Hello there, my name is Richard McMunn from the interview training company, PassMyInterview.com.
And in this tutorial, I am going to teach you how to pass a strategic leadership interview.
If you have any kind of strategic leadership or management interview coming up with any
company whatsoever, please make sure you stay tuned and watch his presentation fully from
beginning to end, because I promise to help make you the STANDOUT CANDIDATE. To achieve
that goal, this is what I will cover. I am going to give you a list of strategic leadership
interview questions that I strongly recommend you prepare for. I will give you SUGGESTED
ANSWERS to all of the questions to help you succeed. I will give you some BRILLIANT TIPS
on how to be the standout candidate at your strategic leadership or management job interview.
And finally, I will tell you where you can get access to FURTHER RESOURCES, including
these slides, to help you pass your interview. There’s 4 really strong reasons why you
should stay tuned and watch this presentation fully from beginning to end. Now, just very
quickly, before I get into the strategic leadership interview questions and top-scoring answers,
a very warm welcome to this presentation. My name is Richard McMunn. That is me there
in the center of the screen. I am a former Fire Officer of 17 years and since then, I've
been helping people to successfully pass their interviews. I always do that by giving you
top-scoring answers you cannot find anywhere else. On that basis, please MAKE SURE YOU
SUBSCRIBE to the channel, so you don't miss out on any of the weekly training videos I
upload. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn.com. I've put my LinkedIn link in the description
below the video, and it's always great to connect with like-minded leaders and professionals.
And finally, please do make sure you GIVE THE VIDEO A LIKE. By doing so, that tells
me you enjoy the content and I therefore know it's worthwhile me creating more for you.
Thank you very much. So, the first question that we need to prepare for is: Tell me about
yourself and the skills and qualities you can bring to this strategic leadership role?
Now, my tip for answering this correctly is, strategic level roles require an entirely
different level of skill set and competence. Therefore, in your answer show, you are someone
who can lead through vision, innovation, courage and creativity. Here is my suggested answer
to the interview question, tell me about yourself, the skills and qualities you can bring to
this strategic leadership role? “I am leader who always focuses my work on the long-term
vision and objectives of the organization. I am very passionate about my work and others
have often described me as a dedicated leader who can not only get the most out of people,
but who always ensures everyone within a team takes full responsibility for their actions
and for ensuring we all work towards our goals. I can bring confidence, and many years’
experience managing and leading projects and teams. I am an articulate communicator and
delegator and someone who is not just self-aware, but aware of how the work we do needs to be
socially responsible and in line with the needs and expectations of your customers and
your client base. If you hire me within this strategic role, you have my guarantee I will
be one hundred percent committed, one hundred percent of the time. I promise to deliver
on all of my projects and objectives to ensure the organization continually grows and develops
well into the future.” That is a very positive, in-depth and strong answer to that first strategic
leadership interview question. You can either pause the video and take notes if you want
to as I progress, however, if you wait, I will tell you where you can download my full
set of 22 Strategic Leadership and Management Interview Questions and Top Scoring Answers,
including the ones we are working through together today. The next question that I want
you to prepare for is, why do you want to work for us in this strategic level role?
They want to hear that you have researched their organization and that you have genuine
and valid reasons for wanting to work there. Strategy level roles require a unique set
of skills. The company wants to be 100 percent sure you can perform highly within the position
and that you are likely to stay with them for a long period of time. Here is my suggested
answer to the interview question, why do you want to work for us in this strategic leadership
role? “For anyone who works in strategy or strategic leadership roles, it’s very
important you choose your employer carefully. Strategic leadership and management requires
a specific level of thinking and action taking, and to achieve your goals, you must have a
supportive, innovative and forward-thinking employer. I spent considerable time researching
you online, and also speaking to others within the industry. They had nothing but positive
things to say about you. Your reputation is excellent, you employ some very bright and
talented people, and this is somewhere I feel I will not only be able to make an immediate
and positive impact, but I will be able to stay here for many years to come within the
role." That is another really great answer. And it shows that you have researched the
company, but you will also have genuine and valid reasons why you want to work that work
for them. And your intent is that you want to stay there for a long period of time, which
I believe is important. The next question. This is a tough one. Give me an example of
a great product or service that was marketed extremely well? Now, if you are sat there
in your strategic interview and you get asked this question, which does come up quite often,
by the way, then you really have to think on your feet! The majority of people will
not be able to answer this question, or they will answer it poorly. Now, working within
any type of strategic leadership or management role requires you to observe and learn from
others who have achieved great things. This is a difficult question to answer, but here's
a brilliant response to help you. This is how I would answer this question. “I would
say perhaps one of the best marketed products were the Beats headphones developed and created
by Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine. The Beats headphones are a fantastic product, but the way the pair
utilized the power of celebrity and social media to market the product at the time, was
ingenious. By giving music stars and celebrities they had worked with free headphones to wear
during television interviews helped to create a buzz around the product and it also enabled
them to gain free marketing exposure at the same time. When marketing great products or
