Interview Prep Flashcards
(24 cards)
Tell me about a time when you were challenged/when you effectively challenged.
Earn Trust
S: I convinced a senior specialist at Christie’s not to do something that wasn’t profitable against his objections, resulting in exceeding the books private sale target by over 2% (50K). The head of sale for the books department was known to be a tricky character. He was often skeptical about information given to him from finance. I’d discovered that certain types of valuation work he was involved in were not really profitable given the amount of time he would spend. He would spend weeks valuing the items for an estate sale for a small percentage commission, which might earn £100K. If he instead devoted time to 3 private sales which were on average £70K each of commission income, it would be more profitable for the company. I was nervous about presenting what I’d discovered to him. I made sure I knew my facts very well and calmly presented what I’d found to him. I resolved his objections by responding to all of them confidently and comprehensively. He took my recommendation on board and we met and exceeded the private sale target.
Tell me about a time when things went wrong, how did you deal with it
S: I sent a report with errors in it and although I fixed them right away, it wasn’t good for my credibility or partnering relationships and I learned a lot from the experience about what not to do. It was early on in my time at Christie’s and I was partnering the GM of World Art and the senior art specialists of the various departments under it. I was asked to prepare some travel & expense reports and I was eager to demonstrate my ability. I downloaded the data from the system and quickly sent the information showing expenses by individual, hoping that it would be really appreciated because it hadn’t been done by my predecessor. Instead, one of the specialists pointed out a basic mistake (the component parts didn’t add up to the total because I’d missed a couple of lines). I realised how important it was that the GM and art specialists trusted me on more basic tasks such as this one so that I could get involved in the strategic decision support that I so enjoyed. I developed a ‘customer obsession’ (considering my customers as my internal stakeholders) and built in checks to all my reports, and built standard reporting to make it easier to turn requests around quickly. I was subsequently invited to strategic meetings with the GM and heads of department, offsites, etc. so I was seen as a valuable partner.
Tell me about a time when things went wrong, how did you deal with it
I learned to focus on both my partner relationships and finance deliverables. At GSK I would get very caught up in helping the brand directors & managers. I would focus less on central reporting deliverables and FP&A requirements because the strategic work with the brand directors was both time consuming and interesting. I got feedback from my manager that I needed to focus on central finance deliverables as well, and once he called my attention to it, I made sure I prioritised them. We (FP&A team, financial control) developed a good relationship and I was able to help the finance control team with process improvement in the communication between demand planning and finance when launching a new product.
Tell me about a time when things went wrong, how did you deal with it
S: I learned to focus on both my partner relationships and finance deliverables. At GSK I would get very caught up in helping the brand directors & managers. I would focus less on central reporting deliverables and FP&A requirements because the strategic work with the brand directors was both time consuming and interesting. I got feedback from my manager that I needed to focus on central finance deliverables as well, and once he called my attention to it, I made sure I prioritised them. We (FP&A team, financial control) developed a good relationship and I was able to help the finance control team with process improvement in the communication between demand planning and finance when launching a new product, among other things. I also made sure I always met deadlines (or was early) to facilitate things. Ownership.
Tell me about a time you dealt with conflict
Earn Trust, Customer Obsession (internal stakeholders and meeting planning deadline), Ownership
CONFLICT: I built a strong positive working relationship with a colleague who was handing over her role to me and was very stressed and initially hated me, allowing me to meet the strategic plan submission deadline. (avoided waiting 3 weeks until she was back from her wedding and honeymoon). I was taking over a role from someone at Selfridge’s who was about to go away to get married. She got terribly upset because she felt under pressure and I was asking her for help and advice. I did a combination of things - I built rapport with her, I prioritised what I really needed before she went away and left some things, I spoke with my manager privately and asked for advice about the situation, and I got her sponsorship for the key things. I explained to Monica that it was in both of our best interest to get it right. She saw my point of view and went from obstructing to helping me as much as she could and we got along well by the end of my time in her role. Earn Trust, Customer Obsession, Ownership
Performance Improvement: Simplify & improve inefficient or unnecessarily complex processes
Invent & simplify, Insist on the Highest Standards
S: I rolled out a streamlined forecasting process to my art group managers (dotted line reporting to me) to cover forecasting for 30-40 auctions across 7 departments, freeing up 3 days for me to spend more time reviewing and refining. The existing process involved the FBP entering the data for all of those auctions happening constantly after speaking with the 3 business managers based in Paris, New York, and London leaving little time to review and challenge the numbers. I had to implement something new and add a little bit to the business managers workload. We talked about the best way to handle the process and methodology (I would build and maintain a template, they would enter the numbers after speaking with specialists, we would then discuss at scheduled meetings). I rolled out the forecasting tool prior to the next auction which had to be done quickly (bias for action), which the three regional managers were able to use without my help. I then could challenge their assumptions based on interest in the lots/past performance, etc. and the forecast accuracy improved and time was saved. Invent & simplify, Insist on the Highest Standards
