Are you being considered for a promotion in upper management like managerial, supervisory, or administration? Perhaps you’re already in upper management but you’re aiming for greener pastures in another company? Then it’s very likely that you will have to take that organization’s version of the leadership test.
Although there are numerous test providers, each with their own question format and trait measurement, they all aim to see what kind of leader you are and if your leadership style is compatible with what the company has in mind for the vacant position.
This means that no matter how complex or simple the test is, the questions will always be designed to figure out if you have a certain skill, trait, or behavior related to leadership that the company deems necessary or unwanted.
That being said, let’s take a look at the types of questions and question formats that you are likely to encounter while taking a leadership test.
1. The Question Formats
Whether it be the situational judgement test format or the personality test format, there are three possible question formats that you may encounter while taking the leadership test, namely:
Likert Scale
Where you will have to select your intensity of agreement or disagreement to a statement or answer.
Ranking
Where you will be presented with a set of answers or statements and you must rank them from least to most effective or most like you or least like you.
Unlike the Likert Scale format, you will not be allowed to use the same ‘ranking’ twice per set.
So if all the statements in a set show ‘bad’ traits or qualities, you are not allowed to answer ‘least like me’ on all of them.
Single Choice
Where you will be presented with a single statement and you are only allowed to choose between ‘true’, ‘unsure’, or ‘false’.
In the situational judgement test format, you can only pick one that you deem the best or worst depending on the question.
By knowing of the question formats beforehand, you’ll be able to prepare better in the leadership test by making sure that you don’t accidentally invalidate your answers.
2. Questions that will test your firmness
As a leader, there will be instances where your subordinates will begin to slack off from work or underperform due to various reasons.
Whether this is due to personal, financial, or even professional reasons, you will be expected to do something about it, and the company will want to know what kind of leader you are when having to give out the consequences.
This can range from disciplinary actions, support, or giving them a stern warning.
3. Questions that will test your loyalty to the company
While this may not be a common occurrence at the actual workplace, the company will still want to know if you are the sort that will uphold the rules, procedures, and interests of the organization over your subordinates.
Such situations or statements may come in the form of an employee making a mistake and the company procedures require their dismissal.
The leadership test will allow the company to know if you are someone that will do so immediately or if you are someone that will give the employee a second chance.
4. Questions that will test your integrity
No employee is perfect, and neither are you.
At some point in your career, you will make a mistake or error that may be miniscule or negligible, but other times, this may be costly or fatal for the company’s budget or reputation.
As a result, the company will use the leadership test to know if you are someone that will fully take responsibility for what happened or if you are likely to pass the blame to others if they contributed to the mistake or error.
5. Questions that will test your sense of camaraderie
Although not a major factor, the leadership test will also measure your socialization and social skills in a workplace environment.
As a manager or someone holding a leadership position, you are expected to be approachable in some manner.
Be too standoffish and employees will be too scared to interact with you, preventing them from grabbing your attention when it is actually needed. Be too friendly, however, and you will be seen as someone that can be easily manipulated.
6. Questions that will test your decision making skills
Examine the situation below:
You are tasked by the company with a new project from a high-paying client after winning a contract. However, upon reviewing the details of the project, you discover that you do not have enough employees to finish it on time unless you have all of them work three more hours every day and lessen their days off to one. What course of action will you take?
- A) Have the company petition that the deadline of the project be extended.
- B) Hire subcontractors or freelancers to fill the needed manpower for the project.
- C) Have a meeting with your subordinates and explain the situation first and see how many of them are willing.
- D) Announce the details of the contract to your subordinates and ask for their understanding, promising them that they will be compensated well.
As you can see, there is no clear ‘right or wrong’ course of action, only different ways to tackle this hypothetical situation at the workplace with their own advantages and disadvantages.
No matter what you pick, the company will have a good idea on what you are when it comes to decision making, allowing them to see if your way of thinking is compatible with theirs and hold it against you if it is not.
As for which one is the ‘correct’ one, it will depend entirely on the company. Some will want their candidates to pick D while others will want them to pick B.
Under these questions, you will also encounter situations that revolve on financial, confrontational, and even casual settings.
While there are other types of questions, the five types mentioned above are going to be the main focus of the test but with some difference in setting, theme, or possible courses of actions.
Now that you know what types of questions there are in the leadership test, we hope that we have helped you in becoming more prepared in not only tackling it but also acing it.
