Leading or acting like a leader does not require you to have a fancy title like a manager or team lead. Have you ever led a project, proposed an alternative process, or motivated your team to accomplish something?
The STAR (Situation, Task, Action and Results) method with definition will help you paint a picture (without rambling).
Here’s how to answer this strategically in an interview:
➡️Describe what leadership means to you –
Taking some time to consider what leadership means to you personally is the most accurate way to give an answer that won’t be wrong. Your interviewer doesn’t want you to guess what a leader is. The most important thing is to demonstrate that you are self-aware, that you have reflected on what leadership looks like, and that you realize it is a journey.
➡️Weave a leadership-based work story –
Think about what leadership skills and situations are likely to arise in the job you’re interviewing for. Review your qualities, skills, and actions and recall times when you exhibited them. Consider a situation where you demonstrated leadership and achieved tangible results for your team or company. If something didn’t quite work out as planned, you shouldn’t immediately discard it as an example unless it was a complete disaster.
➡️Give a structured answer using a framework
Your answer should be structured using the STAR method, with one addition – definition.
⭐Briefly DEFINE what leadership means to you, emphasizing how your story illustrates leadership.
⭐Explain the SITUATION briefly, providing all the details and mentioning any skills you will use in this new position you are applying to.
⭐Talk about how you handled the TASK. What were your responsibilities?
⭐Describe what ACTION you took and frame it all in terms of your leadership.
⭐The more quantifiable and concrete your RESULTS are, the better. Describe anything you learned from this experience regarding leadership.
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