Interview Questions Flashcards
Why have you applied for the role?
Exciting JD
Leading change we need to see nationally
Impact for people
Stretch and a learning opportunity
Know the team, city, location - well positioned
How have your previous roles prepared you for this role? / What makes you well placed to do it?
Overall - improvements in complex systems (x6)
Strategy Consultancy - process improvement in transformation.
Engineering / PhD - stats, analytics and systems.
National Strategy Team - Structured problem solving, working with senior leaders.
National PHM Team - from intelligence to interventions (delivering change).
Leeds PHP Team - Local application and partnership working. Leadership and delivery at place.
Director interim - accountability and delivery, vision and team, different playing field
What strengths do you believe you would bring to the role? What qualities will you need in your team to balance your strengths and weaker areas?
Strengths.
Strategic, evidence-based systems thinker with a lot of structure to my approach. People-side important to me. Experience of transformation across multiple sectors and in ambiguity.
Weaknesses.
Detail vs good enough, when to let go.
Team qualities to balance this.
Openness and feedback in senior team. Good communication to move at pace - I won’t then feel I need to get into the detail.
Personal strategies.
Timeboxing, arrangement of week. Framing things as iterative. Allowing myself detail as a break.
How would you describe your leadership style?
Can adapt to different situations as needed, but generally collaborative and reflective. Help people join the dots and stay connected to the bigger picture.
Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose
How do you inspire and motivate others. Do you have an example where you have successfully done this?
Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose.
Collaborative and reflective
Set the vision and support it with clear communication, hand control where I can
e.g. Expedition leadership, Operating Model - letting fran/Suzanne step forward, Nicola on prioritisation, Helena on Goal 2, Joanna Howard covering planning etc
What are the levers available to you as a leader i.e. what are the ways in which you yield power? Which of these do you deploy and which make you nervous?
How do you manage if team is not responding?
I regularly deploy soft levers - set the scene before the discussion, goal orientated, discuss and collaborate.
If not working, understand the issue.
Can become more directive and task orientated. Less confidence = more structure and directive. Feedback and adjust before moving to a formal processes
How have you dealt effectively with underperforming individuals or teams?
Understand the situation.
Set expectations.
Review regularly.
(Helpful to have existing spaces to do this)
Offer support.
E.g. Tom and impact assessment work.
Can you give me an example of when you have managed relationships across multiple senior stakeholders to achieve a transformational outcome?
What was your role? What did you learn and how will you apply it to this role?
Q-Covid.
Intermediate Care Redesign Programme.
Health and Growth setup.
Legwork to build support. Show your working. Go slow to go fast.
Can you give an example of when you have been confronted with a highly sensitive and challenging situation?
What was your role? What did you learn and how will you apply it to this role?
Lives saved by LTP
HF finance and benefits realisation - Jenny and disagreements on cost, changing FD, LCH and their contribution
HomeFirst IG
Focus on what’s important and where we can agree, be clear on my motivations and what’s in my control. Work to bring consensus and understanding. Ok to disagree. Its not about winning at all costs on everything. Let go (e.g. Cost of a bed day).
Relationships and Influence
Talk to us about the importance of relationships in your current role? Tell us about a particularly critical relationship you’ve forged?Did you have to persuade / bring them around to your viewpoint
Tim Fielding - PH (HI, G2, prioritisation)
Esther Ashman / Sarah Smith - business planning, IPH, Health and Growth, Transformation
Esther - yes - could have influenced by peers, evidence etc. - but instead used personal relationships and took advantage of time difference.
Tim - no - influenced me. We should be influenceable.
Jenny Ehrdhart / John Crowther - HomeFirst F&B
If you can’t - sometimes just leave, let someone else try, overrule and rebuild the relationship
How would you work with statutory partners at place to ensure delivery of our plans
Understand perspectives and build buy in to the benefits and vision.
Enable distributed leadership in the team and ask for the same access and links within partner teams.
Open about the gaps and build consensus for fixing them - partnership owned
How would you deal with situations where the general clinical view is at odds with the organisational view?
Understand the clinical and organisational view. Test wider views. Rather not go against a clinical view - but if I am going to, will be with absolute clarity as to why and the rationale - e.g. financial challenges work. Own the decision if it’s yours.
How do you manage your resilience? What would we see if you were under significant pressure?
Sports and external activity. Four days a week a real bonus in this space.
Generally resilient - e.g. this year. Not good at making it visible, but do communicate if things are hard.
