Page 166 - How To Answer Interview Questions (II)

Job Interview Question 90

What would your direct reports say about you?

This question explores your leadership qualities. What is your leadership style? What do you do that
makes you a good leader?

Great things to mention that they might say are that you set clear expectations, you are fair, you’re
a good communicator and a willing teacher, you give balanced feedback, and that you are
extremely knowledgeable about your industry.

Choose 2 or 3 things that accurately describe you and say, “My direct reports would say that I
am X and Y.”

If you happen to have any evidence that supports this, offer it. Possibly this could be a direct report
who is serving as a reference, or a performance review discussing your leadership qualities, or an
assessment of your group or team’s performance compared to others in the company (the idea
being that if your team was especially successful as a whole, you must be doing something right).