Summary of interview question bank

Peopleship competencies

Collaborates with Others

• Tell me about a time you achieved a result through cross-team collaboration. What did you do and what changed?

• Describe a situation where you disagreed with a teammate but still moved forward together. How did you handle it?

• Reserve: When did you share credit to strengthen a relationship? Outcome?

Service Oriented

• Give an example of when you balanced a customer need with a policy or constraint. How did you communicate the trade-off and outcome?

• Tell me about a time you anticipated a stakeholder’s need before they asked. What sparked it and what was the impact?

• Reserve: When have you recovered a poor experience?

Demonstrates Integrity

• Describe a time you held the line on standards or ethics under pressure. What exactly did you do?

• Tell me about a situation where you raised a risk or mistake early. How did you communicate it and what happened?

• Reserve: When did you challenge an unclear instruction to avoid problems?

Networking

• Share a time your network unlocked a key resource or decision. How did you enlist support?

• Tell me about a relationship you proactively built that later proved essential. What was the outcome?

• Reserve: When did you connect two others to solve a problem?

Problem Solving

• Walk me through a complex problem you reframed. What options did you weigh and why?

• Tell me about an instance you used data or evidence to change a decision. What changed?

• Reserve: When did you pilot/experiment to reduce risk?

Plans and Structures

• Describe a project where planning and coordination were critical. How did you structure the work and track progress?

• Tell me about a time you rescued a slipping plan. What levers did you pull?

• Reserve: When have you simplified a process to reduce rework?

Initiating Action

• Give an example of taking the lead without being asked. What risk did you accept and outcome achieved?

• Tell me about a time you removed a blocker for others. How did you spot it and what changed?

• Reserve: When did you start something small that scaled?

Results-Oriented

• Describe a time you set a demanding goal and hit it. What routines kept momentum?

• Tell me about a time you missed a target. What did you learn and change?

• Reserve: When did you trade scope for speed wisely?

Embraces Change

• Share a time you led or championed a change others doubted. What did you do to win adoption?

• Tell me about a time you pivoted after new information. How did you bring others along?

• Reserve: What’s a habit you intentionally unlearned?

Stays Adaptive

• Describe a situation with unclear roles or priorities. How did you adapt and decide?

• Tell me about the last unfamiliar task you took on. How did you ramp up quickly?

• Reserve: When did you switch strategies mid-flight?

Humility & Self-Awareness

• Give an example of asking for tough feedback and acting on it. What changed afterward?

• Tell me about a mistake you owned publicly. What did you do next?

• Reserve: When did you seek a mentor or peer review to improve?

Fosters Transparency

• Tell me about a time you made work visible (status, risks, decisions) and how it helped.

• Describe a situation where early information-sharing prevented rework. What signals did you use?

• Reserve: When did you change your communication after noticing confusion?

Entrepreneurial & Commercial

• Share an example where you spotted an opportunity (revenue, savings, impact) and validated it.

• Tell me about a time you balanced viability with desirability/feasibility. Outcome?

• Reserve: When did you stop a promising idea for sound commercial reasons?

Influencing & Inspiring

• Describe a decision you moved without authority. What was your narrative and who did you persuade?

• Tell me about a time you tailored your message to different audiences to gain buy-in.

• Reserve: When did you coach or energize others to raise their bar?

(If your question bank also includes Accountability/Ownership or Engagement, use the Integrity/Initiating/Results items above—those cover the same behavioral family.)

Leadership competencies

Strategic Leadership

• Tell me about a time you reframed direction to achieve better long-term outcomes. What changed because of you?

• Describe a situation where you balanced short-term delivery with long-term bets. How did you decide?

• Reserve: When did you kill a project to protect strategy?

Driving Leadership

• Share an example of raising the bar (goals/standards) and keeping momentum. What cadence worked?

• Tell me about a time you held teams accountable while keeping morale. How?

• Reserve: When did you reset priorities to hit the finish line?

Enabling Leadership

• Tell me about a time you created psychological safety and candor. How do you know it stuck?

• Describe a conflict you turned into a better solution. What was your role?

• Reserve: When have you coached someone through a block to success?

Operative Leadership

• Walk me through how you planned and executed a multi-team delivery with dependencies. How did you course-correct?

• Tell me about a time you improved throughput (cycle time, quality). What mechanisms did you change?

• Reserve: When did you design simple routines that scaled?

Follow-ups to use on any answer (keep these handy)

• “What made this hard?”

• “What did you do specifically (not the team)?”

• “Walk me through the sequence.”

• “What evidence shows it worked (or didn’t)?”

• “Give me another example from a different context.”