to forestall failure, I had to dedicate someone to monitor the progress and impact of the marketing drive and report back to me with recommendations. I also set goals and joined in the responsibility myself in order to motivate the employee and see to the achievement of the goals and overall the success of the marketing campaign.
