Effective influencing skills are the cornerstone of successful leadership and collaboration in today's complex business environment. The ability to persuade others, gain buy-in for ideas, and drive change through relationships rather than authority is increasingly valued across organizations of all sizes. According to leadership development experts, professionals who excel at influencing others can navigate organizational complexity, build consensus among diverse stakeholders, and implement initiatives more successfully than those who rely solely on positional power.

In the workplace, influencing others manifests through various scenarios: a product manager convincing engineering teams to prioritize certain features, a change management specialist gaining buy-in for new processes, or a team member persuading colleagues to adopt an innovative approach. The most effective influencers combine strategic communication, emotional intelligence, credibility-building, and adaptive persuasion techniques to move people toward desired outcomes while maintaining positive relationships.

When evaluating candidates for their ability to influence others, behavioral interviewing is particularly effective. By focusing on past experiences, you gain insights into how candidates have actually approached influence situations rather than how they think they might behave. Listen carefully for evidence of strategic preparation, relationship-building efforts, communication adaptation, and how they handled resistance. The best candidates will demonstrate an ability to influence across different contexts, with various stakeholders, and through multiple approaches—not just relying on a single persuasion style.

Interview Questions

Tell me about a time when you needed to gain buy-in from stakeholders who initially disagreed with your approach or idea.

Areas to Cover:

• The context of the situation and what was at stake
• The nature of the stakeholders' initial resistance
• Specific strategies used to influence stakeholders
• How the candidate adapted their approach based on different stakeholders
• The outcome of their influence efforts
• What the candidate learned about effective influence

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you prepare for these influence conversations?
• What resistance did you face, and how did you address specific objections?
• How did you tailor your message to different stakeholders?
• What would you do differently if faced with a similar situation in the future?

Describe a situation where you had to influence someone who had more authority or experience than you.

Areas to Cover:

• The context and power dynamics of the situation
• How the candidate established credibility
• Specific influence techniques employed
• How they navigated the authority difference
• The results of their influence attempt
• Insights gained about influencing upward

Follow-Up Questions:

• What research or preparation did you do before attempting to influence this person?
• How did you establish credibility with this person?
• What challenges did you face due to the difference in authority, and how did you overcome them?
• How did this experience shape your approach to influencing senior stakeholders in subsequent situations?

Share an example of when you had to influence a group of people to change a long-standing process or behavior.

Areas to Cover:

• The established process/behavior and why change was necessary
• The resistance factors the candidate anticipated and encountered
• The influence strategy used to drive change
• How they built coalitions or found champions to support the change
• The results achieved and implementation challenges
• Lessons learned about leading change through influence

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you identify and address the emotional aspects of this change?
• Who were the key stakeholders you needed to influence, and how did your approach differ for each?
• What resistance did you encounter that you didn't anticipate, and how did you handle it?
• How did you sustain momentum when the change process became difficult?

Tell me about a time when you had to influence people across different departments or teams who had competing priorities.

Areas to Cover:

• The cross-functional context and competing priorities at play
• How the candidate built relationships across organizational boundaries
• Specific influence techniques used with different groups
• How they found common ground or mutual benefits
• The outcome of their cross-functional influence efforts
• Key insights about influencing across organizational silos

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you learn about the different priorities and concerns of each department?
• What specific barriers to cross-functional collaboration did you encounter?
• How did you frame your message to appeal to the different motivations across teams?
• What would you do differently in a similar situation in the future?

Describe a time when you successfully influenced others without having formal authority over them.

Areas to Cover:

• The context requiring influence without authority
• How the candidate built informal influence
• Specific techniques used to persuade or motivate
• How they overcame resistance without positional power
• The outcome of their influence efforts
• What they learned about influence beyond formal authority

Follow-Up Questions:

• What did you do to establish credibility with these individuals?
• How did you identify what would motivate them to support your initiative?
• What challenges arose from not having formal authority, and how did you address them?
• How has this experience shaped your approach to leading through influence?

Tell me about a time when your initial attempts to influence someone were unsuccessful, and you had to change your approach.

Areas to Cover:

• The initial influence attempt and approach
• Why the first approach didn't work
• How the candidate diagnosed the problem
• The revised influence strategy
• The outcome after adapting the approach
• What they learned about adaptability in influence

Follow-Up Questions:

• What signals indicated your initial approach wasn't working?
• How did you determine what alternative approach might be more effective?
• How quickly did you recognize the need to change approaches?
• What did this experience teach you about reading people during influence attempts?

Describe a situation where you had to influence others to accept a decision that they might not like or that would require significant change on their part.

Areas to Cover:

• The challenging decision and why it was necessary
• How the candidate prepared to deliver difficult messages
• Their approach to gaining acceptance despite resistance
• Specific communication and influence techniques used
• The outcome and how they managed ongoing resistance
• What they learned about influencing through tough situations

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you prepare to deliver this challenging message?
• What resistance did you anticipate, and how did you plan for it?
• How did you balance empathy for their concerns with the need to implement the decision?
• What follow-up did you do to ensure continued support after the initial influence conversations?

Share an example of when you needed to build a coalition or gather support from multiple people to move an initiative forward.

Areas to Cover:

• The initiative and why a coalition was necessary
• How the candidate identified and recruited key supporters
• Their strategy for expanding influence beyond initial supporters
• How they leveraged the coalition to increase influence
• The outcome of the coalition-building efforts
• What they learned about influence through networks

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you identify the right people to include in your coalition?
• What did you do to make it beneficial for others to support your initiative?
• How did you handle situations where coalition members had different priorities?
• How has this experience informed how you build support for initiatives in other contexts?

