A s a leader, how do you become a better leader? if you rsquo re like me, you probably read a lot of books, listen to podcasts, and attend a few conferences. Photo courtesy of istockphoto.com/jlgutierrez a few weeks ago, michael smith called and asked if he could interview me. One of his goals is to grow as a leader and one of his sabbatical projects is to interview leaders in various professions. Michael asked great, thoughtful questions. in fact, the questions were so good that i asked him for permission to post them here. The next time i am with a leader i respect, i can pop out this list and start interviewing.

leadership interview questions

Essays on Communication

The questions are designed to assess whether the candidate has both leadership skills and leadership potential. Management is a hands on component of leadership responsible for such functions as planning, organizing and controlling. Effective leadership is the ability to inspire followers to listen to and follow a vision. Leadership includes the ability to innovate and drive an organization or people towards new ideas and directions.

The ability to persuade and influence, demonstrate integrity, communicate and motivate, innovate and implement strategic vision, demonstrate drive and tenacity are all recognized leadership skills. Leadership interview questions will require candidates to provide examples of how they have demonstrated these leadership competencies and are asked in the format of competency based or behavioral interview questions how would your staff and colleagues describe your leadership style? give me an example to support your answer. the purpose of this question is to find out if the style is congruent with the organizational culture. The perceptive leader is able to adapt his or her style to fit the follower's, employee's and organizational needs. Find out about the different leadership styles what are the most important values and ethics you demonstrate as a leader? give me an example of these in practice. integrity being truthful and trustworthy and having conviction xa0 is an essential leadership competency. The effective leader demonstrates values and ethics in personal behavior and integrates these values and ethics into organizational practices and activities.

While leaders are open with their employees and model honesty, transparency and fairness, they do not violate confidences or divulge potentially harmful information. Tell me about a time when you failed as a leader. a number of factors can fall outside a leader's control such as the available skill pool in the organization, time constraints, the economic climate. If employees are lethargic and negatively orientated it can create a situation ripe for failure. In answering leadership interview questions that explore how you deal with difficult challenges focus on how you were able to analyze the setback and seek honest feedback to learn from failure. How you used the difficult situation to encourage constructive questioning of policies and practices. Show your ability to be resilient in the face of failure and to constantly work towards improvement.

what role does leadership play for a manager? how have you demonstrated this? the leader's role is to communicate the strategic vision with clarity. To identify and communicate priorities, short term objectives, timelines, performance measures, clear responsibilities and performance agreements. Leadership versus management tell me about an innovative solution you developed to a non traditional problem. Innovation and creativity are key competencies explored in leadership interview questions. Finding solutions to unique problems are facilitated by encouraging a constant information flow in all directions and emphasizing responsiveness to changing demands. Get help with answering questions about creativity and innovation at behavioral interview answers tell me about a time when the going got really tough. How did you rally the staff and build morale? leaders build a sense of common purpose by promoting the organizational vision both internally and externally.

They develop and implement effective communication strategies within the organization. what methods have you used to gain commitment from your team? leaders gain commitment by influencing and persuading the team to set objectives and buy into the process. They inspire a commitment to success and excellence by demonstrating passionate personal commitment and promote a productive culture by valuing individuals and their contributions. Describe a recent disagreement you personally had to handle. leadership interview questions that explore how you handle conflict are looking at your ability to understand and respect different views. Demonstrate your ability to settle dispute by focusing on solving the problem taking into consideration the personalities involved. Show how you evaluate the viability of the different dispute resolution mechanisms available and are able to provide support and expertise to other people.