“…the job interview was coming to the end, with an obviously good outcome to be expected after a back to back series of questions, which had been addressed by the candidate fairly easily. All, the interview panelists and the candidate were smiling; the candidate was satisfied with the way he had responded to all the questions, which had been asked and actually, the fact that one of the panel members was close to his age, made him feel more confident and comfortable with the whole procedure; first interview in the UK you see.

And when the head of the panel asked if there were any other questions of the other members of the panel all the others replied negatively. Then the candidate was asked the same thing: do you have anything to ask? “No, thank you” the candidate said… And everybody was ready to get up from their seats, when the youngest member of the panel, Mr. A, said suddenly:

One last question please, if you don’t mind… (pause)…

• If you were not a human being which animal would you prefer to be?

The candidate looked the interviewer straight into the eyes,intentionally, somebody would tell…and in less than a second after the question was finished, he responded:

either a dolphin or a bird.

The young interviewer commented: that was a really quick answer… so I assume that it is straight forward for you to tell us why.

Again …the candidate responded immediately: the dolphin is regarded as a sociable and human-friendly animal and the bird has a rare, unique gift that all creatures would crave… It can fly and travel all the time… let alone to travel to a different place if it does not like where it is. The same applies to our lives.

All the four of them shook hands and the head of the panel turned to the candidate and said: Thank you very much for attending the interview, we will contact you soon to let you know about the outcome.

And everyone left the interview office.

On his way to the city, the candidate was thinking relentlessly the answers to each of the questions of the interview panel. He had a positive feeling regarding the outcome, however, the last question sounded really weird to him. Nevertheless, his answer gave him a sense, aura of satisfaction, confirmation that he was not caught unprepared, although and actually, he was not told that such questions are asked in such interviews. And sounds maybe really weird, taking into account that the post he was interviewed for was that one of consultant physician in a hospital. How did it come, was that question relevant to the role of a doctor? Nothing made sense at a first place… but on the other hand, there was no point in thinking about it again and again.

After the interview, he had chosen to meet a friend. Nice idea for a relaxing chat and for taking away the stress and the tension that every first interview results in.

He chose not to bring the topic into any discussion with his friend in an attempt to avoid talking about work all the time. After a walk, he went to the hotel thinking about all the potential outcomes of this interview. Probably the day after he should expect a telephone call or email with an answer…positive or negative. Nobody knew..

And the next day arrived. He had got up very early in the morning. Morning walk, seeing the dawn from there would only give him a hope that it would be a real new dawn, new day, of a new life, in a new city, in a new country. Everything was so new staff for him. And although he was not aware what would follow, he took this dawn as a sign, or at least that was his desired optimistic point of view.

He walked towards the tube station and was walking, with his hands in his pockets, next to the platform edge and it was obvious that he was lost in his Overthinkingland. He was waiting for the next train to arrive, when one of the members of the station staff came close to him just to kindly let him know that he should stand behind the yellow line. As usual, he was asked where he was coming from and the next question of the kind tube chap was what is he doing in the UK? After a brief response of what he was doing in the UK, he was surprised by the look and the reaction of that chap: You give me the impression that you already got the job but you don’t know it. The candidate smiled and thanked the man for his kind words.

When he got out of the train, he received a telephone call by a number, which was not familiar to him. And yes… the answer was yes! He got the job. And he was satisfied with his effort to travel to London for this purpose and obviously with the reward of his effort. Despite his good mood, he was still thinking again and again the last question of the interview… – If you were not a human being which animal would you prefer to be?

No matter the positive outcome of the interview he could not figure out the role of this question… still echoing weirdly in his mind, in his ears etc.

When he returned back home, he could not resist and he asked a friend of his, who was an academician in the field of psychology. His response gave him food for thought: This question aims to test the perception of leadership in each candidate, whose role may involve leadership. The majority of the people give an answer such as lion, eagle, monkey. Your response my friend was a real surprise for the interviewer and the spontaneous justification an even bigger surprise.

Those, who attend an interview want to give the impression that they can control every situation and subsequently the others. They also try to reassure the future manager or employer that they want to stay in a permanent role, especially when it is their first ever interview, especially when coming from overseas to get a role like this. You, my friend, intentionally or not, ruined this belief, this perception with your spontaneous, flash response, which implied that you care for communicating with others rather than applying power to others. Instead of wanting to be permanent staff in a role like the one you were interviewed for, you implied that you want to keep an open option of stepping away. And even better or worse… your response was spontaneous. This combination of the above either impresses the other or terrifies them. Anyhow, in my opinion it has just confirmed their first impression about you as a candidate for this post.

After a number of years working in the UK the candidate has worked in a number of posts requiring leadership skills and, when he is asked regarding his opinion about leadership, he always encourages people to express their own perception of leadership. And this because finally everybody will apply the kind of leadership accordingly to the qualities that he carries as a personality and will choose whether he will remain or not in the comfort zone of a permanent job role or whether he will accept the challenge to constantly look for something even better.

