By MedicForest · Reviewed
Understand the topic
Effective teams share a goal, understand responsibilities and allow concerns to be raised. Leadership can mean organising a task, making space for a quieter member or recognising when somebody else has the relevant expertise.
How to discuss it in Med interview
Use an example with a real challenge. Describe your contribution precisely, explain how you listened and involved others, and give the outcome. Discuss how you checked progress, adapted roles or handled a disagreement. Reflect on something you would improve instead of presenting yourself as the person who rescued an incapable team.
Put it into words
We disagreed about the project format, so I asked each person to explain their main concern. We compared the options against the brief, divided the work by strengths and agreed a check-in. I learnt to agree success criteria earlier.
Common pitfalls
Equating leadership with speaking the most, taking all the credit, or ignoring a team member's reasonable concern.