This is the type of slightly left field question that some organisations have been using during interviews. It seems to be more prevalent at the moment – maybe it’s an attempt to make a particular organisation appear more interesting and memorable... there’s at least one business school using an ‘animal’ theme as the basis of their current advertising campaign to attract students.
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Organisations may be choosing to use this type of question to further understand an individual’s self awareness in terms their personal characteristics - possibly as an alternative to ‘stock’ competency based questions - perhaps as an antidote to the boredom of having to listen to well rehearsed answers which greater resemble the organisation’s competency framework than the interviewee’s individual attributes.
Acknowledgement: Thanks to Stephenie Curnock for her great input into the content for this blog.
So, which animal would you choose? Something predatory? Lion, cat, and wolf seem to be popular choices (according to a highly unscientific survey we carried out at a recent networking event – connotation of leader of the pack maybe?). The rationale behind these choices: characteristics such as ‘bold’, ‘courageous’, ‘confident’ and ‘assertive’ were also fairly consistent and there appeared to be more of a focus on mainly the positive characteristics.
However pause to reflect for a moment. Whatever animal you choose to best describe you, consider not only those strengths and positive characteristics, but what potential negative impact those positive characteristics may have on others.
If overplayed or not kept in balance, positive, personal characteristics or strengths can have negative repercussions on working relationships with others. Yes, it may be good to be bold, assertive, confident and courageous – but at what cost? Boldness can sometime turn into arrogance if there is nothing or no one to keep it in check or regulate it. A courageous risk taker may frighten the last ounce of self belief from a team already bruised by a previous setback. An assertive and confident leader can run the risk of overestimating their talents and ignore valuable critical feedback from others.
In terms of leadership style, personal strengths can contribute to success. Sustainable leadership is more about understanding not only how these personal strengths help but also how they can sometimes hinder relationships over the long term with colleagues and customers if not kept in check.
A strong and compelling leadership brand (what the leaders of an organisation collectively want to be known for) will help to articulate the right messages to attract those individuals that will be a good ‘fit’ for the organisation making the recruitment process more focused right from the word go.
So once you’ve decided which animal best describes you, think about what kind of animal best describes your organisation – what factors lead you to that conclusion and if you were attracting potential employees externally, would they think the same?
Your answers may well highlight the strength and alignment, or not, of individual and collective leadership styles within your organisation.