Tell me about a time you made a mistake as a leader. How did you recover?
Why This Is Asked
Interviewers want to see that you can own your mistakes, learn from them, and repair trust when needed. They're assessing your self-awareness, accountability, and resilience—not whether you've never made a mistake (that would suggest lack of experience or honesty).
Key Points to Cover
- A clear description of the mistake and your role in it
- How you recognized and acknowledged the mistake (to yourself and others)
- What you did to fix or mitigate the impact
- How you repaired relationships and what you changed to avoid repeating it
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
- Choose a real mistake with meaningful impact—not something trivial
- Emphasize accountability: you owned it, you didn't deflect or minimize
- Show that you apologized where appropriate and took concrete steps to prevent recurrence
✍️ Example Response
STAR formatSituation: I had an engineer who was struggling—missed deadlines, disengaged in meetings. I assumed it was performance and put them on a PIP. Two weeks in, they shared they'd been dealing with a serious health issue and hadn't felt safe to disclose. I had escalated without understanding the full picture.
Task: I needed to own my mistake, repair trust, and change how I handled similar situations.
Action: I apologized directly: "I made a mistake. I should have asked more questions before assuming. I'm sorry." I paused the PIP and had a real conversation about what support they needed. We agreed on a flexible arrangement—reduced hours, async where possible—and I connected them with our EAP. I also reflected on my process: I had skipped the "what's going on?" conversation and gone straight to formal process. I added a step to my manager playbook: before any performance process, I now ask "Is there anything outside work affecting your capacity?" I shared the lesson with my manager so she knew I'd made an error and was addressing it.
Result: The engineer stayed, recovered, and eventually became a strong contributor. I learned that assuming the worst and escalating quickly can cause real harm. Listening first, always.
🏢 Companies Known to Ask This
| Company | Variation / Focus |
|---|---|
| Amazon | Earn Trust, Learn & Be Curious — "Tell me about a mistake you made as a leader" |
| Growth mindset, self-awareness | |
| Meta | Candor, hard calls |
| Microsoft | Growth mindset, accountability |
| Netflix | Candor, culture fit |
| Learning agility, professional growth |