The MBA admissions team frequently asks about your style of leadership. The 3 Examples are often cited by clients in our Mock Interview Service. They often work but work only if you have a similar background as the profile:
1) Empowering the Team – Business Owners
If you are an entrepreneur, a small business owner, or part of a family business legacy, empowering the team to find their optimum skills to support the organization’s goal is one common leadership style narrative that I have heard. The incentives are often around flexible working hours, work from home, maternity/paternity leave, skill development with certification, and other career transition incentives. For example, one of my clients shared how he empowered a person who has been working in accounting for 5-10 years to transition into Product Development by sponsoring a course conducted by a top Business School. The employee ended the tenure with the client’s company but continues to source close to 3% of the talent leads to the organization in the Accounting function. The value in the narrative is not just around altruism or human decency. The return is often highlighted by the candidate.
2) Consensus Building – Traditional Company
I have heard many examples of empowering teams from applicants who might not have the power to fund the incentives. That immediately raises question marks on the credibility of your profile. A better example is consensus building. If you are in a team lead role or have significant autonomy, like in a Finance role, a better believable story is around consensus building. The narrative should have at least a person who didn’t agree with your ideas. And the person should have more influence in your organization. Without some challenges to your ideas and how you navigated them with evidence or a strategy or built consensus outside to influence the person’s opinion or something very specific to your industry, you will find it hard to build the case for your leadership style.
3) Experimental/Disruptive – Entrepreneurial Culture
Your leadership style could be an extension of the company culture. One common leadership narrative is around breaking things and figuring them out against all conventions. These are processes and mindsets that have led to many innovations. If you are working in the technology industry or any startup with tech integration where the evolution of technology is at a breathtaking speed, such a leadership style would make sense. But keep in mind that the interviewer might not be fully aware of what goes on in such a culture. You have to offer the right context to highlight an experimental leadership style.