senior leader behavioral interview

Behavioral Interview Guide

Confidential 1

Overview:

This packet contains a list of behavioral interview questions for the individual contributor level of applicants. There are four questions for each competency listed below in the following order:

Build Partnerships Promote Collaboration Influence Others Establish Accountability Drive Execution Set Direction Manage Risks and Controls Demonstrate Business Acumen Focus on the Customer Own the Star Managment Mission and Vision Champion Change/Adaptability Act Ethically Foster a Compliance Mindset Lead the Team Manage and Develop People

You do not need to ask every question for each competency but simply select one or two to assess behaviors of that competency. Make sure to take notes to identify the behaviors the candidate took in each situation. After the interview is completed rate the candidate on each competency using the scale at the bottom of each page and your notes for reference.

Confidential 2

Build Partnerships: Develop alliances throughout the organization to achieve the vision and goals

1. Give an example of a project that required you to draw upon individuals internal and external to the organization to help you. What was the project? How did you go about contacting these individuals and enlisting their help? What was their reaction? What was the outcome of the project?

2. Tell me about a time you had to work with teams across the organization and how you achieved the goal together. What was the goal? How did you enlist their help? How did you overcome obstacles of working across different teams? Was the goal achieved? What was the outcome?

3. Describe a time when you had to build trust and credibility with a person or group from a different area or background. What was the situation? Who was the person or group? How did you approach them? What steps did you take to build their trust and credibility? What was the outcome of your efforts?

4. Tell me about a time in which you had to build commitment and ownership for a shared goal. What was the goal? How did you go about building commitment and ownership? What actions did you take to handle any challenges? What impact did it have? What was the outcome?

.

USE THE BELOW SCALE FOR YOUR RATING:

Below Expectations Meets Expectations Exceeds Expectations

1 2 3 4 5

Candidate fails to exhibit a large portion of the appropriate behaviors for the competency or does so at a level below what is required by the job

Leverage internal and external alliances to manage the business

Marshal the right resources through partnerships

Build credibility/trust in the organization to get things done

Work across boundaries Build commitment to shared goals

Candidate exhibits all of the competency behaviors in most situations and goes well beyond the level required by the job

Confidential 3

Promote Collaboration: Encourage and reward collaboration in the workplace as a way to achieve results

1. Tell me about a time when you were the leader of a team that was having difficulty collaborating. What about the team was difficult? What were you trying to achieve? How did you handle the team’s lack of collaboration? What did you do to get the team effectively working together? What was the outcome?

2. Describe a situation in which you had to form a cross-functional team and reach a corporate objective. What was the situation? How did you form the team and select members to be a part of it? Were there any difficulties working with people from different areas? How did you and your team deal with them? Did you reach your goal? What made that possible and how did your team react to the outcome?

3. Tell me about a time in which you found a way to promote collaboration with a group of people from diverse backgrounds or areas. What was the situation? Why did you decide to reward collaboration? What type of reward or recognition did you give? What impact did it have? What was the outcome?

4. Describe how you promote collaboration with your team and communicate the importance of it. What do you do on a regular basis to try to promote collaboration? Have any issues arisen? How have you handled them? Have you initiated anything to promote collaboration between your team and others

across your organization?

USE THE BELOW SCALE FOR YOUR RATING


1 2 3 4 5


Act as a role model for collaboration Promote collaboration across Star

Management to reach objectives Make teamwork and collaboration a

priority Reward teamwork and collaboration


Confidential 4

Influence Others: Persuade, convince and influence others effectively

1. Describe a time in which you had to get others on board with a key initiative. How did you communicate it to them? How did you get them on board? What challenges did you face? What was their reaction? What was the end result?

2. Give me an example of a presentation you had to give to an audience that you knew had a different opinion from you. How did you communicate it to them? How did you get them on board? What challenges did you face? What was their reaction? What was the end result?

3. Describe an example of a presentation you had to give to a large audience from different areas or backgrounds. What was the presentation about? Why were you giving it? What was the audience’s reaction to your presentation? Did you have to make any changes based on their reaction? What was the outcome?

4. Tell me about a time in which you used data and facts to persuade others. What made you decide to approach it this way? How did you build your argument? What reaction did the audience have? How did you handle disagreement with your view? What was the outcome?



1 2 3 4 5Candidate fails to exhibit a large portion of the appropriate behaviors for the competency or does so at a level below what is required by the job

Build support for ideas through knowledge sharing of key stakeholders

Calculate the impact of one’s words or actions and adapt accordingly

Persuade through the use of data and facts

Persuade by involving and getting commitment from key


Confidential 5

stakeholders

Establish Accountability: Define clear accountability and expected results

1. Give me an example of an employee who was not meeting his or her goals and how you handled the situation. What led up to this becoming a problem? How did you handle the situation? What approach did you take when speaking with the employee? Did the employee’s behavior improve? What was the end result?