Managing complexity
NHS Long Term Plan;
Doctorate - academic, political and delivery spaces
Intermediate care;
QCovid;
Northern Foods - food manufacturing (model the whole thing)
Prioritisation across place;
Patient Involvement and Patient voice
Pop Boards - insight reports
Autism programme NHSE - Neurodiverse members of staff
HLP delivery - EoL - carers and family
Establishing Alex’s role in IC
Mistake
Dreams BoM - missing data
Northern Foods inefficiency factor, nearly made a lot of staff redundant. Although project scoped £25m of savings… a lot through indirect savings by working in MDTs.
Zebbunisa and project tool/approach (Monday.com).
Delivering under pressure
Evacuation of a member of the party in Raleigh - prioritise, distribute, a plan is better than no plan.
DHSC - GP primary care contract during COVID. Influenced to engage with the ICO (beyond previous legal advice). Direct engagement - we’re not willing to proceed or support this without this taking place - cliff edge.
Health and growth timescales
Leeds segmentation model - after losing initial consultancy support
Conveying complex or difficult information
PhD - peers, academics, local authority, public, media
Segmentation model - deep analytics vs. practical implications
PLT - all transformation programmes (slides, verbal, consistency)
PHM - risk start e-learning
Challenges to change (inc. digital uptake).
Skillset, toolset, mindset. (including time, trust)
Constrained financial situation
Talk about complex change management programme you have delivered
Intermediate Care;
Sandoz Forecasting - 8% reduction in Bias, improved forecasting value-add by up to 50% in one site
QCOVID
Setting up Pop Boards;
Health and Growth set up
Name 25 projects (including some small fun ones) you’ve delivered.
- Intermediate Care Setup
- Intermediate Care IG
- Pop. Boards
- Segmentation Model
- System demand analysis
- Financial Turnaround
- ICB objectives
- Set up PDP in different areas
- Elfh - Risk Strat Module
- QCOVID
- Anchors programme
- LTP - CYP Co-ordination and development
- LTP - Lives saved
- Autism Strategy
- EngD - whole thing
- Informing Surrey CC Cycling Strategy
- PepsiCo risk to supply chain
- Northern Foods Turnaround
- Dreams Yodel merger
- Sandoz Forecasting
- OM redesign
- Launch of SCR programme.
- Health and Growth
- GMTS
- Goal 2
EQIA and health inequalities
HomeFirst - looking at differential outcomes in CCBs (length of stay, when frailty occurs, outcomes).
Healthy Leeds Plan - Explicity focus on 10% most deprived.
Goal 2 - based on difference in DALYS between IMD1 and IMD10
Emmaus involvement
Healthy inequality organisation at place with Anna and Tim
Mentoring a health inequalities fellow for the last two years
EQIA process and publishing
Can you talk about your approach to planning and programme delivery?
- Define problem and scope
- Clear, well reported and stakeholder agreed output metrics
- Recognise planning as a behaviour, not a task
- Feedback and iteration - live data critical
Examples - Portfolio of HLP Programmes… Impact assessment in the ICB, Health and Growth, IC setup, Anchors programme in NHSE
Can you give me an example of when you operated in ambiguity?
Developing LTP. Taking on interim director role. Health and Growth setup. Anchor institution development nationally.
What is the most difficult/painful feedback that you have received from a peer or a direct report?
Too critical to a junior member of the team. E.g. Zebunnisa on implementation of new project management tool (Monday.com)
Can you provide an example of having inspired and motivated others to keep both focused and aligned to the broader vision and purpose of an organisation?
Population Boards - buy in from ICB teams and partners.
Health and Growth - conflict of desires vs need for delivery within the timeframes
Health Inequalities - Healthy Adults Board
Describe a time when you have led behavioural change. What are some of the lessons you have learned in doing so?
Forecasting improvement for Sandoz/Novartis - 8% reduction in bias, 50% improvement in forecasting value-add
Ski guiding - scenarios. Lots of young, eager to impress ski guides. Gamify it and create a lot of really serious challenges to throw at them constantly. Group together and reflect - WWW/EBI. Let them let off steam. Invited back to coach future ski managers.
People have to want to change - different ways of bringing that about
People need to see the impact of change (early wins helpful)
Once the change has started, it needs to be re-inforced (see one, do one, teach one)
What is your approach to facilitating staff development?
(Autonomy, mastery, purpose)
Self directed OD
Exposure to risk and stretch as safely as I can enable
Everything I can give them in line with what we’re looking to achieve
Space and time for learning and reflection
Eg. Directorate OD programme, coaching in team, analytics apprenticeships courses, internal networks, technical skills sessions as part of team meetings, shadowing sessions (e.g. Luke Shepherd)
Encouragement for people to be generous
What do you enjoy most about being a leader and how does that come across in your leadership style?
