INTERVIEW QUESTION - Can you tell us about a situation

where you demonstrated leadership?

Before we take a look at a sample response to this question,

first we need to explore the definition of ‘leadership’.

A simple definition of leadership is that leadership is the art of

motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a
common goal. Put even more simply, the leader is the
inspiration and director of the action. He or she is the person in
the group that possesses the combination of personality and
skills that makes others want to follow his or her direction.

SAMPLE RESPONSE

“One evening, at the change of shift, I became aware that

two members of the team were late for work. There had
been heavy snowfall that day and the congestion on the
surrounding roads meant that many people could not get
to work. I took it upon myself to lead the team through the
coming shift and, despite being two people down, we
managed to achieve the goal of providing first class
service to our customers. To begin with, I briefed the
remainder of the team on the difficulty of the task that lay
ahead of us. I assessed the skill levels and experience
within the team and allocated tasks accordingly. I ensured
that I remained confident and in control during the brief so
that the team members would have confidence in my
ability to manage the problem. As the shift progressed I
had a number of different problems to deal with, but I
remained calm, listened carefully to the problems,
motivated the team and directed accordingly. At the end of
the shift we congratulated ourselves on a job well done
and discussed the areas in which we felt we could
improve, if the same situation was to arise again.”