How To Ask About Team Building Leadership Skills In An Interview

I am a member of the screening committee in a public school system to find the new Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction. This person must have a particular skill set, educational level, and appropriate certifications. There are a lot of people with those qualifications. But, in this arena, we need a person who demonstrates strong leadership (not necessarily dogmatic management) to create a cohesive curriculum and administrative team to bring our school district into the 21st century. I am looking for some good interview questions that will help us find a person who believes in teams and the power of teams. Suggestions???

The Team Doc Says…

Congratulations for recognizing the need to address team building in the job interview.

You should begin by figuring out what competencies — skills, abilities, and behaviors — you are looking for in this individual. It will help you determine what questions to ask. Then as you form your questions, make sure you relate them to the competency and also identify the type of answer you are looking for. It will help your interview panel.

Here are some sites that contain good interview question samples. These can be adapted to meet the needs of your team.

• Teamwork Interview Questions from About.com
• Interpersonal Skills Interview Questions from JobBankUSA.com
• Leadership Interview Questions from JobBankUSA.com

This should get you started. Good luck and let me know how this works out for you.