For so many roles in the Civil Service, Leadership is listed as one of the core behaviours required. Most commonly for roles at HEO and above, however this competency may also be expected at more junior levels too.
The competency Leadership is an essential skill. It can help to inspire, unite and organise, give direction, and bring out the best in co-workers.
Contrary to popular thought, it is not just managers who show leadership; we can all do so, irrespective of the role or level we are at.
In this article:
- About the Leadership Civil Service Behaviour
- What Does the Leadership Behaviour mean?
- How Can I Demonstrate Effective Leadership?
- Leadership Competency Interview Questions
- Leadership Examples to Help With Your Answers
- Sample STAR 250 Word Answer Statement for Leadership
About the Leadership Civil Service Behaviour
So the formal definition of leadership as per the Civil Service is:
Show pride and passion for public service. Create and engage others in delivering a shared vision. Value difference, diversity and inclusion, ensuring fairness and opportunity for all.
Of course, leadership happens in every organisation large and small, it even happens outside of work, on the playing field, in the home and even in personal groups to tend to fins someone takes on that leader role.
Also known as Leading and Communicating, this is a vital skill and one of the top competencies employers ask about. And its no surprise as good leadership helps to inspire, unite and organise, gives direction, and brings out the best in co-workers.
What Does the Leadership Behaviour mean?
Put into simple terms, Leadership means being a role model, inspiring your peers to conduct themselves with authority and integrity and to carry out their tasks with enthusiasm. It involves showing enthusiasm yourself, pride and passion in your work and taking personal accountability for your role. For senior roles Leadership is about creating and engaging others in setting and delivering a shared vision.
So put into simple terms, Leadership means:
- Being a role model, inspiring your peers to conduct themselves with authority and integrity and carry out their tasks with enthusiasm.
- Showing enthusiasm, pride and passion in your work and taking personal accountability for your role.
- Acting in a fair, inclusive and respectful way when dealing with others.
- For senior roles it is about creating and engaging others in delivering a shared vision.
How Can I Demonstrate Effective Leadership?
On your application or in your interview you will be asked to demonstrate effectiveness with Leadership.
So how do you do that?
Here are some tips to help you show that you are aware of what leadership involves and can be a successful leader in the work place.
- Inspire Others: Showing leadership means being inspirational and you can do this on a daily basis by supporting and motivating, asking questions and learning from your co-workers and doing the very best you can in your work.
- Effective Decisions: Show that you have experience with making informed decisions and outline how you take responsibility for outcomes, good and not so good. Learning from the latter is key.
- Clear and Effective Communication: Being a leader requires you to communicate clearly, lead by example, and support your team’s development.
- Be Adaptable: Adapt to change, remain solution-focused, and overcome obstacles delivering against goals and bringing your team and colleagues with you.
- Build Trust: build trust by being fair, consistent, and approachable in all situations.
Leadership Competency Interview Questions
Here are a small selection of competency based interview questions related to Leadership taken from the InterviewGold online training system.
How would you answer?
- Tell us about a time when you showed leadership. What did you learn from the experience?
- Describe a time you had to deal with a difficult or challenging issue with an employee. How did you handle it and what was the outcome?
- Describe a time when your leadership skills made a difference.
- Tell me about a time you had to lead a team through a challenging situation. How did you motivate others and ensure success?
- Describe a situation where you had to take responsibility for a decision. What was the outcome, and how did you handle it?
- Can you give an example of how you helped develop or support a colleague or team member to grow or improve?
• For civil service candidates
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Leadership Examples For Inspiration
Even when recruiting for starter or junior posts employers will be looking for leadership qualities. Our advice is to review your experience and identify situations where you showed Leadership skills. Keep in mind there is a difference between leadership and management and an interviewer will be expecting you to show that you understand that difference.
Leadership can be displayed in many forms and here are some potential scenarios to help refresh your memory when choosing your examples.
- Have you acted as a role model during a difficult time, conducting yourself with integrity and enthusiasm?
- Did you ever volunteer for projects showing that you’re willing to take on additional duties.
- Have you ever shared your good ideas and explained why they could be helpful proving that you’re committed to the organisation?
- Have you ever Inspired others to do something great, to make an improvement to do something better?
- Perhaps you initiated something, a project perhaps which resulted in a special outcome?
- Or did you have to make a difficult but correct decision and persuade others to agree with it?
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Sample STAR 250 Word Answer Statement for Leadership
This is tailored for a SEO post and is a little longer than 250 words. In reality for Leadership we would expect longer answers circa 500 or 750 words. Get longer statements and answers fully personalised to you and your level covering all Civil Service level from AA/AO right up to G6.
Situation
Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for all of these behaviour examples. Choose a scenario which is relevant and clearly shows your Leadership skills. For example here is a sample situation:
“Last year in my role as Corporate Reporting Manager with the Department of Transport I led a cross departmental team of twelve to deliver an upgrade to our reporting process which reduced the time taken to produce our month end suite of reports by six days and achieved an annual saving of £500k.”
Task
Add one or two high impact sentences which add context to the scenario.
Action
Outline exactly what you did to drive the outcome—whether you overcame a challenge, solved a problem, or delivered results under pressure. Clearly demonstrate your leadership skills throughout your response.
This is the section where you’ll earn the highest marks, so it’s essential to show:
- The right positive behaviours aligned with the Civil Service Success Profile
- Relevant Civil Service strengths clearly reflected in your approach
- Evidence of capability in the competency being assessed
Without these elements, your response may fall short of the standard expected. Focus on impact, not just effort.
Result
Detail the successful outcome which derived from your actions. For example:
“Despite obstacles, I led the team successfully and delivered the upgraded reporting process resulting in an annual cost saving of £500k. It was a genuine team effort and I learnt how to lead, motivate and inspire a difficult group of strong-willed people to create a great piece of work and overcome the challenges that came up.”
How to get your target Civil Service job with InterviewGold
The InterviewGold online interview training platform covers Civil Service interviews, Success Profiles and behaviours in detail. It is designed to rapidly bring your interview skills up to date and help you answer brilliantly whether on an application, in an interview or during an assessment centre.
- Boost your confidence with accurate mock interviews designed around Civil Service behaviours, experience-based, strength, and technical questions.
- Create standout answers with our smart Answer Builder, which tailors responses specifically to your role and experience.
- Access high-impact STAR examples aligned with all 9 Civil Service behaviours—ideal for both applications and interviews.