Partnering with Senior People (Managing Director, and commercial, marketing, technology leaders) in fast paced environment
Bias for Action, Earn Trust, Deliver Results
S: I partnered with the marketing senior brand director of Aquafresh toothpaste at GSK to obtain sign-off of a new product launch, generating £1.5M of incremental sales and resulting in Aquafresh exceeding their budget target (£90M turnover portfolio, Aquafresh big part). We met as a cross-functional team (marketing, sales, and finance) and I suggested that we gather information from business intelligence, the demand planning team, and asked the sales & marketing guys for their assumptions on uplift. I built a P&L around those assumptions and we refined it together. I presented the P&L to the finance director and GM of consumer health products while the brand director fielded questions, and the new product launch was approved. It slightly exceeded the projection by £300 K and generated £1.5M of incremental sales. The good result solidified my relationship with the marketing brand director. Bias for Action, Earn Trust, Deliver Results
Customer Obsession
Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.
Ownership
Leaders are owners. They think long term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say “that’s not my job.”
Invent and Simplify
Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by “not invented here”. Because we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time.
Are Right, A Lot
Leaders are right a lot. They have strong judgement and good instincts. They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.
Learn and Be Curious
Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them.
Hire and Develop the Best
Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognise people with exceptional talent and willingly move them throughout the organisation. Leaders develop leaders and are serious about their role in coaching others. We work on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development like Career Choice.
Insist on the Highest Standards
Leaders have relentlessly high standards - many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and driving their teams to deliver high quality products, services and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.
Think Big
Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers.
Bias for Action
Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.
Frugality
Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency and invention. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size or fixed expense.
Earn Trust
Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. Leaders do not believe their or their team’s body odour smells of perfume. They benchmark themselves and their teams against the best.
Dive Deep
Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are sceptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task is beneath them.
Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit
Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly.
Deliver Results
Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never compromise.
Partnering with Senior People (Managing Director, and commercial, marketing, technology leaders) in fast paced environment
Learn & Be Curious. Right A Lot. Think Big. Bias for Action. Frugality.
S: Through my partnering with the Director of Operations and his team at Virgin Media, I identified an opportunity to save £1.5M by consolidating customer service sites. I partnered the Director of operations at Virgin Media who was accountable for the smooth running of the TV, mobile, and broadband network and cyber security. He was tasked with reducing the yearly operations spend by £7.0M. At a team meeting, one of his direct reports (Head of Business Operations) spoke about the fact that a couple of business customer support sites were doing the same thing although they had low call volume. I volunteered to investigate what savings consolidating the sites might generate. We worked together to create an Excel model showing the FTE and site savings. I led a presentation about the opportunity to the Director of Operations with the Head of Business Ops there supporting. We were pleased that the project was approved and it generated significant savings (£1.5M). This strengthened my partnering relationships with the Director of Ops and his team. Learn & Be Curious. Right A Lot. Think Big. Bias for Action. Frugality.
Monitoring business strategic, financial, and operational plans
Deliver Results
S: I was very involved in leading the strategic plan process for all of my FBP roles. In particular, I led the strategic plan process for my art group (World Art & Books and Science) and continually monitored it, resulting in my idenitfying an incremental opportunity, leading to our meeting and exceeding the gross margin target of £14M by £400K. Every month I assmbled a cross-functional team including the GM, senior specialists, art group managers, and business intelligence. I presented the results vs. the forecast and plan. Together we thought of ways to improve results. I suggested an incremental auction and the senior specialist for Southeast Asian art said she’d been considering some items for a private sale that could actually do well at auction. As a result of monitoring the plan, the auction went ahead and generated an incremental £400K. Deliver Results.
Hire and Develop the Best
S: I coached an analyst reporting to me on setting the right tone in her interactions with senior people, resulting in an improved perception of her credibility and professionalism. An analyst reporting to me at Christie’s was very competent but a bit gossipy and at times she could come across as overconfident. This may have been because she was starting out in her career and was less polished. I encouraged her to be more formal and less self-depracating in order to build credibility with our stakeholders. I really noticed an improvement in how people regarded her. Hire and Develop the Best.
