8. Some illustrative interview questions
General questions
- Where would people say they saw your values in your life/work?
- Why this, why now?
- Where (or when) have you been particularly successful in driving greater collaboration between individuals and/or organisations?
- What has been the most difficult people-focused challenge of your leadership?
- What was your greatest leadership challenge to date? What did you learn and what would you do differently next time?
- How do you evaluate the contribution you’ve made?
- How do you assess your own judgements or those of other people?
- What experience do you have of creating a diverse and inclusive team?
- What prior experience, knowledge, awareness or understanding would you bring to the role and our mission and work?
- What questions do you typically ask on arrival in a new organisation? Why?
- Where have you created coalitions or led collaborative processes to deliver a mutually beneficial agenda internally and externally?
- Can you give us an example of when you have demonstrated a personal commitment to promoting equality, embracing diversity and supporting inclusion?
- What skills/experience would you look for in your team to supplement your own?
- Where have you demonstrated the creative thinking and organisational leadership that led to the kind of change which resulted in your organisation working in a more impact-driven way? What, if any, were the unanticipated consequences of this transformation?
- If you were to be offered this role, what would be the biggest obstacle to you accepting?
Questions for chief executives
- Describe a situation where you have taken over a team, inspiring a confident and positive organisational culture.
- What do you do to understand your business better?
- Can you tell us why you consider yourself to be an inclusive leader?
Questions for chairs/trustees
- What, to your mind, are the attributes or behaviours of an effective board and what do you believe is the chair’s role in ensuring board effectiveness?
- What do you believe to be the key components of an effective chair/chief executive relationship?
