What is your leadership style?
The interviewer asks this question to see if your leadership style will work with the company culture. There are many different leadership styles: autocratic, democratic, servant, pacesetting, coaching, collaborative, affiliative, etc. If the job description specifies a particular leadership style they are looking for in a Social Work Supervisor, make sure your response aligns with that.
Suppose the job description specified a collaborative or servant leadership style. In that case, focus on using one of those two styles in your response. Collaborative leadership is a management practice that brings staff, executives, and managers together and shares information organically. The servant leadership style focuses on leaders prioritizing serving their team and organization first. Servant leaders do not prioritize their own objectives but seek to achieve a vision by providing substantial support to their staff.
Avoid describing your leadership style as something opposite of what the agency is looking for in a candidate. If they specifically state they seek a Social Work Supervisor with a servant or collaborative leadership skills, choose one of those styles. If you say your leadership skills are different from what they are looking for, they may pass you over for a candidate who has the style they seek.
"I describe my leadership style as collaborative. I like to seek out a diversity of ideas, opinions, and thoughts from my team to build strategies and solve problems. I find this leadership style effective since my team members feel included and trusted and are more likely to take pride in ownership of their work."
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
I am a collaborative leader for sure, I am accustomed to working with others and gaining input organically. I feel there is more than one way to achieve a common goal.
Jaymie's Feedback
This is a good start! There are several common leadership styles including autocratic, democratic, participative, transformational, transactional, and coaching. See if perhaps any of those are your style and if not, elaborate more on your leadership style and skills. This is your opportunity to really sell yourself to the interviewer!
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