Tell me about a client or stakeholder who was openly skeptical of you at the start. What did you do about it?
Why this works
Trust stories told in the abstract collapse into "I communicated well"; a specific skeptic forces the mechanics — the signals they read, the promises they made small and kept, the moment it turned. It also shows whether the candidate notices distrust at all.
Follow-up probes
- What was the skepticism about — you, your role, or a history you inherited?
- What was the first commitment you made them, and why that one?
- How did you know when it had finally turned?
What good looks like
Specific evidence of the skepticism rather than a hunch, deliberately small early commitments kept visibly, patience measured in weeks rather than one grand gesture, and a concrete signal that the relationship had shifted.
Red flags
Trust arrives via personality ("people just warm to me"), the skepticism is dismissed as the client's problem, or the story ends at the first friendly meeting with nothing about what was delivered.
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