New Manager Mock Interview
Practice 40 New Manager interview questions covering leadership transition, team dynamics, and first-time management challenges.
Question 22 of 40
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with your leader and convinced them to see things your way.
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Experienced
Community Answers
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
Persuading your leader to see your point of view highlights your ability to influence others. You probably have a great relationship with your leaders, but there might be times when you don't see eye to eye, and that is okay! What is important is how you approach this type of situation. The interviewer wants to know that you can be diplomatic in the workplace, even when you may disagree with your leader. Explain that you believe everyone is entitled to their own professional opinion, but it is important to maintain respect for each other while expressing those opinions.
When asked a "Tell us about a time..." question, it's important to remember that the interviewer is looking for a specific story-based example that highlights your behavior in challenging situations. Using the STAR interview method (an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result), you can more easily form a story-based response. Think of a time when you disagreed with someone in a leadership role. Describe how you responded and discuss the positive outcome or the lesson that you learned from the situation.
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"(Situation) In a previous role, my supervisor believed that the company did not need to invest time or money into growing an email distribution list. (Task) As a skilled email marketer, I strongly disagreed. (Action) I approached the topic gingerly, used hard numbers from case studies, and tied them to our business goals. By removing emotion from the equation and focusing strictly on data and analytics, I expressed my stance in a way that would be hard to dispute or elicit an emotional response. (Result) Ultimately, my supervisor gave the green light to pilot the program, and it was a great success. I built an email list of over 10,000 contacts, and our conversion rate increased by nearly 25%."
Interview Coach
Jaymie
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Anonymous Answer
In a previous role, during my first month scouting one of the sites I found that the 1-acre farm had landscape fabric under the topsoil. I had raised my concerns about this management practice which as it turned out the owner had made the decision to put in place. I explained that the volunteers were finding it very difficult to manage the weeds, and appealed to his desire of "growing more" by explaining that by removing the landscape fabric, we would be able to use the rototiller, reducing weeds, increasing growing efficiency and more harvest.
Jaymie's Feedback
This is a good example to use. You were professional in discussing why you disagreed, and the benefits of doing it another way, and you shared feedback in a constructive way. Be sure to share the positive outcome of the situation as well in your response.
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