2. Describe a time when you took leadership of a new team and how you distributed responsibility and your thinking behind the actions you took.

How did you decide who would be given what? How did you make sure they were aware of their responsibilities? What was each person given and how did you know if they were ready for the

responsibility? Did you ensure they had needed resources? If so, how? How did the team work? What was the outcome?

3. Tell me about the last major project you led and how you communicated to the team what they were accountable for. What was the project? How did you communicate accountability to them? Did anyone not meet his or her requirements? How did you handle this? What was the outcome? Did you need to take any actions toward employees?

4. Describe a time when you had to communicate risk accountability to your team. What was the situation? How did you communicate risk accountability? Did the team’s actions/behaviors change in anyway? Did any problems arise, if so, how did you handle them? What was the outcome?



1 2 3 4 5


Promote a culture of accountability Define accountability/ consequences Know who makes decisions Appropriately empower others Know business well enough to

understand and communicate risks Hold people accountable Provide resources to those held

accountable


Confidential 6

Drive Execution: Focus on results to ensure execution of mission critical goals

1. Describe an initiative you led in which you had to execute under conditions of ambiguity and risk. What was the business context and source of ambiguity? What objectives were you trying to accomplish? What did you do to assess, avoid, or respond to the risk inherent in the situation? What metrics and success factors did you put in place to set expectations and measure

success? What obstacles did you run into, and how did you address them? What were the key outcomes?

2. Tell me about the initiative you pursued that had the greatest impact on organizational strategies or results. What changes did you make to align the organization with the strategy? What did you do to integrate the plan across functions, locations, and organizations? What timeframes were you operating under? How were these set? How did you determine the resources needed? What obstacles did you encounter and how did you overcome them? What processes or systems were improved?

3. Tell me about a time in which you led a project in which you had to ensure controls were implemented. What was the project? Why was it so important controls were implemented? How did you ensure this happened? What steps did you take? What was the outcome?

4. Describe a time in which you had to do a cost/benefits analysis to decide if a risk should be taken. What was the situation? Why did you do cost/benefit analysis? Walk me thru the process you took. What was the outcome? Why or why not did you decide to take the risk?



1 2 3 4 5


Evaluate risks, alternatives and make decisions

Balance planning and action Plan to ensure execution of critical

objectives Demonstrate flexibility to ensure

controls are implemented


Set Direction: Establish a clear line of sight

Confidential 7

1. Tell me about how at the beginning of last year you implemented and shared the goals for the year with your team. What were the goals? How did you go about sharing them with the team? Were they clear on the goals? How did you handle any confusion or resistance that occurred? What was the outcome?

2. Give me an example of a project you were assigned to that had confusing expectations and goals. What was confusing? How did you go about tackling the project? Who did you go to get clarity, if anyone? How did you move forward after gaining clarity? How did you communicate the confusing mission to others you enlisted for help?

3. Describe a project that you were leading and how you communicated the success factors and metrics for goals. What was the project? How did you communicate the success factors and metrics? Did any confusion arise? How did you handle it? What was the outcome?

4. Tell me about a time you established and communicated expectations to a group and the team was not meeting them. What was the situation? How did you clarify expectations? What made you realize the team was not meeting them? What steps did you take in response? What was the final outcome of the project?



1 2 3 4 5Candidate fails to exhibit a large portion of the appropriate behaviors for the competency or does so at a level below what is required by the job

Establish clarity of expectations Define key success factors and

metrics


Confidential 8

Manage Risks and Controls: Establish structure to achieve operational excellence

1. Describe a situation in which you faced a decision regarding process improvement and how you went about making that decision. What was the situation? Why was there a need for the change? Did you have to get the improvement approved by anyone? Was any improvement made? What impact has your decision had?

2. Tell me about a time you faced a risky situation, if you decided to proceed, and how you came to that conclusion. What was the situation? How did you know there was risk involved? How did you go about making your decision? Did you establish any means of evaluating your decision and the situation you faced? What was the outcome?

3. Tell me about the last time you encouraged others to take risks in a project. What was the project? What was the risk? How did you weight the pros and cons of taking the risk? What was the outcome? Did taking risks help improve the project?

4. Describe a time in which you established controls and the impact it had. What was the project? Why did you establish controls? How did you do so? What was the impact?



