180. How to answer the leadership question at your next job interview - Interview with Robert Jordan

Knowing your leadership is a critical component of any successful job search, whether you are a junior professional or a senior executive. Great leaders and team workers inspire and motivate their teams and colleagues to achieve their goals and help companies reach new heights.  

But not all leaders are created equal, and different styles of leadership can be more effective in different situations. In this episode of The Job Hunting Podcast, we'll take a closer look at four leadership styles and explore some examples of who embodies them and where they can be useful. 

My guest for this episode is Robert Jordan, the CEO of InterimExecs, an organization that matches top executives with companies around the world to work on short-term projects that are impactful and need excellent leadership support. Based on his work at InterimExecs and his research with thousands of leaders and companies, he and his co-author, Olivia Wagner, wrote Right Leader Right Time: Discover Your Leadership Style for a Winning Career and Company. In this book, they describe four leadership styles, Fixer, Artist, Builder, and Strategist.  

So, if you have struggled in the past to explain or identify your leadership style, let's say, at a job interview, then this episode is for you. This episode is also a great listen if you are in the process of getting used to the new world of work and the new ways employers want to borrow, not buy, your expertise. Project-type work, short-term contracts, and part-time retainers are becoming more and more common at every level, including senior execs and C-level. 

Timestamps to guide your listening:

• 4:47 - Robert Jordan's career story 
• 7:43 - Interim executive work: what is it and how it works 
• 18:21 - Fixer leadership style and examples 
• 19:41 - Artist leadership style and examples 
• 21:06 - Builder leadership style and examples 
• 28:36 - Strategist leadership style and examples 

Links mentioned in this episode:

• The Job Hunting Podcast Episode 78. Portfolio career: What is it, and is it for you? Featuring Jacinta Whelan.
• The Job Hunting Podcast Episode 167. You need to know your leadership style. Feauturing Gary Ryan.