services we often think we need to spend a fortune on advertising, when in fact a little
bit of creative thinking can help you to achieve outstanding results.” That is a very good
answer! And you will be the only person who gives that specific example. But what I also
like about it is you are giving an example of a brilliant product that was marketed so
well. The advertising spend was near to zero and that shows that you are financially astute,
which is important. Now, don't go anywhere because I still have more questions and answers
to work through with you. But when you are ready, if you want to CLICK THAT LINK in the
top-right hand corner of the video, it will take you through to my website, PassMyInterview.com,
where you can download my full set of 22 Strategic Leadership Interview Questions and Top-scoring
Answers, including the ones we are working through together right now! The next question,
what do you consider when creating or developing a specific strategic plan? Your ability to
successfully deliver challenging strategic projects will form a core element of your
role. Therefore, we need to understand the different elements of creating strategic plans
prior to attending our interview. My advice is to break your answer down into specific
steps. Here is a great simple answer to help you. “I would always utilize a tried-and-tested
5-step process for creating a solid strategic plan. STEP 1 would be to define the OBJECTIVE
and the VISION. I need to know what the end goal or result looks like. This will then
enable me to write a VISION STATEMENT. STEP 2 is where I will create a MISSION STATEMENT
document. The mission statement will include our target audience, what makes us different
and the product or services we want to develop to get us there. STEP 3 will be to then perform
a GAP ANALYSIS. The gap analysis will help us to determine the skills and resources we
need to meet our objectives and realize our vision. STEP 4 is where I would set SMART
goals. The goals we have will need to be specific, measurable, actionable, results-based and
timely. Finally, STEP 5 is where we will MONITOR PROGRESS to make sure we are on track to achieve
our strategic goals.” That is a very good answer because you are breaking it down into
specific steps, which is a brilliant trait to have as a strategic leader, using steps
and shows that you are following a tried and tested process. But you also have clarity
in action, which is very important. The next question is: What are the biggest challenges
our business will face in the future? This is a difficult question! Right now, there
are a set number of challenges facing all businesses. Within your answer show you can
think strategically and that you have a plan in place for meeting the demands of the challenges
you will face in your role. Here's my suggested answer to that interview question: What are
the biggest challenges our business will face in the future? Here we go. “There will be
many challenges but none that are insurmountable. Meeting the needs of your customers and clients
will be a constant challenge and it will be important we stay ahead of the curve in relation
to consumer demand. The digital economy will be one we have to continually embrace, and
we need to also ensure the work we do is socially and economically responsible. Other challenges
include financial responsibility and making sure the business is profitable and sustainable.
We will also have the challenge of making sure we are able to attract, recruit and retain
talented individuals to help us achieve our goals. Finally, we will have to make sure
we meet all relevant regulations and compliance protocols that encompass the industry. I am
somebody who enjoys rising to challenges and more importantly I always ensure my team or
department are fully prepared for those challenges well in advance of them actually impacting
the organization.” So that shows that you are strategic in your thinking. You are aware
of the different challenges that you will face in the role, but more importantly, you
are prepared for them. The next question, give me an example of a company that has been
disruptive in its market? This is another very difficult question. Now, strategic leaders
need to be innovative and creative. This tough strategic interview question is designed to
put you on the spot and assess whether you are aware of any businesses that have led
through disruptive creativeness and innovation. Here's my own suggested answer to help you.
“A couple of companies immediately spring to mind. Tesla has been highly disruptive
in its manufacturing of electric cars. To be effective within such an industry takes
courage, determination, a constant desire to improve and an element of risk-taking.
Tesla have been formidable at leading the way in accelerating the world's transition
to sustainable energy. Another disruptive and innovative business is Tinder – again,
the app-based company has come into a highly competitive market and turned it upside down
by creating a simple, fast and easy-to-use app that takes the pain out of online dating.
Most web-based dating services require lengthy registration processes and it can take a long
time to meet somebody, who is often not compatible with you. When it was first launched, Tinder
allowed people to instantly connect with and meet people in their surrounding location
and it was very easy and fast to use.” What I like about our answer, you are giving to
entirely different companies who are disruptive in a great way. They've come in to challenging
situations and effectively turned the market upside down, creating brilliant products that
are based on the needs and demands of their customers. And you are also explaining WHY
they have been disruptive and innovative in their approach to business. Two really good
examples there. Those are the examples I would use. The next thing to do is please do make
sure you CLICK THAT LINK in the top right-hand corner of the video. Go through to my website,
PassMyInterview.com. Take a look at all of the strategic leadership interview questions
on that page that I recommend you prepare for. There are 22 in total. I've also put
on that page 5 really important tips, additional tips that I recommend you read that will help
you succeed at your interview. I hope you enjoyed that! Please don't forget to SUBSCRIBE.
Connect with me on LinkedIn.com and also, more importantly, GIVE THE VIDEO I LIKE. Thank
you very much. A lot of hard work goes into creating these videos for you and just by
liking the video, it shows me that you find them worthwhile. Thank you very much for watching
and subscribing, and I wish you all the best for parsing your strategic leadership interview.
Have a brilliant day!