When sharing your example, keep it relevant to the role while appealing to the company's culture. You want to come across as a professional with integrity whose decisions are guided by the principles of protecting the interests and assets of the company and your teams. You want to avoid coming across as risk-averse or as a habitual risk-taker. Instead, convey that you are simultaneously thoughtful and decisively swift when the need arises.

"My sales manager was handling bringing on a new account that we believed was all but a done deal. But when our sales manager was periodically unreachable, this client called in, asking for an extra benefit to be thrown in before they signed. I told them I would look into it and asked if I could get back to them. They explained they could offer me twenty minutes to get back to them; otherwise, the deal was off. So, not wanting to overstep my bounds, I sat down with some of our strongest and most tenured sales reps and asked them if any such accommodations had been made in the past. They counseled me on the types of additional benefits our manager has been comfortable making in the past and advised me to offer some of those to sweeten the deal on the condition that the potential client gives me enough time to have our manager reach out to them and discuss these enhanced options. I took their advice and ran with it, and it all worked out, thanks to the resource of my fellow teammates."

Remember to maintain relaxed and confident body language and facial expressions. When moving into a place of concentration or confusion, we tend to furrow our brow or redirect our gaze. However, this could easily be misinterpreted by the algorithm as aggression or frustration. So instead, practice relaxing your brow and widening your eyes. Slightly tilt your head and nod slowly. Speak softly, slowly, and with ease.