When a leadership opportunity presents itself, are you excited to jump in, or do you feel nervous?
The interviewer wants to see that you have the courage to jump into an unexpected leadership opportunity, even if you feel nervous. The goal of your response is to give the interviewer a clear idea of the way you approach opportunities to lead. Show the interviewer that you have the potential and desire to influence your co-workers positively.
"When a leadership opportunity presents itself, I am excited to jump in. I often listen to interviews with motivational business leaders such as Ed Mylett and Warren Buffet, where I learn a great deal about active leadership and integrity. As a result, I have learned to be a confident leader, whether in a formal setting or when an unexpected opportunity arises. (Situation) For example, when I worked for Company XYZ, my manager would travel a lot as she was responsible for three business units globally. (Task) I became the unofficial manager when she was away. Team members would come to me when a customer issue needed resolving, a sale needed closing, and even when a piece of tech needed troubleshooting. (Action) I readily took on the responsibility and made myself available for any questions or any roadblocks they faced. (Result) This situation taught me more about teamwork, communication, and task prioritization. (Closing Statement) When you hire me, you will see that I am an outgoing and confident person, and leadership comes naturally to me."
"I used to feel nervous when a leadership opportunity arose. However, today, I am much more confident and usually excited to jump in and lead. While attending university, I was part of many group projects. I would naturally fall into a leadership role within the group more than half the time. I believe this is because I am an active listener. I am also highly organized and easy to approach. I enjoyed being viewed as a leader and look forward to more opportunities for leadership in the future. To prepare for leadership in my career, I have been reading leadership books such as 'Good to Great,' by Jim Collins."
Avoid focusing on your lack of leadership experience. Most hiring companies look for leadership competency in candidates, no matter how entry-level the job title. Even if you are new to your career or have not yet reached a formal leadership position, you can still showcase your natural leadership qualities. Consider speaking about how you act as a leader in group projects at school or while playing a sport.
Be prepared to highlight the leadership characteristics you have. These qualities might include being a clear communicator, showing empathy to others, setting thoughtful goals, or having the courage to speak up when others may not.
If possible, talk about when you took on a leadership role regardless of feeling excited or nervous. You can use the STAR framework (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to form your story-based example.
If you do not have a specific example of a time when you took on the role of a leader, consider discussing the ways you actively improve your leadership skills. Perhaps you read books on leadership, listen to podcasts from thought leaders, or engage a mentor to develop your leadership abilities.
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.
Anonymous Answer
Excited, every leadership opportunity is a chance to develop and create new skill sets professionally. My supervisor recently sent an email to the team with a list of who has completed the necessary number of projects this year to meet our year-end performance objectives. Teams are subdivided by region, and I noticed that one person on my team hadn't met her goal yet. I met with her and volunteered to help her work on her projects to reach her goals.
Rachelle's Feedback
This example of jumping in as a leader and mentor are fantastic! Your answer has a lot of energy behind it, which is great.
Anonymous Answer
I am excited and jump right in. Open communication is something I feel strongly about, and I saw room for improvement at my company. I stepped up and started a WhatsApp group with one person from each sales region to help increase communication across the sales force. I still lead this group, which has dramatically improved open discussion amongst the sales force.
Rachelle's Feedback
This is such a great leadership initiative - great idea! Any company should be thrilled to have a forward thinker like yourself on their team.
Anonymous Answer
I enjoy acting as a leader, whether it be formally or unexpectedly. I am an outgoing, confident person, and leadership comes naturally to me. I was involved in a rugby final when our captain became injured in the last 20 mins of the game. I stepped up and took charge of the team to reassure them we had to stick to the plan initially set out by our captain. I ran through what everyone needed to perform. I enjoyed taking on the responsibility as it taught me more about teamwork, communication, and prioritization. I felt a great reward for my teammates and me when we won the final.
Rachelle's Feedback
Winning the final must have felt fantastic! If you could describe your leadership style, what type of descriptive words could you weave into your response?
Anonymous Answer
I love taking on a leadership role and its responsibilities. I feel I have a good strong skill set, and when I was in a regional meeting, I had noticed that we needed to target a few more of our key accounts and have accurate/specific account plans to get an advantage over the competitor. I took it on myself to designate 2 accounts to each team member, ask for an account plan by the end of the week, and email this to myself and the manager.
Rachelle's Feedback
It seems that leadership comes naturally to you! This is a fantastic example of taking control of the workplace. Be sure to also include the result in your answers :)
Anonymous Answer
I like to jump in!
I have extensive knowledge about our CRM system known as Veeva/Salesforce. More than my colleagues and so I wanted to help with that. After all, this is the system that allows us to be successful in our call inputs. So I would always support my colleagues free willingly with how to input eg customers into the system which bettered their work and day. As a result of how well this worked, I opted to become the national CRM champion for the company. Based on my collaborations with my colleagues, the role was created for me and I was responsible for helping my colleagues on eg how to create virtual calls during covid.
Cindy's Feedback
Nice use of the STAR format. This is a complete and accessible answer. Nice work.
Anonymous Answer
Sure, when a leadership opportunity presents itself, I see it as an opportunity for growth and development. I take on challenges with enthusiasm. I volunteered to train my colleagues. Because my VP was busy traveling so much, I offered product training material for my fellow CS and he took me up on the offer.
Stephanie's Feedback
It sounds like this was a meaningful leadership opportunity! I suggest adding a sentence or two highlighting the outcomes of this contribution. How did this impact your colleagues?
Anonymous Answer
Whenever I got an opportunity in leadership, I am always excited to take it up. Two of my own greatest strengths are significance and command.
There are many situations in my career where I took on leadership. One of the latest situations was when Covid-19 impacted the supplies and backorder increased to 4.6M. I took charge of the situation and quickly implemented best practices of state guidelines to prevent any Covid impact on site. I was able to build clarity on material availability and match demand.
Marcie's Feedback
Great! So it sounds like you relish the chance to lead. Nice! Don't forget to indicate whether this type of opportunity leaves you feeling excited or nervous, however, since that's what the question specifically asks. The example you provide strengthens your answer.
Anonymous Answer
I feel excited about the opportunity and jump right in. I naturally do this when I see something I can help with. When I see someone doing something wrong or confused, I automatically ask if I can help or if they would like a recommendation with that exercise. Luckily for me, this sometimes leads to a direct or indirect sale. There are also several events I organized for a fundraiser or profit where I enrolled the help of others to get the job done well. At the Healthplex, before all the social media craze, the General manager asked for someone to volunteer to give a fitness tip in the quarterly newsletter. I volunteered and turned it in to me and my trainers writing a weekly fitness tip emailed to the members.
Stephanie's Feedback
It sounds like you possess natural leadership abilities, which is awesome! My only suggestion here is to add a few additional words to indicate the impact of your contributions to the newsletter. What happened as a result?
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