As a leader - its giving others the chance to develop and deliver and making that visible
Autonomy, mastery, purpose
Autonomy and mastery - have to develop skills and trust through feedback and reflection
Mastery - skills development and feedback
Purpose - need a clear vision (me) and also ownership - collaboration (all)
Lots of reflection time, collaboration, outcomes not tasks - tolerant of errors, stretch
When have you seen through a strategy from conception through implementation?
LTP.
Anchors.
Pop Boards.
Sandoz Forecasting. (lots of consultancy examples)
Describe an example of having taken a contentious issue through your current organisation with particular reference to tactic deployed in winning over doubters and opponents?
Segmentation Model.
Individual engagement. (emotional - recognising as evolution of the old)
Deploying through wider networks (internal and external), and building champions for the work - peer influence.
Evidence based approach (being confident in the underpinning rationale)
What will you bring to DTM in particular
Different perspective. I don’t see the world in the same way and have experience outside of NHS. Willing to challenge and stretch. Social aspect.
What will you need to deliver this role
Feedback and time from wider partners - so that the ICB doesn’t become an echo chamber.
Continue with my mentor / look for similar opportunities
Strong leadership team
A strategy. Reference e.g. building blocks - draw from those components, and deploy within programmes.
What are the key capabilities required to be a director?
A director delivers strategy aligned to core purpose
Set/maintain vision
Manage and engage with stakeholders
Build and develop team
Humility helps. Not about getting everything right - its about ownership when it goes wrong.
How is stepping up into this role different from previous or non director roles?
Accountability rather than just a step up in managing more/higher grades. Working as part of a board.
(vision/stakeholder/team)
Emmaus as an example
What diff personally made to improve e and d in the workplace?
A few key experiences I’ll draw from, recognising my own privilege.
For me, as a director, it’s about creating and reinforcing the right environment…
For example:
- Learning - questions in advance for interview to meet ND/Dyslexic needs - we now send questions out to all candidates in advance
- Giving the whole team a voice (chair/notetaking) - I can’t see all their diversity, but some are carers, some need to take pilgrimages, some are nervous about their age or gender in specific roles - offer support beforehand
- Give specific people tasks actively - e.g. Roseanne
I also live the diversity beyond my current role - my doctorate and role with Emmaus.
Main considerations to ensure strategy or policy can be implemented
Buy in and alignment with purpose
Tangible action and route to delivery (people, tools, finances etc.)
Consideration for the bigger picture
Don’t forget about it - keep reminding people
What’s your leadership style?
Capable of flexing to requirements… but
Collaborative, reflective - want others to succeed and try hard to give them freedom to do so
Autonomy, mastery, purpose
Under pressure can be more directive and detail orientated, also when unsure of capability - work with the team to manage that
How you vary communication style to influence audience
Online vs in person (eg PLT)
Patient voice vs finance (eg HF)
Written vs discursive or workshop (eg directorate)
Seniority
Sometimes you don’t know exactly who in your audience will respond to what - so its about hitting multiple angles simultaneously.
Change approach half way through a piece of work
Segmentation model
PhD - originally on a different topic
Give an example of how you shape and maintain a vision
Population boards
Anchor institutions
HLP
Health Inequalities
- Frame and link to wider context - appropriate for the audience
(why) - Test and engage - identifies both who can support, but also your blind spots
- Refine and define (focus on language)
- Repeat
How are you enabling Team development
Create expectation and time Internal OD programme
Coaching courses and coachees in team
Review of skills in the team - and adjusted offer from that (including drawing on support from OD lead)
Changes in deployment to align with needs
Link work to objectives
Workshops as a team - regular sessions in team meetings on key topics (e.g. PowerBI, AI etc.)
Tell us how you have overseen multiple complex programmes with competing demands
Recent interim director role. HLP programmes, plus QEIA/CHC/Prioritisation process.
How - Communication (e.g. PLT, partners etc.), clear outcomes, prioritisation, staff development, learning from each other, fluidity in the team.
E.g. in practice, key capabilities coming different strands set - IG - EoL, benefits quantification - frailty and CHC, then applied to less progressed areas like CYP
Tell us about a time you successfully led/managed teams through an organisational change
Current directorate - made up of 3-4 other teams
Help set early understanding
Build relationships and culture
Reinforce overall purpose (and new skills/tasks aligned to that)
Give room to fail and feedback
Refine and repeat - McKinsey 7 Ss (Structure, Strategy, System, Style, Skills, Shared Values, Staff)
What is the NHS constitution?
- The NHS provides a comprehensive service, available to all
- Access to NHS services is based on clinical need, not an individual’s ability to pay
- The NHS aspires to the highest standards of excellence and professionalism
- The patient will be at the heart of everything the NHS does
- The NHS works across organisational boundaries
- The NHS is committed to providing best value for taxpayers’ money
- The NHS is accountable to the public, communities and patients that it serves
