Tell me about a time when you weren’t able to build a relationship with a difficult coworker.

Soft people skills and being able to non-defensively communicate with a wide range of personalities are traits of strong leadership. Investing the time to work with employees who take more effort to get on the same page makes for a much stronger team. However, providing several examples of difficult co-workers you worked with could betray your narrative. Rather than siding with your perspective of working with multiple difficult employees, they might wonder if those multiple employees were working with the one problem employee--you.

"There are rare occasions where I ended up having difficulty befriending someone on the team. My trick is to identify the culprit for the friction. Some people are sensitive and perhaps more guarded when meeting and trusting someone new. Trust is earned. So, if I haven't earned their trust, I'll examine why. Their range of experience differs from mine, so I never assume where they're coming from. What I aim to find out is if I'm the anomaly or if they don't get along with most of the team. There were two occasions where I faced this, and both times they had a strong comaraderie with only one other person on the team and the rest of us were just there. In both cases, they were more analytical/introverted personalities, and that's fine. If they have a reason for being guarded around new people, that's fine too. I give them their space, never take it personally, and ensure they know I am there, with positivity, should they need anything. We're still on the same team, and I want them to know I can be trusted."

Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.