What are leadership attributes and how can they be assessed in interview questions?

The particular leadership attributes are likely to vary depending on your type of business. However, there are some essential characteristics that are valuable to all businesses, regardless of your company’s culture and leadership ethos.

Effective leadership is important for an organisation’s success. It drives team performance and helps achieve strategic goals. There are seven key leadership attributes that you should be aware of during the recruitment process.

Find out if your candidate has the key skills to be an effective leader by tailoring your interview questions to suit your leadership requirements.

Flexible

A flexible management candidate will have a broad skill set and will be able to respond to different kinds of challenges. These could involve team building, technical troubleshooting or leading a successful campaign.

Flexibility is especially important when navigating significant change, managing team dynamics or leading through high-pressure situations.

Flexibility can also be important for leaders to guide their teams through challenging times, ensuring resilience and effective communication when facing uncertainty or adversity.

Leaders possessing this quality might also be quick to respond to problems when they arise and thorough in providing solutions.

Questions you might want to ask your candidate to find out whether they are a flexible leader include:

• Q1: You and your team are facing a new logistical or technical issue. What steps would you take to solve it?
• Q2: The new application that your team has installed to streamline your workflow is not working properly. How would you handle this setback?
• Q3: Imagine that a couple of key members of staff are unexpectedly off sick this week. How would you ensure the smooth running of the office throughout the week?

Experienced management candidates should typically be able to assess these examples and adapt strategies that they have used before to handle similar situations.

Candidates who are flexible might be able to identify new solutions based on their skill set.

Driven

You can tell if a candidate is enthusiastic through your overall conversation with them, but sometimes it takes additional questions to find out how driven they are to succeed. Driven candidates may demonstrate their dedication to both significant achievement and the wellbeing of their team.

When evaluating a candidate’s commitment, consider evidence of their willingness to support and develop their team, especially during challenging situations or organisational changes.

Ask these questions to find out whether they have what it takes:

• Q1: What do you enjoy most about being a team leader?
• Q2: How do you steer your team through difficult decisions?
• Q3: How has your previous experience as a manager enabled you to overcome new challenges

  For more insightful prompts, check this list of business manager interview questions.

A candidate with a strong leadership mindset has clear examples of where they have been driven during previous projects. They may have a portfolio that they bring to the interview.

Adept at conflict resolution

A strong leader is assertive and can guide their team through difficult challenges. Sometimes, these challenges come from within the team, requiring leaders to adapt their management style to the situation.

Effective conflict resolution involves active listening, open communication and valuing diverse perspectives so every team member feels heard.

While a democratic approach often works, there are times when a more authoritative style is needed for difficult team members. Strong candidates know how to choose the right approach for each situation.

Questions to ask in order to find out more about your candidate’s conflict resolution approach include:

• Q1: Imagine you’re leading a campaign strategy meeting and your team cannot decide on whether to implement an idea. How would you handle this so that everyone is satisfied?
• Q2: How do you act when a team member challenges your authority on a decision?
• Q3: How do you handle a difficult team member?

A candidate who shows a balanced and considered approach to conflict resolution is one you might strongly consider.

Critical thinker

A strong manager typically has excellent critical thinking skills. With their mind fixed firmly on future goals, they are able to plan and streamline workflows for the whole team efficiently.

Strategic thinking and having a clear vision can help drive an organisation’s success by enabling leaders to align team efforts with long-term objectives and inspire effective execution.

Critical thinkers are constantly finding new ways to gain efficiency and to lower costs. A rational manager is also able to effectively gauge when it is appropriate to take risks, considering the data and any feedback available before doing so.

Assess whether your candidate is a rational leader through these questions:

• Q1: How would you structure a management plan for your team?
• Q2: When do you believe it is the right time to take a risk?
• Q3: Have you experienced any challenges while building a workflow?

When assessing a candidate’s critical thinking skills, focus on how they plan work, prioritise tasks and adapt when circumstances change.

