How do you approach communication breakdowns with your leaders?
Zalando describes their leadership culture as having strong listening and communication skills while being open, transparent, and encouraging, and consistently taking responsibility for their actions. But before your interviewer makes any hiring decisions, they need to ensure whomever they bring on board will contribute to this culture, rather than being a detriment to it. Therefore, how you answer this communication question should offer your interviewer further insights into how skilled a communicator you are. It also serves the dual purpose of potentially revealing whether you have issues with those in positions of authority.
"There is one supervisor I work with who often delegates in a hurry and leaves out important pieces of information. I've come to realize their communication is so rushed because they want to have a sense of urgency, which is fueled by nervous stress, and which often results in messy communication, rework, and delays. So, I try to get them to relax by asking about how they're doing first, then asking questions about the greater goals and how the work fits into the big picture. I try to learn everything about the task at hand and why it is important, and then I have a better lay of the land and can identify what information is missing and find the right questions to ask. Unexpectedly, since I've taken this approach, they have learned to adapt their communication style to me by anticipating my questions, and their communication skills overall have improved."
On their website, Zalando states that they love dialogue. "As Zalandos, we all take responsibility for our own respectful and ethical behavior, internally and externally. Use your talent for communication and your passion for problem-solving. We are tolerant and honest with each other." Some of the key components to effective communication are asking questions, nondefensive/situational presentation, adapting your communication style to others, active listening, and communicating back what was being communicated to you to ensure the message they sent is indeed the message they intended you to receive. This requires emotional maturity, patience, tolerance, and respect.
