Leadership and teamwork: NHS Consultant Interview Questions

Panels ask about leadership style, conflict with a colleague and managing an underperforming consultant in most interviews. They are listening for examples where you acted as the senior person, not as a registrar reporting upwards.

Updated 26 October 2026

How to answer

One real example in STARR form with your own actions clear, the resistance named and the outcome given. For the underperforming colleague, use SPIES: seek information, patient safety, initiative, escalate, support. Say what you would do if they dismissed your concern.

Frameworks: STARR for examples; SPIES for the underperforming colleague

STAR Situation in a sentence, Task: what you had to do, Action: what you did in the first person, Result: the outcome with a number where there is one. Add Reflection for STARR. Full guide →

Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the medical directorSTARR
What is your leadership style? Give us an example of it in action.
- Follow-up: How has it changed over the last few years?
Name a style and prove it with one example in STARR form where you led as the senior person. Say how the style changes under pressure and what you have learned about its weaknesses. A style with no example is an assertion.
Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the HR or people directorSTARR
Tell us about a time you experienced conflict with a colleague and how you resolved it.
One real conflict, your own actions clear, the outcome and the relationship afterwards. Show that you addressed it early, in private, and focused on the issue rather than the person. Avoid conflicts where you were plainly right and they were plainly wrong.
Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the clinical director or clinical leadSTARR
How would you manage a consultant colleague who is underperforming?
- Follow-up: What if they dismissed your concerns?
Use SPIES: seek information, patient safety, initiative, escalate, support. Start with a private conversation to understand why, protect patients while you do, involve the clinical director if it is not resolved, and keep the colleague supported throughout. Then say what you would do if they dismissed you.
Often askedUsually asked by the medical directorSTARR
What is the difference between management and leadership?
Management runs the system; leadership sets direction and brings people with you. Give an example of each from your own practice, then say which the department needs more of right now and why.
Often askedUsually asked by the consultant colleague in the specialtySTARR
Tell us about a time you implemented a change in a department and how you brought people with you.
- Follow-up: Who resisted, and what did you do about it?
STARR with the resistance named. Who objected, why, what you did about it, and what the measured outcome was. Panels want to hear that you listened to the objectors and changed the plan where they were right.
Often askedUsually asked by the HR or people directorSTARR
Describe a time you showed real teamwork. What was your role in the team?
Pick a team where you were not the leader and your contribution was clear. Say what the team needed, what you provided, and what the outcome was. Reflection on when to follow matters here.
Often askedUsually asked by the head of nursing or senior nurseSTARR
How would you work with and develop the wider multidisciplinary team, not just the doctors?
Talk about nurses, allied health, managers and administrators by name of role. Describe shared ward rounds, joint teaching, giving credit, asking what they need. Mention one thing you have done, not just what you believe.
Often askedUsually asked by the chief executive or deputySTARR
What do you understand by compassionate leadership, and what kind of team member are you?
Define it in plain terms: attending, understanding, empathising and helping. Then describe the team member you are with one example where you noticed a colleague struggling and acted. Keep it honest; panels can tell a borrowed definition.