Tell me about someone whose growth you deliberately invested in. What can they do now that they couldn't before?
Why this works
"I develop my people" is a value statement; a name, a plan, and a before-and-after is evidence. The closing clause forces the measurable — coaching either moved someone's capability or it didn't — and what the investment cost the candidate shows whether developing others was a priority or a byproduct.
Follow-up probes
- What did you do beyond encouragement — assignments, coaching, protection?
- How did you pick the stretch for that particular person?
- What did it cost you — time, delegated work, risk?
What good looks like
A specific person and a deliberate plan — stretch assignments with a safety net, coaching in the moment, visibility passed on — a before-and-after an outsider could verify, and a real cost to the candidate accepted along the way.
Red flags
Development that amounts to approving a course, credit claimed for someone who grew on their own, growth described only in confidence gained rather than capability, or no specific person coming to mind.
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