Most Asked Leadership Interview Questions & Answers

Leadership is a skill set that can signify valued attributes. You might still be asked to answer questions about your leadership in several interviews, even if you’re not looking for a position requiring directing or leading others. Most leadership interview questions focus on your background in teamwork, conflict resolution, interpersonal communication, and inspiring others to perform to the best of their abilities. They might present a chance to discuss how you cooperate and work with others, leave a lasting impression, manage the organization, fulfill commitments, and employ crucial transferable abilities.

How should you prepare for a leadership interview?

The interviewer uses scenario-based questions to gauge how well you can manage business projects, deal with professional failures, outline your path to success, and explain how your hiring will benefit the organization.

List the most challenging times you’ve faced in your life or at work, along with the obstacles you faced and the steps you took to overcome them. Present the results, focusing on how it affects you and your team and the essential lesson learned from the situation.

5 Crucial Leadership Practices and Skills

These are the five leadership skills that potential employers could be looking for in you if you’ve sought a leadership position:

1. Self-development

Good leaders are lifelong learners. Leaders need to set an example for their teams in order to motivate them and get the most out of them. They must plan self-development activities into their routine and persistently pursue growth.

2. Team development

In order to ensure unified team growth and goal achievement, leaders must provide a secure working atmosphere where they may collaborate with their team members. Micromanagement facilitates macro development.

3. Strategic management skills

Leaders must resolve conflicts using their strategic thinking skills. They make important long-term decisions, have a comprehensive perspective, and work skillfully and effectively to achieve team and corporate goals while exceeding the expectations of their clients.

4. Professional ethics

Since they set a high standard for their team members with a robust set of values, successful managers become fantastic role models. To avoid infractions, they become familiar with the moral guidelines of their company.

5. Creativity

Aspiring leaders must prioritize developing innovative skills in a highly competitive world. In order to prevent a corporate process from coming to a halt, leaders must go above and beyond by bringing in novel and innovative ideas. They are frequently responsible for substituting current and improvised operational paradigms with outmoded ones.

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Most common leadership interview questions and answers

We’ve compiled some leadership interview questions and answers in the section below. We’ve outlined what a hiring team wants to know when asking you each question and included some example responses to aid your practice.

Question 1: What kind of leader are you?

Sample answer: As I enjoy listening to a team, learning about their problems, and adjusting my leadership as appropriate, my leadership style can be called flexible. I’ve been a part of teams in which a new leader wanted to make changes only for the sake of having an impact. But it was never successful. I would rather actively listen to my staff to discover what works best for them.

Question 2: What are the most significant values you exhibit throughout your leadership?

Sample answer: My integrity is the most valuable quality I possess. I act with integrity and trust in order to develop my credibility as a leader. This commitment behind my words and deeds makes those I lead more receptive to the direction I lead them.

Question 3: How do you resolve disputes within a team?

Sample answer: I like to start by urging the team to devise a solution jointly. I want my employees to know that I am confident in their ability to solve any issues. But it’s not always the case. In that instance, I try to meet with each team member individually before calling everyone together just for a group discussion. Once more, I’m not looking to offer a solution, but if I can foster an atmosphere where both sides believe they heard and understood, I find that people can decide without guidance.

Question 4: What would you say is your greatest weakness?

Sample answer: When I delegate work to others, I know I can complete them more effectively. But if I don’t allocate work to others, I can find myself with more work than I can manage. I’ve taken time management courses to overcome this weakness and mastered excellent task management techniques.

Question 5: How can you promote the development of employees?

Sample answer: The digital marketing agency in my current team, which is increasingly in charge of giving feedback on design-related deliverables, expressed interest in learning graphic design. I advised him to look out and sign up for a part-time course to learn the creation basics, and I set up monthly check-ins so we could talk about his learning.

Question 6: What do you consider to be your main strength?

Sample answer: Educating and motivating a group of people to provide their best effort and work toward a common objective. I can accomplish this by fostering relationships, having a powerful sense of purpose, and having an impact on those around me.

Question 7: How do you manage the punctuality of the projects and tasks?

Sample answer: Every time my team is given a joint project, I start by reviewing the project’s goal and purpose. I then give each group member a specific task with a due date. The team, in my experience, can better understand their contribution to the successful completion of a project when they are aware of the broader project plan.

I conduct full team meetings when we’re working on a project so that each team member can discuss their progress. I also follow up with each team member to see how they are doing, to handle any risks or problems with deadlines, and to provide further clarification.

Question 8: How do you encourage people to agree with your ideas?

Sample answer: I discuss the advantages of the concept and how to use it. I would be open to different viewpoints and adapt my ideas so that we could all agree on them. You are significantly more successful in achieving the goals when you can get others to buy in than when you force everyone to follow the procedure.

Question 9: How frequently do you believe team meetings should be held?

Sample answer: I believe I should schedule a meeting with my colleagues at least once weekly. Team members must communicate with one another, allowing the group to meet frequently to discuss difficulties and best practices. I would also want to gather the team when we hit a significant milestone, begin a new project, receive an honor or promotion, or face a difficult situation. That way, everyone will grasp the same message, and we may unite to celebrate victories or support one another during trying times.

Question 10: How do you inspire your team?

Sample answer: I learn what drives each person differently to explain how a goal or change will benefit them. I ensure I give them the appropriate mix of encouraging and insightful criticism to help them perform well.

Question 11: How can goals help you in becoming a better leader?

Sample answer: My team works most effectively when they know what must be done and by when. I use the SMART goal method to set daily, weekly, and monthly goals and direct my team’s production. As an illustration, I wanted to ensure that my team could complete inventory before the end of the month. I assigned particular daily responsibilities to the team members based on their skills. In order to monitor our weekly goals as we achieved our attainable end goal before the deadline, I designed a visual progress tracker. 

Question 12: How can a leader navigate change?

Sample answer: As a leader, you should be the first to embrace change since everyone around you will quickly sense it if you don’t. Then, I make sure I can explain the shift with the certainty that it is the proper course to follow. I get ready by making sure I have the knowledge to find the answers to any questions that might be posed. I pay close attention to other people’s concerns about the shift and support them during the adjustment.

Question 13: How would you inform your team of bad news?

Sample answer: I would assemble them and break the bad news. I would go into as much depth as possible about what happened, why it happened, and what actions we need to take. In order to learn how we can eliminate a situation like this, I would also invite the team to share their worries, ask questions, and share their opinions.

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Conclusion 

If you are applying for any leadership position, make sure you go through the leadership interview questions and answers examples given above to get an idea of what to expect in the meeting room. If you are searching for a course that will help you learn about the various aspects of leadership in business, we suggest upGrad’s Global MBA Degree from Australia’s top business school, The Deakin Business School (DBS), is an excellent choice for candidates hoping to work and study simultaneously. Experts at upGrad ensure you get a flexible study schedule while preparing you for the competitive management industry.