Emotional Intelligence

► Are you aware of your limitations, as well as your personal strengths, as a leader?

► Are you usually aware of your feelings and why you feel that way?

► Can you adapt smoothly to changing realities?

► Can you guide a negotiation to a satisfactory agreement, and help settle conflicts?

► Can you usually sense the feelings of the people you interact with and understand their way of seeing things?

► Describe a difficult issue you had to deal with.

► Describe a time when understanding someone else's perspective helped you understand them better.

► Describe a time when you had to deliver difficult news.

► Describe the people in your team and discuss what they need and how they feel.

► Do you have a knack for persuasion and using your influence effectively?

► Do you keep your focus on your main goals, and know the steps it takes to get there?

► Do you work well on a team, or prefer to work on your own?

► How do you achieve work/life balance?

► How do you build relationships with people?

► How do you develop rapport with people?

► How do you handle multiple demands?

► How do you handle stressful situations?

► How do you measure success? What results do you achieve?

► How do you overcome obstacles and setbacks?

► How do you relax?

► How do you understand what your team members are feeling?

► How would your colleagues describe you?…tell me more

► Tell me about a time when you got angry. What did you do?

► Tell me about a time when you had a great success.

► Tell me about a time when you made a big mistake.

► Tell me about a time when you needed to influence someone.

► Tell me about a time when you received feedback.

► Tell me about some challenging goals you have set?

► Tell me about what you would do to gain respect as a new manager.

► Tell me about your strengths and your limitations.

► Tell me about yourself.

► Tell me how you build networks within your company.

► What do you do to stay up-to-date with industry developments?

► What do you do to understand someone else's behavior?

► What do you do when someone comes to you with a problem?

► What motivates you?

► When do you feel most under pressure?

► Why do you work?

► are passionate about their work.

► offer a variety of experiences and perspectives.

► interact well with others.

► listens to what is being said and then responds.

► are interested in continuing to develop their own social emotional intelligence skills as well as those of others.

► demonstrate non-verbal cues that match what is being said.

► model the core values of your culture.

► have the ability to focus on everyone in the interview process, not only the leader.

► talk about others in a positive light.

► to the best of your knowledge, answer the questions honestly.

► have the ability to work independently as well as with others.

► have the ability to be in control under stressful situations.

► Why is this role of interest to you?

► What results do you want to achieve?

► How will this role help you to achieve what you want?

► What do you consider to be a few of your strengths?

► Who is responsible for your results?

► What makes you laugh?

► When is the last time you were embarrassed?

► What happened? How did you handle the situation?

► What activities energize and excite you?

► How do you have fun?

► What are two personal habits that have served you well?

► How good are you at accepting help from others?

► How good are you at asking for help?

► What is one of the internal battles to have each day?

► What makes you angry?

► What aspect of your work you are passionate about?

► How could you create more balance in your life?

► Who inspires you? Why?

► On an "average day" would you consider yourself a high or low energy person?

► On an "average day" is your main focus on results and tasks or people and emotions?

► What is one of your weaknesses? How do you overcome that weakness?

► What motivates you to do your work?

► Describe a stressful work situation you've had. How did you resolve that situation?

► What are one or two things that make you angry or frustrated at work. What do you do when you get angry or frustrated at work?

► Tell me about a time when you received feedback on your performance and you disagreed with the feedback. How did you handle the situation?

► Tell me about a setback you had at work. How did you handle it?

► Describe a time when you made a big mistake at work. How did you handle the situation?

► Tell me about a time when you had to handle multiple work assignments at once. How did you feel? How did you handle the situation?

► Tell me about a time when you took on a task at work that you was new to you. How did you feel doing it?

► How would you handle a coworker who consistently does not pull his weight on group assignments?

► How do your colleagues benefit from working with you?

► Tell me about a time when you did or said something that had a positive impact on an employee, coworker, or customer.

► Have you ever noticed that someone at work was having a bad day? How did you know? What did you do?

► Tell me about a time when you had a dispute with a colleague. What did you do to deal with the situation?

► Describe a time when a colleague came to you with a problem. How did you respond?

► Tell me about a time when understanding someone else's perspective helped you accomplish a task or resolve an issue.

► Tell me about a time when you motivated someone to accomplish a task. How did you motivate him or her?

► Why is it important to develop a rapport with your colleagues?

► How do you build a rapport with your colleagues?

► Are you good at reading people?

► Are you charismatic? Can you give me an example?

► Can you tell me about a time you made a gut decision?

► How do you socially engage people who seem shy or distant?

► Why is eye contact important?

► Why is humor important?

► Can you tell me about a time you used humor to achieve a business result?

► Can you tell me about a time you had difficulty collaborating with someone?

► What is the key to motivating your team?

► You have an important meeting with your boss. You need to sell him/her an important idea. However, he/she seems to be in a bad mood. How do you handle situation?

► How do you recover from a bad first impression?

► How do you help a coworker who seems stressed out?

► Can you tell me about a time you facilitated the resolution of a conflict?

► Why is body language important?

► Can you give me an example of how body language can be used to communicate when you're giving a speech or presentation?

► Why do people resist change? Are you open to change?

► What's the most difficult professional criticism you've received? How did you handle it?

► How do you soften criticism?

► Can you tell me about the last time you criticized someone at work?

► Do people trust you? Why / why not?

► What techniques have you used to establish trust?

► What was the last time you inspired someone? How did you do it?

► Do most people like you? Why / why not?

► Is it possible to please everyone all the time? Why / why not?

► What steps do you take to build rapport with your coworkers?

► Do you have a strong sense of curiosity? If so, can you give me an example?

► How long can you focus on a task?

► Can you give me an example of a time you focused to achieve a result?

► Do you spend a lot of time thinking about work?

► How do you come up with creative ideas?

► Are you optimistic in your work? Can you give me an example?

► What's the difference between optimism and wishful thinking?

► Can you tell me about a time you collaborated with a difficult person?

► Are you assertive? If so, can you give me an example?

► Do you have an open mind? If so, can you give me an example?

► what you are looking for in an applicant.

► signs that indicate a "red flag," such as:

► ► criticizing others they have worked with.

► ► demonstrating poor social skills or impulse control in the interview.

► ► showing a lack of interest / preparation.

► ► treating others with disrespect.

► the hiring method you will use:

► ► Situational Interview: Interviewer provides a scenario and asks the applicant a series of questions on "how they would handle the situation."

► ► Behavioral Interview: Interviewer delves into the applicants past experiences and asks job specific questions. Example: "Tell me about a time when…"

Consciously or otherwise, we tend to model some of our behaviors after those we admire. Ask your interviewee to reflect on that. Is the object of their admiration a "people person," someone who inspires and encourages others, or more of a tactical thinker who's better left down in the weeds, working things out on their own? There are no categorically wrong answers here, and sometimes the person a candidate says they admire reflects attributes they wish they possessed, not those they do.

All this is useful to find out. Listen carefully, then dig further by asking if there's anything they've picked up from the person they admire. You can even ask whether there's anything about that person the interviewee doesn't like, in spite of the things they do.