Many employers look for natural leaders or candidates they see leadership potential in. They often ask questions to gauge a candidate’s leadership skills during an interview. A common question for interviewers to ask is “Are you a leader or a follower?” In this article, we discuss how to answer this question and provide examples of sample answers and tips for how to answer.
Why employers ask questions about leadership
Employers choose questions to learn more about how you and your qualifications align with the job requirements. They often ask leadership questions to determine how well you fit the requirements of a role and how you will work with the rest of their team. Employers may ask leadership-related questions for any type of job to evaluate your ability to be a leader at any level.Many employers look for a candidate who can lead a team just as well as they can follow directions from others. They often want candidates who are flexible, adaptable and willing to take on different roles based on the specific needs of the company or project. It’s important to show you have balanced experience with being a leader and a follower.Related: 7 Common Leadership Interview Questions and How To Answer Them
How to answer “Are you a leader or a follower?”
Here are some steps to help you prepare your answer to this question:
1. Think about your previous experiences
It’s important for you to share a past example with the interviewer. Reflect on your previous leadership experiences. While you may not have formal leadership experience as a manager or supervisor, you may have influenced your coworkers to act or respond in a certain way. It’s also important for you to think about times your ability to follow directions and listen to leaders helped your team achieve success.
2. Choose an example that a balance between leading and following
Identify an example of a time you showed characteristics of both a leader and a follower. Think about the choices you made and how the situation affected your decision to lead or follow. Consider how your flexibility affected the success of the project.
3. Explain how you see yourself
Begin your answer with how you see yourself. Tell the interviewer if you consider yourself to be more of a leader or follower and why. You may also answer the question that you view yourself as a leader or follower based on what the situation requires. If you consider yourself more of a follower, you may also consider expressing a desire to gain more leadership experience.You may also provide details about your personal leadership philosophy. For example, consider providing your approach to influencing others and your decision-making process. Talk about how you feel about dealing with changes or how you maintain an optimistic point of view.
4. Provide an answer using the STAR method
Provide the interviewer with a specific example about your previous experience. Consider using the STAR method. This method makes it easy for you to tell your story with clear details about a problem and how you helped solve it. A STAR response includes the:
- Situation: A brief description of the situation or challenge you faced
- Task: A brief description of your role in the situation and what you needed to achieve
- Action: A detailed explanation of the specific actions you took, highlighting the most impactful steps you took
- Result: A concise explanation of the results of your actions, including quantitative or tangible examples if possible and what you learned from the situation
Example answers for “Are you a leader or a follower?”
Here are some examples of answers to questions about your leadership skills to help you develop your own answer:
Example for a leader
“I consider myself to be a natural leader. I enjoy helping others learn new things, and, as a manager, it’s very satisfying to me to help my team develop their skills. However, I also strive to listen to the concerns and opinions of my team. I make it a priority to ensure they know how much I value their opinion.For example, our marketing agency typically works with construction companies. However, we signed a medical practice as a client for the first time. I received the client’s new website as a project, and my team included a new designer who previously worked as a marketing associate for a local hospital.I asked the designer to lead the project with me. I handled and planned the technical aspects of the project, and the designer provided details about how healthcare marketing differs from our traditional clients. We were able to complete the project on time, and it was one of our most successful website launches to date. In fact, the new website helped us sign more medical clients, and the agency now considers serving the healthcare industry as one of our specialties.”
Example for a follower
“Based on my experience working as a retail associate, I consider myself to be more of a follower. I enjoy being a part of a team, and I like knowing how I can contribute to a project to make it successful. However, a personal goal of mine is to develop my leadership skills. I try to look for opportunities to lead my coworkers in small ways.Our body care store often introduces new products. We have to learn about the products quickly so we can sell them to customers, but some people struggle with this. For example, every winter holiday season, they release a new line of themed fragrances and items.I noticed some seasonal employees struggling to learn more about the products. I created a chart comparing the new products to our standard products to provide them with suggestive selling advice and highlighting the most important notes of each fragrance. While on the sales floor, I would ask my coworkers if they had any product questions I could help answers. This helped my coworkers sell more of the limited time products, and we sold out of holiday items a week before Christmas.”
Example for leader and follower
“I like to think of myself as both a good leader and follower. I approach each situation differently, and I respond to what it needs from me. I enjoy leading projects that relate to my strengths, but I’m also happy to follow the lead of others who may be a better fit.For example, the current HR department at my company includes an HR manager and two generalists, including myself. Our company president assigned the department two big projects. We needed to rewrite the employee handbook and develop a new benefits package for our employees at the same time.I have more experience with benefits, so I volunteered to lead this project. My manager provided me with some previous research as a starting point, I provided her with weekly updates about my progress. I also provided the other generalist with feedback about her drafts of the handbook. Since we both worked on projects more related to our specialties, we were able to complete both projects in full two weeks before our deadline.”Related: 12 Tough Interview Questions and Answers
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Tips for how to answer “Are you a leader or a follower?”
Here are some tips to help you discuss your ability to lead or follow:
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- Be confident in your answer.
- Create an answer that discusses a time when you both led and followed.
- Show your ability to be decisive.
- Highlight skills you have that contribute to being a successful leader and follower.
- Show you understand the right times to be a leader or a follower.
- Tailor your answer to the job requirements.
- Prepare your answer in advance.
- Practice your answer in the mirror.
- Consider recording and reviewing your practice interview questions.
- Include a logical justification in your answer.
- Be humble and honest about your experiences.
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