1 2 3 4 5


Establish controls Evaluate and respond to risk Articulate risk decisions and

engender support Encourage escalation of risks Focus on continuous improvement to

eliminate risk Drive resolution of deviations and

errors


Demonstrate Business Acumen: Maintain, expand and apply relevant business knowledge to achieve results

Confidential 9

1. Describe a time in which you faced a decision that would have long-term impact on your organization. How did you go about making that decision? What challenges did you face? How did you handle the long-term aspect of the problem? What has been the long-term effect so far? Is it what you expected?

2. Tell me about a situation where you had to apply specific industry and market knowledge in your field in order to complete a project. What was the situation? What was the knowledge needed? How did you gain that knowledge? What was the outcome?

3. Describe a time in which you worked on a project that really allowed you to demonstrate your understanding of the business. What was the project? How had you gained this information? How did you demonstrate your breadth of understanding? What impact did it have on the project? What was the outcome?

4. Tell me about the last time you expanded your business acumen and how you did that. What was the situation? What made you decide to increase your business acumen? What did you do? How did you keep current with that knowledge? What was the outcome?



1 2 3 4 5


Leverage knowledge of the business Understand entire business and works

toward synergy Anticipate changes in the market and

resulting consequences


Focus on the Customer: Deliver superior solutions to clients

1. Tell me about the most significant improvement initiative you implemented to enhance the ability to meet client needs.

Confidential 10

What was the situation, and why was improvement needed? Who came up with the idea, and how did you evaluate its effectiveness? What steps did you take to implement it? How were things improved? How did you measure the improvement? How did your clients respond to the improvement? What was the outcome?

2. Tell me about the last time you (or your organization) were unable to deliver on a promise made to a major client. What was the situation and what promises were made? Why did you indicate that this would be possible? What prevented you/your organization from delivering on the promise? What was the result of your efforts from the client’s standpoint? Did you take any actions to rectify the situation? What was the impact of the situation?

3. Describe a time in which you had to partner with a client to customize your organization’s approach to meet their needs. What was the situation? How did you partner with them? What steps did you take to customize an approach for them? How did it affect your relationship with them? How did you gain your understanding of their business to make sure you met their needs? What was the outcome?

4. Tell me about a time in which you anticipated a client’s need. What was the situation? How did you know what the need was? How did you meet it? What steps did you take? What was the outcome? How did this impact your relationship with the client?



1 2 3 4 5


Partner with clients to understand and meet their needs

Anticipate client needs/develop options for them

Meet and exceed client needs Deliver on promises


Own the Star Management Mission and Vision: Shape and drive the vision

1. Describe a situation in which you incorporated the mission of your organization into your work.

Confidential 11

What is the mission of your organization? What was the situation? Why did you decide to bring the mission into your work? How did you do so? Did it impact your work? If so how? What was the outcome?

2. Tell me about a time in which a decision you made would have an impact on stakeholders both within and outside of your organization. What was the situation? What sort of impact would the decision have? How did you know that? How did you handle the situation knowing that? What was the shareholder’s reaction? What was the final outcome of the situation?

3. Tell me about a message that you needed to communicate and how you put a positive spin on it. What was the message? How did you make it positive? What words and action did you use to demonstrate enthusiasm? What was the reaction? Did you face any negativity? How did you handle that? What was the outcome?

4. Describe a project in which you aligned the goals to the vision of the organization. What was the project? How did you align the goals? Why did you decide to do that? What impact did it have? What was the outcome?



1 2 3 4 5


Demonstrate a future focus Align strategies and goals with the vision Reinforce actions aligned with the vision Cascade the vision with optimism and

enthusiasm Balance shareholder interests and

charter


Champion Change: Encourage new ideas, innovation and alternative approaches

1. Describe a time when you had to be flexible about your approach to a situation and how you went about handling it. What was the situation?

Confidential 12

Why did you decide to take a new approach? Who was your opposition? What was their reaction? How did you get others on board with this change? What was the outcome?

2. What is the most significant change that you have sponsored in your career? What was the situation? What was the proposed change? What made you decide to sponsor this change effort? What did you do to sponsor this change effort? What was the final outcome?

3. Tell me about the last project that you led in which you created an open environment for change or innovation. What was the project? Why did you decide to create an open environment? How did you foster an environment for innovation? Were any changes made? What was the outcome?

4. Tell me about a time which you had to implement a change that was unpopular. What was the situation? What did you need to implement? Why was it unpopular? How did you handle the resistance? How effective was it? What was the outcome?



1 2 3 4 5


Foster openness to change Proactively communicate to accelerate

change Advocate change in the face of

resistance Encourage innovation and improvement


Act Ethically: Act with the highest integrity at all times

1. Tell me about a time when you stood up for what you believed in even though there were group pressures to conform to something you felt was unethical.

