Leadership – Winning Answer:
“I strongly believe I am a good leader. I was selected as a programme officer for the volunteering programme of an intergovernmental organisation. I achieved this because I managed to integrate the programme into the work of many organisational agencies that had not usually paid attention to the virtues and potential of the programme. My profile was featured on the programme’s website. Also, I managed to bring onside that could have resisted my study of a national council (an assessment report with organisational and institutional recommendations on transparency, accountability and participation). I managed to build trust because I participated in the work and life of the council, its management meetings, projects and rendezvous, just as any other staff member would. I steered the TAP (Transparency, Accountability & Participation) Council Committee (composed of council staff and councillors) and insisted on how important was to undertake the mentioned research. I presented the ‘findings’ and suggestions in a council open doors session with hundreds of attendees. The council leader has since then told me he has put to good use my recommendations. They have helped him determine the capacity development needs of his staff approach donors and central government for advocacy on the decentralisation process. I tried to ensure a successful outcome by being humble, working with the team members, showing I was interested in what everybody had to say and showing I was there to learn. I also pointed out what I saw and made suggestions for improvement.”
Feedback from Senior Civil Service Recruiter:
The candidate started their evidence with a very bold statement: “I strongly believe I am a good leader.” If you are going to include a strong positive statement in your evidence, you do then need to provide evidence to back this up. This is what the candidate has done, by making the situation and task brief very clear throughout the evidence they provided. There’s a great use of the STAR model in this example. In addition, the candidate understood what the behaviour was about by providing evidence.
