Tell me about a time you disagreed with a senior leader's decision. How did you handle it?
Why This Is Asked
Interviewers want to see that you can respectfully dissent when you believe a decision is wrong, without being insubordinate or burning bridges. They're assessing your ability to advocate for your team and your perspective while maintaining professional relationships and knowing when to accept a final call.
Key Points to Cover
- How you raised your concerns (privately, with data, with alternatives)
- How you listened to the leader's reasoning and remained open to being wrong
- How you supported the decision once it was made, even if you disagreed
- The outcome—whether the decision was changed, or you learned something from the process
STAR Method Answer Template
Describe the context - what was happening, what team/company, what was at stake
What was your specific responsibility or challenge?
What specific steps did you take? Be detailed about YOUR actions
What was the outcome? Use metrics where possible. What did you learn?
đź’ˇ Tips
- Avoid stories where you were right and the leader was wrong—focus on the process
- Show that you can disagree and commit when the decision is final
- Emphasize respect and professionalism, not confrontation
✍️ Example Response
STAR formatSituation: Our VP of Engineering decided to consolidate our three platform teams into one to "reduce duplication." I led one of those teams and believed the consolidation would slow us down—we had different domains, different customers, and merging would create a 40-person team with unclear ownership.
Task: I needed to raise my concerns without undermining the VP or appearing resistant to change.
Action: I requested a private 1:1. I came prepared with data: our team's cycle time, incident ownership, and stakeholder satisfaction. I framed it as "I want to understand the rationale and share what I'm seeing." I listened first—he was concerned about resource efficiency and cross-team coordination. I proposed an alternative: keep the teams but create a shared platform council for alignment, and consolidate only the DevOps function. I wrote a one-pager comparing both approaches. I made clear that if he decided to proceed with consolidation, I would support it and make it work.
Result: He chose a hybrid: we kept two teams and merged the third into the larger one. He thanked me for the pushback and the alternative. I learned that disagreeing respectfully—with data, in private, with alternatives—builds trust. Even when the final call goes the other way, the process matters.
🏢 Companies Known to Ask This
| Company | Variation / Focus |
|---|---|
| Amazon | Have Backbone Disagree & Commit — "Tell me about a time you disagreed with a senior leader" |
| Googleyness, collaboration with conviction | |
| Meta | Cross-functional alignment, hard calls |
| Microsoft | Growth mindset, customer focus |
| Netflix | Candor, direct feedback, disagree and commit |
| Apple | Deep collaboration, excellence |