In your current position, what efforts have you put into helping your co-workers to learn and grow?
The best managers often take on leadership responsibilities naturally and seek opportunities to mentor or coach others without being asked. The interviewer wants to know that you have a habit of helping others, even when you do not hold a formal leadership position.
Rather than deliver a generic response, try incorporating a story-based example of when you helped a peer or co-worker learn a new skill, achieve a goal, or grow in their career. Show your enthusiasm for helping others and express how this natural ability will benefit your new team and the hiring company should they choose to hire you as their new manager.
"I often seek out more effective and productive ways to manage my workflow. I will find helpful tools and free resources online to help me work quickly and generate better results. When I come across a constructive solution, I will introduce the solution to my team members. For instance, I recently discovered a few new tricks to optimize Asana for project and workflow management. I took a weekend course on the platform and then shared my new knowledge with the team during a 'Lunch & Learn' a few days later. My manager was very impressed with the initiative I showed, and my co-workers were thankful for the information. I desire continued growth, and I have a passion for sharing my knowledge with my co-workers. Our team is more successful, overall, when we support each other."
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
Each of us has a specialty, school programs, public programs, video conferencing, interpretation, garden hort education - when one of us finds a compelling webinar we will send the information around in our department so everyone is aware of it. A small gesture for each other.
I have been in a unique situation to have built relationships with a lot of external instructors so every once in a while I can create some PD opportunities, or let staff know of upcoming programs; eg. a grafting workshop.
There was a very stressful time at work and a lot of people have been really feeling it, so I approached some staff to see whether they would be interested in some mindfulness, health and wellness programs. There was a very positive response, so I reached out to one of our regular instructors who was very happy to offer her services for our staff.
I have organized a few fun lunch-and-learns, some technical, some more on the fun side providing opportunites for staff to learn about other departmental work, and each other, pick up some new skills.
Jaymie's Feedback
All of these are great strategies and techniques to highlight!
