How To Answer What Is Your Leadership Style (Interview Question) - Career Sidekick

How To Answer What Is Your Leadership Style (Interview Question) - Career Sidekick How To Answer What Is Your Leadership Style? (Interview Question) Interview Questions and Answers / https://www.edenscott.com/blog If youre job searching, its likely an interviewer is going to ask about your leadership style. Im going to walk you through exactly how to give an impressive answer for the interview question: What is your leadership style? so you can get hired.And Ill cover a few traps and mistakes you definitely want to avoid to get the job offer.Lets get startedHow To Answer What Is Your Leadership Style? In Job InterviewsIf theyre asking you this question in an interview, it means they care about your leadership ability and are likely using it as a factor in deciding who to hire.This doesnt have to be direct leadership. You dont need to have managed or supervised people in a past job.And you might even hear this question for a position that isnt going to require any direct leadership.But maybe in a few years they plan on promoting you. Maybe they want someone who can lead by example and mentor newer people in a year, etc.For whatever reason the interviewer wants to know how you lead and more importantly- how comfortable you are doing it (thats the real reason theyre asking here!)So you need to show them youre confident when leading and that youve done it before!Lets get into some dos and donts now, so you can give a great answer.1. Dont say youve never led anyonePick your most impressive leadership experiences as you think back and try to come up with an answer for this. It might be on a sports team, in a class project, or previous jobs.But whatever you do, dont answer this interview question by saying, Im not really a leader, or Im not sure, Ive never really led people in the past.Find SOMETHING, no matter what. (If you want to get hired, that is).2. Sound like you have a method or system that works for youTheres no single right or wrong answer to this interview question but the hiring manager wants to know you have a system that works for YOU. When they ask, whats your leadership style, they want to hear that youve figured out something tha t consistently works when youre put in a position to lead.And you need to sound somewhat reasonable and easy to get along with. Sound likable. Dont make yourself sound like a dictator or somebody who leads by bossing everyone around. Its ineffective and definitely wont get you hired.3. Share specific examples if possibleAfter you answer the basic question and describe your general style of leadership, I recommend you ask the hiring manager if they want you to go into more detail.You can say, do you want me to give an example of a time Ive done this?Theyll probably say yes, and if they do, you can tell them a specific story.(Its always best to ask though, rather than diving into a super long answer when they might be looking for a quick response. This is a strategy I recommend a lot in my Job Interview Answer Guide, because it prevents you from annoying the interviewer or giving answers that are too long).If they do want a story, talk about how you used your leadership ability to mak e a past project a success. What was the final result? Did you help your company make money or save money? Did you win an award in school? etc. Talk about real, measurable results.Options Examples for How to Describe Your Leadership StyleNow that you know the 3 steps to answer, what is your leadership style, Im going to give you a few word-for-word examples and phrases you can use to describe your style of leading.These will all make you sound great to an interviewer.Remember what I mentioned above though youre going to need to share stories and examples when they ask this interview question. So dont lie. Pick something that really fits you!Common leadership styles:Lead by example: I like to lead by example. I lead from the front by taking action, demonstrating what needs to be done, and keeping my team organized to make sure were all on the same page and contributing equally.Lead by facilitating communication: Communication is one of my greatest strengths. I lead by facilitating open communication, and trying to bring out the best in every team member.Lead by delegating and making others better: Im great at delegating and finding the strengths of other team members. I try to give each person a chance to do what theyre best at and create a team effort that delivers a result thats greater than the sum of its partsIf youre having trouble coming up with your leadership style, heres a trick:Ask people who know you! Ask your parents, friends, other family, classmates, etc. People youve been on sports teams with, on class projects with, or worked with.Ask them how theyd describe your leadership, and try to notice a few themes that multiple people repeat. Thats what you can take and use.If you follow the steps above, you should be able to give a great answer when they ask about your leadership style or leadership experiences in any interview.Be ready to get specific, and dont give vague responses like Im a hard worker, so its always a success when I lead a project. Thats meaningless. That tells them absolutely nothing.They want real details, results, and specific facts.They want to really see if youve developed a style that works for you, and they want to see that you can describe it clearly. So practice your answer at home before going into the interview.What is Your Leadership Style? Sample Interview AnswersBefore we wrap up, Im going to leave you with a couple of word-for-word example answers for describing your style of leadership in an interview.Example Answer #1:I would describe my leadership style as direct, and leading by example. I enjoy delegating tasks and taking the lead on projects, but I also like to stay involved and inspire my team by showing that Im working hands-on to help them, too. For example, in my last job, we had an emergency situation where a clients website went down. I quickly delegated tasks to my team of 4, but then got on the phone with the client myself to find out more information for my team and give the clien t temporary steps they could take to make the issue less costly while we came up with a permanent solution. When my team saw me working hard to fix this, it made them realize the importance of the issue and work hard as well.Example Answer #2:I think my strengths as a leader are effective delegation and communication. So my leadership style takes advantage of those strengths. I always try to delegate tasks to whoever is best-equipped to perform well in the task, and I try to communicate clearly about what needs to be done, and why. This eliminates back-and-forth, mistakes, and needing to re-do tasks. Taking more time to communicate effectively at the beginning of the project, and delegating properly, both end up saving time as a project advances.If you follow the advice above and make your answer sound like these examples, youll impress the interviewer and quickly move past the interview question!As a final step, make sure you practice your answer. You want to sound sure of yourself and confident when they ask, what is your leadership style? This isnt a question you want to hesitate on or draw a blank, so use the steps above and practice until you feel ready.UPDATE:Ifyou have interviews coming up and don’t want to leave anything to chance, I’ve created anew guide where you can copymy exactstep-by-step method for getting job offers. You canget more details here.