If you are due to go for an interview for a job that involves managing staff then it will help you to know what the top leadership interview questions are.
Although they may vary in the way they are presented, the following theme is the ones that employers tend to concentrate on when trying to find out if you have the leadership qualities they desire.
Motivation
How do your motivate staff? This is a very important question because especially in today's economic climate, it is important to know how to motivate people and get the best out of them without the advantage of monetary awards. Gone are the days when you could rely on good old fashioned bonus payments or the promise of a pay rise if someone did a good job for you or worked particularly hard. These days we have to be more inventive and this is where your leadership skills come into play.
Think about how you would encourage others to do what was needed faster, more efficiently and without any financial recognition. This all comes down to making people feel good about themselves and it is important that you do not underestimate the value of praise, regular feedback and genuine appreciation for a good job done. If you can come up with a few examples of how you have used these techniques to continue to motivate people you will be able to provide a solid answer for the interviewer.
Of course this approach works best in a small company or organisation where it is possible to acknowledge good performance face to face. But in a larger organisation you may have to adopt a different approach. So if the job you are being interviewed for has more than 20 employees then you may have to have a more structured idea up your sleeve to talk about in your interview.
Staff recognition awards are popular and can be presented in the form of 'best salesperson/ customer service rep/improver' or any other title you feel is appropriate. To make a scheme like this work, you will need to ensure that it is sufficiently high profile for the awardees to be proud to receive it. This may mean having some kind of award ceremony on a regular basis or having an incentive to accompany it such as a long lunch break.
Whatever you decide on - it is important that you can demonstrate to your potential employer that you have thought things through and can come up with a strategy to make it happen. There are many more leadership interview questions that you could be asked but this is certainly one of the most important.