Do you have a leadership skills list? Do you have what it takes to not only successfully completely your online MSMPP degree but then excel in the field itself? Your online MSMPP program can teach you all the logistics, but leadership skills are highly valuable in this field, and that may be an area school isn’t able to help you with. Either way, you should improve your leadership skills list.

Check out our thoughts on team leverage.

If you are planning a career in the field of project management, it’s never too early to start working on and developing your leadership skills. You will need these to manage your team and come across as a strong and confident leader. Here are some tips you may want to use to start improving your leadership skills.

Improve Your Listening Skills

As a leader, people often think about giving direction. While this is true, being a good and strong leader also means being able to listen to your team, co-workers, and the client. If you aren’t hearing the information that is being given to you, then you won’t be able to complete the project efficiently.

Listening is more than just closing your mouth; it means you are shutting out any and all distractions, you are making eye contact with the person who is talking, and you respond when it is appropriate in the conversation. You don’t have to wait until you’re managing a major project to practice this skill; you can practice immediately with friends, family, and anyone.

Improve your leadership skills list … Be Confident and Take Initiative

Another skill that a good leader need are to be able to take the initiative in a confident manner. You need to believe in yourself and trust that you can assume the project. Taking the first step can be scary, but a leader forges ahead and does it. Taking the initiative can also mean you go the extra mile, work longer hours, put in that extra effort, etc. Again this is something you can work on in your everyday life. In fact, you can apply this approach to your studies.

Give Credit and Identify the Positives

No-one wants to work for the leader who is always harping about all the negatives. A good leader should be one that focuses on the positives and then finds ways to improve on other areas. This will help to motivate staff so feel as though they will succeed. If you only point out the negatives, they will wonder if there’s a point in trying since you only see what has gone wrong.

This is another area you can start to practice in your everyday life. Start looking for the positives in your day, and then you can think about the little things that you could improve. At least you are pumped up from the positives.

Leadership skills list … Self-Awareness is Key

As you work on becoming a stronger and more effective leader, keep in mind that self-awareness is important. It’s okay to admit there are areas you need to work on, as this will allow you to become stronger. These kinds of skills won’t just help you in the workplace, but in your everyday life as well.

Customer engagement improvements are worth the effort.

Need some help in capturing more improvements for your staff’s leadership, teamwork and collaboration? Creative ideas in running or facilitating a team or leadership workshop?

Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.

Call Mike at 607-725-8240.

All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.

When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.

Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.

Are you devoting enough energy innovating your social media strategyg?

Do you have a lesson about making your advertising better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?

Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed how reasonable we will be.

More leadership material from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:

Build an Effective Team by Being a Talent Hound

Success Enablers of Highly Creative Leaders

Secrets to Becoming a Remarkably Mindful Leader

Leadership Characteristics That Improve Influence

Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.

We believe that one of the most difficult, yet most important elements of any business is the hiring process. You need to be very good at hearing what isn’t being said, as Peter Drucker says. The message is simple … some people are better than other people. More importantly, some people are a heck of a lot better than other people. So it is crucial you know the most effective interview questions to uncover the candidate qualities you are most looking for.

Check out our thoughts on team leverage.

The most important thing in communications is to hear what isn’t being said.

Peter Drucker

Can you remember the most unusual interview question you ever received? We would love to hear it. Please share in the comments section below.

During the hiring process, you really must take into consideration many candidate behaviors, attitudes, and strengths. Even the person who is talented, sometimes they don’t have the right personality and team chemistry to add to your team. So you need to discover those also.

Each year, Google gets over 2.5 million applicants. That’s equal to 6,849 per day and about 5 per minute – and Google reviews each one. Don Dodge, a current Google employee shows how thorough Google is with each applicant. What’s not important is the logistics of each hire, but why they hire this way and what we can learn from it. Because it’s the people that make Google what they are today.

When you get interviewed at Google, you’ll receive questions like:

“How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?”

“There are 8 balls. Seven of them weigh the same, but one is heavier. Using a balance scale, how do you find the heavier ball with just two weighings?”

“You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and your mass is proportionally reduced so as to maintain your original density. You are then thrown into an empty glass blender. The blades will start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?”

Google says the answer isn’t as important as your thought process and how you think under pressure. The worst possible answer would be a non-answer. Quickly saying “I don’t know” won’t get you a job at Google.

These interview questions may seem unnecessary to some, but they are one method Google uses to filter and find the smartest, most thoughtful candidates. If you want to run an extraordinary company, you need to hire extraordinary people. And to do that, you need to be very good at hiring and firing.

Here is an excellent short video on recruiting tips.