The word itself, leadership, sounded strange in his ears before being part of the system, before starting applying leadership in practice.

He was told that it is one of the frequently asked topics in many job interviews but… he had never been asked directly about leadership. He never had problems with job interviews. Short, straightforward precise answers, targeted and to the point. Eye contact was not under discussion for him. Not even, when he needed to deal with a “complex” demanding panel; he was chasing direct eye contact with all the interviewers.

He was offered the job in all the interviews he attended apart from one; the one interview that he stopped and asked politely not to proceed. The reason? The indicated, implied arrogance of the lead interviewer. And why? How can you treat somebody as a leader when you have rejected them and their perception of leadership even from the early beginning? An epic fail of unconscious bias.

Now, having already considerably good “portfolio” of work experience, having already implemented subconsciously his leadership skills to colleagues, clients, patients, in many working environments, in many countries and continents, having always in mind and as a principle and moto “…either a dolphin or a bird…” he knows very well; the, till recently unknown term -leadership-, was part of his life and being. And this is what now he radiates and communicates:

In his eyes, it has become so far, the outcome of a mixture: personal qualities, reflection of the attitude of the others.

But

Not that long time ago it was suggested by his team and colleagues to be member of an interview panel for a candidate- future colleague in his highly aiming, much promising, fast pacing, high standard team. He was not bothered by the idea but he had never considered himself to be the one, who would choose his colleagues. He was not surprised neither disappointed though. He accepted the role that he was given in a way somehow indifferent.

He knew exactly and precisely the demands of the post; the role required a person with qualifications and qualities that would deliver only effectivity as the pressure of the workload was becoming overwhelming for him and his team.

The role of the new colleague required strong interpersonal skills, good cooperation and communication with all the members of the team, human resources, management, employees and patients. The purely medical aspect of the role was not under discussion. It was the bible that everyone anyway is aware of.

His fellow interviewer had prepared a number of questions. In his list there were three bullets-questions and a fourth one with just a question mark. His fellow interviewer was the lead interviewer. It was mutually agreed that the interview would last 45 minutes maximum unless there were any unexpected complications; you never know sometimes. In a brief discussion between the two interviewers, prior to the interview, his colleague asked him about the question mark in his questions list. “Let’s see something from a different point of view “he responded to him cutting the discussion, not revealing his agenda behind this question mark.

The CV of the interviewee indicated a person with the qualifications that the post required. Good work experience and background, references, the list of the skills indicated the ideal person for the post. So, everything was expected to roll without complications.

When the interview started it took only seconds for introductions and the first two minutes probably to create a friendly atmosphere in the interview room. With plenty of sense of humour the interviewee seemed to feel comfortable in the room and with the two men that he had in front of him.

The lead interviewer took the lead (as it was to be expected) and asked his questions. The interviewee seemed to be prepared and confident regarding his answers. And that seemed to have been reflecting in the faces and eyes of the three in the room. When the first interviewer finished with his questions the second took over.

It took about five minutes to finish with his first three questions of his list. And he was satisfied seeing the interviewee responding with confidence and to the point. And now it was time for this question mark; the last question:

He smiled to both the fellow interviewer and the interviewee and asked:

• Would you be willing to finish this interview with an out-of-the-box question?

The interviewee gave a smile back and nodded indicating agreement. Apparently, the fellow interviewer’s look was surprised.

And with the visual consent of the interviewee he continued:

• Could you please interview me, as a potential future colleague of yours for five minutes? You are free to ask whatever you may want or need to ask me. If you want you can take a few minutes to create your own list of questions.

It was obvious that neither the lead interviewer nor the interviewee was expecting such a question- test. It must have been no more than 5 seconds of silence that lapsed. To make things move a bit he gave to the interviewee his pen and a blank sheet. And the interview went on.

It took maximum three minutes for the interviewee to make his list and following this, he started questioning. At the end and having received the answers he was looking for, he declared that he had nothing more to ask.

The lead interviewer took the lead again and thanked everybody for this interview and all of them shook hands and were heading towards the exit of the office.

The candidate blinked to the interviewers and smiled.

The door was ready to open when the interviewee could not hold himself and said to the two other men:

“it must have been possibly the weirdest interview I have ever attended…I still cannot believe that I was the interviewee and the interviewer at the same time!” and he was looking at the candidate in an attempt to fish a clue of the reason for the trial interview test.

“It is all about leadership” one of the panelists responded. And he continued;  ..” How can we expect to be treated and regarded as leaders by our colleagues if we don’t give them the time, space, freedom and opportunity to apply their leadership skills? Successful leaders treat their colleagues as co-leaders; and this makes a team irresistibly successful.

We will notify you regarding the outcome of the interview within one day; although I am sure that you already know it.”

And the day after, the interviewee received a call.

And guess what the outcome of the interview was…