Team Leadership Interview

[P.J.]

Hello,

Elections for our new captains are coming soon, so one my former mentors and myself have been tasked with creating the questions for the debate section of the process. We were trying to think of some, and I thought it might be a good idea to come to the world of Chief Delphi to get some help. Any thoughts are appreciated.

A little background: Every year 910 elects two captains for the following year. The only requirement is having earned a varsity letter in Robotics, which in and of itself requires 2 years on the team and X number of hours of work (don't remember the number off the top of my head)

The election process requires a candidate to submit an application, and then there is an interview/debate before the election. So our main problem is trying to decide on questions to ask.

We're basically looking for the types of questions that show good leadership skills, for example what is your biggest strength/weakness, why do you want to be captain, what do you bring that is unique, etc.

Also, any feedback any other team has on this method would be useful too. Always good to hear other opinions.

Thanks

-P.J.

[jmanela]

If someone was not motivated to work, how would you motivate them?

What would you do if you see two students arguing over how to do something. ex) correct size hole or better algorithm to use in program?

How would you respond to a student who's idea isn't feasible?
-bad response: That won't work

-good response: That's not possible right now because of ___, however, if we did ____ it might work.
OR
(If not enough time) That would work, however, we don't have the time to do it. Is there another way to do it?

[Boydean]

If you were captain right now what would you do with the entire team? Why? How?

What team member (other than yourself) would serve as a good team captain? Why?

If you could completely change the way the team worked, or changed team policies what would it be? Why?

If you had $10,000 to do what ever you wanted right now, what would you do with it? Kind of pointless, I just thought the answers might be interesting.

And then you have the same old:

What are your hobbies?
What are your favorite subjects?
Why would you be a good team captain?
How did you join the team?
How has the team impacted you?
What is the core mission of FIRST?
and on and on.

[Phoenix Spud]

What do you think the team captain's number role should be?

What do you think FIRST is about?

What are the signs of a successful season?

[ghostmachine360]

- What would your main priorities be within the upcoming FRC season?

- What is FIRST to you? Is it about the win or about the experience itself?

- How would you work in helping to nurture & develop leadership skills of your younger teammates?

- How would you work in achieving excellent time management within pre-, during, & post- build season?

- What do you believe the Chairman's Award truly represents? (From my own experience)

- How will you maintain a standard of excellence within your work & others' work?

- What would be your plans in a successful transfer of information/skills when the captain after you is chosen?

- What are the sacrifices you're willing to take in order to be in this position?

[IKE]

What do you feel went well last season, and what aspects of those items would you like to continue in the future?

What do you feel could have gone better last year? What would you like to change? As a leader how can you make these changes happen?

If you are doing this debate style, limit the responses to possibly Top 3. You could also ask them to prioritize the 3 items. for each question. When you ask someone to prioritize things, this can often be an interesting and telling signal.

[P.J.]

Thank you everyone, this is quite a large help and I know I never would have thought of some of these questions.

My ex-mentor and I also decided this thread is sort of a test, because if the candidates read chief delphi, which I know some (if not all) of them don't, then they are getting a preview of the questions.

Thanks again, you're all awesome

[klrswift]

Thanks guys! These are great questions.

I usually ask some questions panel style where each candidate answers the question in front of everyone (I limit these because the nature of how it is asked can make all of the responses the same) and most are asked to an individual and if others are offered a chance for a retort. This year, I'm expecting to have potentially up to 6 or 7 candidates (up to 11 eligible with 7 seniors and 4 juniors). Our current captains were both juniors this year and will be up for re-election (we only had 1 returning senior this year!) Any ideas of anything to ask them?

[LeelandS]

Just some simple questions:

Why do you think you'd be a good leader?

How have you proven to the team that you can lead them/ what have you done that would have earned their respect?

What would you say you got most from being on this team?

What would you do, were you you elected team?

• How would you help potential future team leaders who don't have as much experience on the team and in FIRST?
• What kind of example would you set?

(For Seniors and Juniors)
You are nearing the end of your FIRST student career. What are you thinking about the future (In college, with FIRST, with the team)?

These are just a bunch of questions pertaining to character, and to some extent, dedication to the team and FIRST. We do things a little differently on SparX, so I wish I had more advice. Best of luck though.

See you at IRI!!!