In any job interview, it can be hard to get past stock responses and gain real insight into a candidate. But if you think of oddball queries you can find opportunities to demonstrate their thought process, to communicate their values and character, and to show the prospective employer how they perform under pressure. Often the best questions are those that ask how they behaved in the past because past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.

We will use the following 10 behaviors, attitudes and strengths that we are looking to hire in our client businesses and show you what interview questions work best in our experience to uncover these qualities.

Interview questions … the best lead-in questions

Can you tell me about yourself?

This is always a good introductory question. Ask and then don’t say another thing until they are done. What they actually say is not critical, but how they answer this question is.

Do they focus on personal or professional details? How do they see themselves? Does this view fit into the culture of the company?

What circumstance brings you here today?

This is one of the best opening interview questions ever in our opinion. This open-ended question surprises many candidates. If they do not respond quickly, just sit quietly and wait for the response.

Some candidates reveal problems with their current employer, potential insubordination, and both positive or negative character traits.

Why do you want to work for our company/organization?

Not having an answer is a good way to cross off the candidate, and is a common pet peeve of interviewers.

Judgment

How Would You Solve. . .

Test them. In a professional setting, these are typically hypothetical judgment situations or ones that have actually occurred at the company. They should demonstrate job-specific problem-solving skills.

Don’t be afraid to ask them to solve problems they would face in the first month of their job at the actual interview.

Interview questions for employers … different

What unique experience or qualifications separate you from other candidates?

Some candidates have interesting characteristics and experiences that will not be exposed without asking a question like this.

Team oriented

How would a previous job team member describe you?

In most cases, the response to this question indicates how the candidate wants you to feel they are perceived by team members and friends. Take notes on the response and then ask, “May I call your best friend and see how they describe you?”

You may or may not be interested in talking to them. However, the response and body language after the follow-up question can indicate if you received a truthful response. Asking this question near the beginning of the interview helps you get truthful responses for the rest of your time with the candidate.

Results focused

Tell me about your crowning achievement.

That question not only tells you what energizes the applicant but also helps you figure out if their interests and passions align with yours.

Change agent

What was a major obstacle you were able to overcome in the past year?

Problem-solving is the major topic covered by this question. What kind of thinker is this candidate? What do they tell you about change?

Can they do projects on their own or does their manager need to hold their hand? It also confirms how determined they can be toward a project.

Creative spirit

Describe yourself in one word?

The best candidates are the ones who know exactly who they are. That’s why it’s good to ask candidates to describe themselves in just one word.

Don’t judge people on the word they choose, but consider the insight the answer gives into their creative spirit. Pay attention to whether the candidates ponder the question to answer most thoughtfully.

Not afraid to fail

Tell me about your failures.

A good answer to this question is important because it means that the candidate isn’t afraid of taking risks and will admit when things don’t work out.

People always like to tell you about their successes, but they don’t always want to tell you what didn’t work out well.

Take initiative

How will you contribute to the company?

This will highlight their goals for the specific job and which of their skills would be most beneficial for the company. It also will tell you how they see themselves as part of a team. It will also give you insights into their ability to take initiatives.

Remember, their goals should match the company. When they deviate, employees leave.

Effective interview questions … passionate

What is your ideal job?

This question will help you determine whether or not the person is suitable for the open job.

It also reveals what their passions and strengths are.

Motivated by continuous learning

Tell me about two memorable projects, one success, and one failure. To what do you attribute the success and failure?

Asking these questions helps determine the candidate’s ability to learn from successes and failures.

So if you could ask job candidates only one question, what would be most telling and effective in your opinion?

Need some help in capturing more improvements in your staff’s leadership, teamwork, and collaboration? Creative ideas in running or facilitating a team or leadership workshop?

Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.

Call Mike at 607-725-8240.

All you get is what you bring to the fight. And this struggle gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.

When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.

Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.

Are you devoting enough energy to innovating your social media strategy?

Do you have a lesson about making your advertising better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?

Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he writes about topics that relate to improving the performance of the business.

Go to Amazon to obtain a copy of his latest book, Exploring New Age Marketing. It focuses on using the best examples to teach new age marketing … lots to learn. Find him on Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.

Improve Your Listening Skills

Improve your leadership skills list … Be Confident and Take Initiative

Give Credit and Identify the Positives

Leadership skills list … Self-Awareness is Key

Need some help in capturing more improvements for your staff’s leadership, teamwork and collaboration? Creative ideas in running or facilitating a team or leadership workshop?

Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.

Call Mike at 607-725-8240.

All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.

When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.

Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.

Are you devoting enough energy innovating your social media strategyg?

Do you have a lesson about making your advertising better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?

Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed how reasonable we will be.

More leadership material from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:

Build an Effective Team by Being a Talent Hound

Success Enablers of Highly Creative Leaders

Secrets to Becoming a Remarkably Mindful Leader

Leadership Characteristics That Improve Influence

Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.

Check out our thoughts on team leverage.

The most important thing in communications is to hear what isn’t being said.

Peter Drucker

Can you remember the most unusual interview question you ever received? We would love to hear it. Please share in the comments section below.

During the hiring process, you really must take into consideration many candidate behaviors, attitudes, and strengths. Even the person who is talented, sometimes they don’t have the right personality and team chemistry to add to your team. So you need to discover those also.

When you get interviewed at Google, you’ll receive questions like:

“How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?”

“There are 8 balls. Seven of them weigh the same, but one is heavier. Using a balance scale, how do you find the heavier ball with just two weighings?”

“You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and your mass is proportionally reduced so as to maintain your original density. You are then thrown into an empty glass blender. The blades will start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?”

Google says the answer isn’t as important as your thought process and how you think under pressure. The worst possible answer would be a non-answer. Quickly saying “I don’t know” won’t get you a job at Google.

These interview questions may seem unnecessary to some, but they are one method Google uses to filter and find the smartest, most thoughtful candidates. If you want to run an extraordinary company, you need to hire extraordinary people. And to do that, you need to be very good at hiring and firing.

Here is an excellent short video on recruiting tips.

Related post: Leadership Characteristics that Improve Influence

We will use the following 10 behaviors, attitudes and strengths that we are looking to hire in our client businesses and show you what interview questions work best in our experience to uncover these qualities.

Interview questions … the best lead-in questions

Can you tell me about yourself?

This is always a good introductory question. Ask and then don’t say another thing until they are done. What they actually say is not critical, but how they answer this question is.

Do they focus on personal or professional details? How do they see themselves? Does this view fit into the culture of the company?

What circumstance brings you here today?

This is one of the best opening interview questions ever in our opinion. This open-ended question surprises many candidates. If they do not respond quickly, just sit quietly and wait for the response.

Some candidates reveal problems with their current employer, potential insubordination, and both positive or negative character traits.

Why do you want to work for our company/organization?

Not having an answer is a good way to cross off the candidate, and is a common pet peeve of interviewers.

Judgment

How Would You Solve. . .

Test them. In a professional setting, these are typically hypothetical judgment situations or ones that have actually occurred at the company. They should demonstrate job-specific problem-solving skills.

Don’t be afraid to ask them to solve problems they would face in the first month of their job at the actual interview.

Interview questions for employers … different

What unique experience or qualifications separate you from other candidates?

Some candidates have interesting characteristics and experiences that will not be exposed without asking a question like this.

Team oriented

How would a previous job team member describe you?

In most cases, the response to this question indicates how the candidate wants you to feel they are perceived by team members and friends. Take notes on the response and then ask, “May I call your best friend and see how they describe you?”

Results focused

Tell me about your crowning achievement.

That question not only tells you what energizes the applicant but also helps you figure out if their interests and passions align with yours.

Change agent

What was a major obstacle you were able to overcome in the past year?

Problem-solving is the major topic covered by this question. What kind of thinker is this candidate? What do they tell you about change?

Can they do projects on their own or does their manager need to hold their hand? It also confirms how determined they can be toward a project.

Creative spirit

Describe yourself in one word?

Don’t judge people on the word they choose, but consider the insight the answer gives into their creative spirit. Pay attention to whether the candidates ponder the question to answer most thoughtfully.

Not afraid to fail

Tell me about your failures.

A good answer to this question is important because it means that the candidate isn’t afraid of taking risks and will admit when things don’t work out.

People always like to tell you about their successes, but they don’t always want to tell you what didn’t work out well.

Take initiative

How will you contribute to the company?

This will highlight their goals for the specific job and which of their skills would be most beneficial for the company. It also will tell you how they see themselves as part of a team. It will also give you insights into their ability to take initiatives.

Remember, their goals should match the company. When they deviate, employees leave.

Effective interview questions … passionate

What is your ideal job?

This question will help you determine whether or not the person is suitable for the open job.

It also reveals what their passions and strengths are.

Motivated by continuous learning

Tell me about two memorable projects, one success, and one failure. To what do you attribute the success and failure?

Asking these questions helps determine the candidate’s ability to learn from successes and failures.

So if you could ask job candidates only one question, what would be most telling and effective in your opinion?

Need some help in capturing more improvements in your staff’s leadership, teamwork, and collaboration? Creative ideas in running or facilitating a team or leadership workshop?

Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.