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Leadership

Use these awesome leadership interview questions to learn about leadership experience, skills and styles.

Why leadership interview questions are everything

Every company knows leaders are key to a successful biz.

In an A-player senior leader, you’ll find high motivation, delegation skills, great communication and integrity.

Great leaders add tons of value to the company by creating a collaborative environment and welcoming innovation. 

During the interview you need to look for how candidates:

  • Manage and motivate their teams.
  • Approach challenges and mediate conflict.
  • Reach decisions.
  • Show commitment.
  • Overcome obstacles fast.

Leadership interview questions

  • How do you manage a great work/life balance?
  • Tell us about a time you lead a super successful team project?
  • Tell me about an idea you’re proud of that improved the company in some way. How did you make it happen?
  • How would your leadership style change under pressure, for example if you lost an employee during a project? 
  • How do you monitor team member performance?
  • How do you motivate your team?
  • Describe your leadership style.

Top tips: 

  • You can also use these interview questions to reveal the leadership potential of entry-level candidates. 
  • Everyone claims to have communication and motivational skills. Use behavioral and situational interview questions to identify how true this is.

Candidates to look for

  • Growth-driven candidates: Leadership is about more than just knowledge. Look for leaders who share company values and have high ambitions.
  • Recruitment experience: It’s likely leaders will get involved with hiring and training. Delve deep to find out what their experience really is.
  • Tenacious candidates: Look for candidates who react to challenges and approach difficult decisions with tenacity.
  • Creativity: Employees who can think on the job and make fast decisions in the face of obstacles are key.

Candidates to avoid

  • Negative candidates: Candidates who focus on the negatives will struggle to motivate their team members.
  • Dishonesty: If you can tell a candidate is lying or you spot inaccuracies in their answers, they ain’t the pro you’re looking for.
  • Uptight candidates: Experienced candidates might be used to a specific way of working. But to ace the role, they need to move with the times.
  • Arrogance: Arrogant candidates are a big no-no. Great leaders are under constant self-improvement but arrogance = resistance to new ideas.  
  • Blame-placers: If your candidate won’t take accountability for their actions they risk ruining the team’s balance. Not cool.

Start optimizing your recruiting process today.

Start optimizing your recruiting process today.

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