Preparing for leadership opportunities
Getting ready for a senior or leadership role
Moving up changes what's expected of you. Here's how to prepare and how to talk about it.
4 min read
Understand how the job changes
As you become more senior, you're judged less on what you do yourself and more on your decisions, your influence, and how well the people around you succeed.
Start before you have the title
You can often build leadership experience in your current role:
- Mentor a newer colleague
- Take responsibility for a project or an improvement
- Explain a difficult decision to people outside your team
- Ask your manager what they would need to see from you
Prepare different stories
Leadership interviews often explore disagreement, trade-offs, and failure. Prepare examples that show how you made a difficult decision, supported someone who was struggling, and changed course when something wasn't working.