Strong candidates balance thoughtful planning with a willingness to take measured risks. This enables them to keep projects on track and lead their team effectively.

Creative

The ideal candidate may bring a lot of new ideas for your business into the interview room. Creative leaders identify opportunities for their team to develop the necessary skills and support professional development, ensuring continuous growth and innovation.

Great leaders can inspire creativity and innovation within their teams by motivating others, leading by example and building trust.

Test your candidate’s creative mind with these questions:

• Q1: How would you promote our product to a new audience?
• Q2: How do you work new ideas into your strategies?
• Q3: What was your biggest eureka moment in your previous job?

A creative candidate shares examples of past ingenuity, provide rational justification for their ideas and explain clearly to their team how to implement those ideas to improve your business strategies.

Diplomatic

Whether it is in their dealings with clients, customers or their team, being diplomatic is a leadership trait that requires building relationships, demonstrating ethical leadership and ensuring alignment with the organisation’s values.

Interviewers can assess the candidate’s values by evaluating their integrity, ethical decision-making and the ability to uphold high standards of ethical conduct within the organisational culture.

These questions will help you to decide whether they have this important soft skill:

• Q1: How do you negotiate with clients?
• Q2: Have you ever persuaded a sceptical customer or client?
• Q3: How do you approach constructive feedback about an employee’s work?

A strong candidate will not use aggression to handle sensitive situations with clients or employees.

They know when to take charge of a situation and how to use tact to bring others on board in a pleasant and positive way.

Inspirational people manager

A good leader has excellent people management abilities and inspires others to achieve great things both on an individual level and for your business.

Their communication style is clear and fluent, assigning clear roles to each team member so that they know how to contribute to the overall team success effectively and create opportunities for individuals to shine.

Effective leaders also focus on employee development, delegating tasks based on individual strengths and setting clear expectations to improve individual and team performance.

Monitoring the team’s performance through key performance indicators (KPIs) and regular feedback is essential for effective leadership.

Consider asking your candidate these questions to find out if they are an inspiration to their team:

• Q1: How have you helped employees develop their skill set, such as through training courses?
• Q2: Your team does a great job on a project. How would you incentivise your team so that they do a great job on the next one?
• Q3: One of your employees is to be fired. How would you handle this conversation with the employee and the rest of your team and what exit interview questions would you consider asking to gain valuable feedback?

When assessing leadership ability, focus on candidates with experience training and developing staff. Also consider how they handle performance or disciplinary issues in a professional and fair manner. Strong leaders know when to take a supportive approach and when to be firm.

They use clear expectations and appropriate incentives to guide their team effectively.

Additional points to consider

Interview questions about leadership reveal a candidate’s personality and background, such as whether a candidate has the skills needed for a management or project leadership role.

When evaluating them, consider their ability to handle tough decisions and provide examples of leadership, including leading cross-functional teams.

It’s also important to assess emotional intelligence, such as empathy, self-awareness and the ability to manage emotions, as these build trust and a positive team environment.

Tough questions can give you insight into how candidates stay calm under pressure and make difficult decisions, demonstrating resilience and composure.

These are just some of the leadership qualities to consider, along with attributes such as goal-setting, communication and dependability.

An effective leader also has some of the following attributes:

• Goal-setting and planning
• Communication skills
• Delegation
• Dependability
• Integrity
• Self-awareness
• Ability to manage own emotions
• Strong decision-making skills

During an interview and your selection process, assess a candidate’s communication skills, leadership approach, team management and track record.

Targeted questions can reveal how they handle conflicts and whether they are firm yet diplomatic with employees.

For employees with leadership potential, encourage growth through shadowing or mentoring. Learning from your example helps them work independently and collaboratively. Recognising achievements and supporting development through challenging assignments is key to building strong leaders.

Knowing which questions to ask ensures you identify strong leaders from day one, regardless of their prior management experience.