Leadership Development · Week 3
Use these scenarios for team coaching sessions, 1:1 debriefs, or certification preparation
Scenario 1
Situation
You are interviewing for an open role. The third candidate went to the same university as you and you immediately click — the conversation is warm and easy. You catch yourself wanting to skip your structured questions because "you just know" they are a fit.
Your Task
Run a fair, structured, bias-aware interview.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Name the bias to yourself: this is the halo effect — one positive impression coloring the whole evaluation.
Return to your structured question set and ask every candidate the same core questions.
Use behavioral questions ("Tell me about a time…") to gather evidence, not just rapport.
Score against the defined competencies immediately after, before discussing with others.
Separate "I liked them" from "they demonstrated the skills" — write down specific evidence for each rating.
Compare candidates on the same criteria, not on how the conversation felt.
Facilitator Debrief
Likeability is not competence. Structured interviews exist precisely because unstructured ones reward similarity-to-the-interviewer over actual ability — which also drives legal risk and reduces diversity.
Key Principle
Hire on evidence, not chemistry: structure protects you from your own biases.
Scenario 2
Situation
A new hire, Devon, starts Monday. It is now 9:15am Monday and you realize no laptop has been ordered, no accounts are set up, and the team does not know he is starting. Devon is sitting in reception.
Your Task
Salvage the first day and build a repeatable onboarding process.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Go greet Devon personally right now — a warm human welcome beats a perfect setup.
Be honest and own it: "We dropped the ball on some logistics — let me get you settled while we sort it out."
Assign a buddy immediately to keep Devon engaged while access is provisioned.
Spend the first hour on people and purpose (team intros, the mission) — not paperwork.
Build a reusable onboarding checklist so this never happens again: equipment, access, buddy, 30/60/90 plan.
Schedule a Day-1 end-of-day check-in: "How did today land?"
Facilitator Debrief
First impressions set the tone for retention. A disorganized first day signals "you are not a priority." Onboarding is not HR paperwork — it is the manager's first and most lasting act of leadership for a new employee.
Key Principle
People before logistics: a new hire remembers how welcomed they felt long after they forget the laptop delay.