7 Questions to Ask at Interviews That Reveal a Boss’s Management Style

Your manager can make or break your experience at work. But how do you know what their management style is like before accepting a job offer? 

While it’s hard to get the full picture on someone's management style when you first meet them, there are some key questions you can ask during interviews that will give you a sneak peek into your future boss's personality type, leadership approach, and what you can expect if you join their team. 

Remember, you’re interviewing your future employers too. It’s just as important that your boss is the right fit for you as you are for them. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and push for more details if you’re unsure.

To help you get started, here are 7 questions to ask your boss to find out what kind of a leader they are.

1. How would you describe your company culture?

How a manager chooses to answer this question reveals a lot about their personality type and the specific areas of the company culture that they choose to prioritize and promote in their team. A company can talk about its ethos and values, but if managers don’t buy into the vision then your experience as an employee is going to be very different from the description on their website. 

Listen carefully to your boss’ answer to find out what you can expect from your workplace and team culture. For example:

• Do they value collaboration or individual achievement?
• Do they prioritize work-life balance or are they more results-driven?
• Do they have a process for allocating tasks and giving promotions that's fair, ethical and unbiased?
• Do they promote continuous learning and growth opportunities for their employees?

2. How do you give feedback to your employees? 

Receiving feedback from your manager is a key part of any employees’ development. But there’s a big difference between negative feedback and constructive feedback. Asking your future boss about how they choose to give feedback to their team members can reveal a lot about their management style and what it’s like to work with them.

Here are some key things to bear in mind:

• How often do they have one-to-ones with employees? 
• Is feedback written or verbal?
• How do they approach problems, e.g. underperforming team members? 
• How can team members reach out if they have a question or concern?

The more details you can get on your boss’ feedback style the better. It’s important to know ahead of time what opportunities you’ll have to check-in with your manager and get constructive feedback to help you grow and develop in your future role. And if you know that you prefer a certain type of feedback at work then make sure to ask about that too. 

3. How does your team celebrate achievements?

Does the team celebrate its achievements and enjoy its success? Ask your boss how they celebrate milestones and wins as a team to see what you can expect. 

Do employees receive rewards when they hit a target? Do they celebrate with social events? Or are achievements barely celebrated at all? Recognition and rewards are key to creating happy workplaces – if the boss is not proactively keeping team morale high, then you may be in for a bumpy ride.

4. What are 3 key things you look for in your employees? 

If you’re trying to understand your future boss’ management style, it’s really helpful to ask them what they look for in their employees to find out more about the qualities they value and the type of working dynamic you can expect.

For example, if your manager says they’re looking for employees who work well under pressure, it’s an indication that the working environment is going to be intense, fast-paced and potentially stressful. It’s up to you to decide if their answer matches what you’re looking for or if another work environment might be a better fit.

5. When was the last time your team had any major changes in team members?

While some employee turnover is normal, major changes in a team should set off alarm bells in your head. If a large number of employees have recently resigned, especially within a short time span, it can indicate that something is wrong in the team dynamic or the company as a whole. 

If your future boss is unwilling to share details about team changes, that can also be a red flag. Go with your gut and if in doubt, reach out to current and past employees to learn more about their experience of working at the company to help you find out what’s really happening below the surface.

6. What do you like most about working here?

At the end of the day, your boss is an employee of the company too. Ask what they like most about their job to get a deeper insight into what you can expect from your future workplace. Is it a collaborative working environment? A competitive one? A supportive, close-knit team? Your boss’ answer can reveal a lot about what day-to-day life is like working for their company. Warning: if they can’t think of an answer it’s a bad sign! 

7. How would you define your management style? 

To find out what type of boss they are, ask them directly how they would describe their own leadership style. If you want to ask a less open-ended question, you could ask them to answer in three words or less. This is challenging, but the adjectives they throw out will give you a sense of what they value most and how they see themselves as a leader (Inspirational? Collaborative? Influential? Technical? Laissez-faire?) 

 You could also ask them to name a famous leader whom they admire or are inspired by. The important thing here is to pay attention to what your boss highlights in their answer as this indicates what they believe is key to being a good manager and creating a successful, productive team dynamic.

Ask these questions to get to know your boss

Before you accept a job, it’s important to know who you’re going to be working for. A bad manager can make even the best job feel stressful, intense and downright miserable. When you’re interviewing for a new position, you’re interviewing your manager too. Ask these questions to find out what they value, how they communicate, and what you can expect from working in their team.