When hiring for a senior-level position in your organization, it’s crucial to ask questions to assess leadership skills. A great leader not only trains their employees well but motivates them to excel in their job roles.

Being a leader is not an easy job, and you should look for someone with good leadership skills to manage the team. By hiring great leaders, you can add value to your company and welcome new ideas.

However, most recruiters often wonder about what questions to ask candidates to assess their leadership skills. If you’re the one – struggling to create a list of questions to assess the leadership skills of a candidate, then we’ve got you covered. This article will discuss some of the best leadership skills questions to ask a candidate during an interview.

By asking leadership questions, you can easily get insight into the candidate’s way of working. It will help you assess whether the candidate matches your office requirements or not.

You must ask leadership questions to understand the following:

• How a candidate can help achieve desired business goals
• How a candidate makes right business decisions
• How does a candidate approach challenges and handle the workload
• How a candidate motivates their team

A great leader will tend to show commitment to their job and overcome challenges promptly.

No matter if you're hiring for a senior-level position or entry-level role, the below questions to assess the leadership skills of a candidate will give you a clear picture of the candidate’s personality and how they will help your business reach its goals.

Why Are You Leaving Your Current Employer?

This is one of the essential questions to ask a candidate to know the exact reason behind leaving their current organization. It will help you get a deep insight into the candidate’s preferred workspace and way of working. If a candidate complains about managerial differences and co-workers, then it’s a big no-no. You must move on to other qualified candidates.

According To You, What Are The Essential Leadership Skills?

Leadership skills are crucial for every job role, but certain skills will be more helpful in critical situations. This question will allow the candidate to define leadership skills in their own words. You can expect the candidate to define leadership skills with qualities such as patience, positivity, reliability, motivation, and active listening.

What Difficult Decision Have You Ever Made As A Leader?

A great leader knows what works best for their organization. The way candidates answer this question will reveal their soft skills, such as problem-solving skills, communication skills, decision-making skills, and creative thinking skills. You can expect a candidate to use their experience as a lesson to achieve the desired business goals in the future.

How Do You Manage To Deliver Projects Within The Deadline?

Being a leader is not an easy job. Candidates have to manage their team and ensure that the project is delivered on time. This is one of the best questions to assess leadership skills, and you will get a clear picture of the candidate’s time management and organization skills. You can expect a candidate to describe the results of your process to show they can lead a team in completing crucial tasks.

How Did You Overcome Challenges?

A leader’s job can become hectic when managing the team despite setbacks like miscommunication, limited resources, and work overload. This question will help you assess the problem-solving skills and how candidates recognize a challenge and make strategies to overcome it. Additionally, if a candidate discusses how to overcome challenges, you’re interviewing the right person.

So, what are the essential leadership skills you must look for in a candidate?

Communication Skills

First and foremost, the most important skill to look for in a candidate is communication skills. A candidate must communicate issues, solve problems, and discuss future goals with the employees. A leader will also have to conduct meetings with clients and give persuasive presentations.

Motivation

Apart from being a good communicator, a leader must have the skills to motivate their team to go the extra mile to achieve the desired business goals. Creating a positive work environment and providing a team with the best resources are vital to maintaining high motivation.

Creativity

Every organization looks for candidates who can handle all situations in a creative manner. A leader must have excellent problem-solving skills and creative skills to overcome challenges in a cost-effective way.

Time-Management Skills

Regardless of the job role, every candidate must possess time-management skills to deliver the work on time. A leader’s job isn’t just to handle their team. They need to ensure that there are no delays in the project and easily manage timelines and schedules. Providing realistic deadlines and communicating with the team early is a must-have skill for every leader.

Delegation

An ideal leader will know that delegating work is the vital ingredient to achieve desired business goals. Knowing when to delegate work also indicates that the leader can identify the strengths and weaknesses of their colleagues. A great leader will use resources and performance to ensure that the work is completed on time.

Decisiveness

A quality leader must have the ability to make quick and informed business decisions. A candidate must provide all the answers to the queries and ensure that the schedules are not disrupted.

Responsibility

A leader is responsible for both failures and success in an organization. An ideal candidate must have the right skills to take control of the actions of yourself and your team and be willing to accept blame and seek solutions.

Asking the right questions to leaders will give you a real sense of their soft skills and what they can bring to your organization. Always look for a candidate who can help you achieve your desired business goals and not just the person with the right skills and experience.

The above-mentioned essential questions to assess leadership skills will help you hire a strong leader for your organization.