What was the situation? What about it made you feel it was unethical? Why did you decide to express your feelings about it?

Confidential 13

What did you do to uphold your beliefs? Did you face resistance? If so, how did you deal with it? Was the situation resolved?

2. Describe the last situation you faced in which you could have been rewarded for compromising your integrity.

What was the situation? What were you asked or potentially tempted to do? How did you respond to the request or temptation? Why did you choose this course of action? What was the outcome of your decision? How did the situation resolve itself?

3. Tell me about a time in which you took a stand for an ethical issue that was unpopular. What was the situation? Why did you decide to take a stand? Why was your stand unpopular? What did you do? How did you handle any resistance? What was the outcome?

4. Tell me about a time in which you ethically led by example in order to foster ethical practices in the workplace. What was the situation? How did you lead by example? What impact did it have on your team? What else did you do to promote ethical practices? Did your behavior have the desired impact? What was the outcome?



1 2 3 4 5


Act for the good of the organization Ethically lead by example Foster ethical practices in the workplace Take a stand when integrity may be

compromised


Foster a Compliance Mindset: Proactively seek ways to ensure compliance with regulations, policies and procedures related to compliance

1. Give me an example of a project in which compliance was essential and how you ensured this happened. What was the project? Why was compliance so essential?

Confidential 14

How did you make sure that compliance and ethics were met? How did you handle individuals who were not compliant? What was the outcome?

2. Describe a situation in which your team did not meet compliance policies and procedures. Did you address the situation? If so, how? What was the reason for a lack of compliance? How did you rectify the situation? What was the impact?

3. Tell me about a time in which you anticipated a compliance issue and how you handled it. What was the situation? How did you recognize there was a compliance issue? What actions did you take to fix it? Did you bring it to anyone’s attention? What was the outcome?

4. Describe a time in which you educated others on compliance issues? What was the situation? Why did you decide that they needed to be educated? How did you educate them? Did you do any follow up to make sure they were practicing it? What impact did it have on them? What was the outcome?



1 2 3 4 5


Anticipate and corrects compliance issues

Reward and recognize acting ethically Educate others on compliance, policies

and procedures Foster an environment for compliance at

work


Lead the Team: Lead the team to accomplish goals

1. Tell me about a situation where you led a group of individuals from diverse backgrounds or areas accomplish aggressive business goals. How were the goals set? What did you do to ensure that others understood and bought into these goals? What communication and feedback did you provide to keep people informed? What did you do to ensure those goals were met?

Confidential 15

What obstacles did you encounter, and how did you address them? What results did you achieve?

2. Describe the team you have led over the course of your career, that you believe had the strongest sense of being a strong team. What specific steps did you take to build this group of employees into a team? How did the members of the team view you, as their leader? How do you know these

were their perceptions? What types of communication did you establish in working with this team? What is the biggest accomplishment this team was able to achieve? Why do you think

that was possible?

3. Tell me about a project you led and how you created an open environment. What was the project? How did you establish yourself as the leader? What steps did you take to create an open environment? What impact did it have on the team? What was the outcome?

4. In the last project you led, how did you lead by example? What was the project? What was your role? How did you lead by example? What impact did it have on your team? What was the outcome?



1 2 3 4 5


Compel the team to act through direction and communication

Act as a role model through actions and words

Keep people informed Create an open environment for employees


Manage and Develop People: Provide coaching and feedback as well as encourage on-going development

1. Tell me about a time that you had to get a team ready for a project that required skills and knowledge that they didn’t all have yet. What was the project? How did you assess their readiness? What steps did you take to get them ready? What was the outcome?

Confidential 16

How effective was the team?

2. Describe the direct report you have had who had the most potential, and if you did anything to try and retain this individual. Who was the person and why did you view him/her as having a great deal of potential? What risk do you believe (or know) there was that the person would leave for other

opportunities outside the organization? What specifically did you do to work with the individual? What was the outcome?

3. Tell me about a time in which you had to give a direct report negative feedback. What was the feedback? How did you approach the individual to give them the feedback? What did you say to them? How did you handle any negative reaction? How did you end the meeting? What was the result of this discussion

4. Tell me about the last major decision or action you took to help build a high performing organization. What was the decision/action? Why did you decide to take this action? What impact were you hoping for? What were the short and long term benefits of this decision/action?

Would you make the same decision again?



1 2 3 4 5


Develop a high performing organization Provide coaching and feedback on

performance Foster continuous learning Manage performance consistently and

fairly Listen well to employees


Confidential 17

senior leader behavioral interview

Documents