“Based on my experience working as a retail associate, I consider myself to be more of a follower. I enjoy being a part of a team, and I like knowing how I can contribute to a project to make it successful. However, a personal goal of mine is to develop my leadership skills. I try to look for opportunities to lead my coworkers in small ways.Our body care store often introduces new products. We have to learn about the products quickly so we can sell them to customers, but some people struggle with this. For example, every winter holiday season, they release a new line of themed fragrances and items.I noticed some seasonal employees struggling to learn more about the products. I created a chart comparing the new products to our standard products to provide them with suggestive selling advice and highlighting the most important notes of each fragrance. While on the sales floor, I would ask my coworkers if they had any product questions I could help answers. This helped my coworkers sell more of the limited time products, and we sold out of holiday items a week before Christmas.”
Example for leader and follower
“I like to think of myself as both a good leader and follower. I approach each situation differently, and I respond to what it needs from me. I enjoy leading projects that relate to my strengths, but I’m also happy to follow the lead of others who may be a better fit.For example, the current HR department at my company includes an HR manager and two generalists, including myself. Our company president assigned the department two big projects. We needed to rewrite the employee handbook and develop a new benefits package for our employees at the same time.I have more experience with benefits, so I volunteered to lead this project. My manager provided me with some previous research as a starting point, I provided her with weekly updates about my progress. I also provided the other generalist with feedback about her drafts of the handbook. Since we both worked on projects more related to our specialties, we were able to complete both projects in full two weeks before our deadline.”Related: 12 Tough Interview Questions and Answers
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