Tell me about a time when you had to persuade others to support a significant investment or resource allocation.

Areas to Cover:

• The investment or resource request and its importance
• How the candidate built a compelling business case
• Their approach to addressing financial concerns or objections
• Specific influence techniques used with decision-makers
• The outcome of their influence efforts
• What they learned about influencing resource decisions

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you research and prepare your business case?
• What objections did you encounter, and how did you address them?
• How did you tailor your message to different stakeholders with varying concerns?
• What would you do differently if you were making a similar request in the future?

Describe a situation where you had to influence someone who was initially skeptical or resistant to your ideas.

Areas to Cover:

• The context and nature of the skepticism/resistance
• How the candidate diagnosed the source of resistance
• Their approach to addressing specific concerns
• How they built credibility with the skeptical person
• The outcome of their influence attempt
• What they learned about overcoming skepticism

Follow-Up Questions:

• What do you think was the root cause of their skepticism?
• How did you validate and address their concerns rather than dismissing them?
• What specific technique was most effective in changing their perspective?
• How has this experience shaped how you approach skeptical stakeholders now?

Tell me about a time when you had to influence a diverse group of people with different communication styles and preferences.

Areas to Cover:

• The context and diversity factors at play
• How the candidate assessed different communication needs
• Specific ways they adapted their influence approach for different people
• Challenges encountered when balancing diverse needs
• The outcome of their inclusive influence efforts
• What they learned about adaptive influence

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you identify the different communication preferences within the group?
• What specific adaptations did you make for different stakeholders?
• What challenges did you face in balancing these different approaches?
• How has this experience informed your communication approach in diverse settings?

Share an example of when you successfully influenced organizational culture or behavioral norms.

Areas to Cover:

• The cultural/behavioral change needed and why
• The candidate's strategy for influencing embedded norms
• How they modeled the desired behaviors
• How they influenced both formal and informal leaders
• The outcome and sustainability of the cultural change
• What they learned about influencing organizational culture

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you identify the key cultural elements that needed to change?
• Who were the informal influencers you needed to engage, and how did you identify them?
• What resistance did you encounter to the cultural shift?
• How did you ensure the changes would be sustained over time?

Describe a time when you needed to use data or evidence to influence a decision or change someone's mind.

Areas to Cover:

• The context and initial position/decision to be influenced
• How the candidate gathered relevant data
• Their approach to presenting information persuasively
• How they addressed contradictory evidence or interpretations
• The outcome of their data-driven influence attempt
• What they learned about using evidence in persuasion

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you determine what data would be most persuasive?
• How did you present the data to make it accessible and compelling?
• What objections or alternative interpretations did you encounter?
• How has this experience shaped how you use data in influence attempts?

Tell me about a situation where you had to influence people to collaborate who were initially in conflict or competition with each other.

Areas to Cover:

• The context and nature of the conflict/competition
• How the candidate assessed the underlying interests and concerns
• Their approach to building bridges between competing parties
• Specific techniques used to foster collaboration
• The outcome of their conflict-transformation efforts
• What they learned about influencing through conflict

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you understand the underlying interests of each party?
• What common ground did you identify that helped build collaboration?
• How did you help the parties see mutual benefits in working together?
• What challenges remained, and how did you address ongoing tensions?

Describe a time when you had to influence someone to consider an alternative perspective or approach that was very different from their initial position.

Areas to Cover:

• The context and the gap between perspectives
• How the candidate created openness to new ideas
• Their approach to introducing alternative viewpoints
• Specific influence techniques used to broaden thinking
• The outcome of their perspective-shifting efforts
• What they learned about influencing entrenched viewpoints

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you create an environment where the person felt safe exploring different ideas?
• What resistance did you encounter to considering alternative perspectives?
• How did you balance challenging their thinking while maintaining the relationship?
• What specific approach was most effective in getting them to consider new ideas?

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are behavioral questions about influencing others more effective than hypothetical scenarios?

Behavioral questions reveal how candidates have actually handled influence situations in the past, which is the best predictor of future performance. Hypothetical scenarios often elicit idealized or theoretical responses that may not reflect how a person truly operates. By focusing on specific past experiences, you gain insights into their practical influence skills, including how they've handled resistance, adapted approaches, and achieved results through persuasion.

How many influence-related questions should I include in an interview?

For roles where influencing others is a critical competency, include 3-4 behavioral questions that explore different aspects of influence (e.g., influencing without authority, navigating resistance, cross-functional influence). This provides enough data points to assess the candidate's influence capabilities while allowing time for other important competencies. Select questions that are most relevant to the specific challenges of your role.

What should I look for in candidates' responses to these influence questions?

Look for evidence of: strategic preparation before influence attempts; relationship-building as a foundation for influence; adaptability in approach based on stakeholders; emotional intelligence in reading others; persistence through resistance; and reflection/learning from both successes and failures. Strong candidates will describe specific techniques they used, explain their reasoning, and show awareness of how they needed to adapt their approach for different people.

How can I tell if a candidate is describing authentic influence versus manipulation or coercion?

Ethical influence respects others' agency and needs while working toward mutually beneficial outcomes. Listen for how candidates talk about stakeholders—do they demonstrate empathy and respect for others' perspectives? Do they seek to understand concerns before addressing them? Do they mention finding win-win solutions? Be cautious if candidates describe tactics that prioritize their own goals without consideration for others' legitimate interests or that rely on pressure tactics rather than genuine persuasion.

How should I evaluate responses from candidates with less experience?

For early-career candidates, focus on the fundamental elements of influence rather than expecting complex organizational influence examples. Look for evidence of peer influence, academic team leadership, volunteer organization work, or customer interactions. The same core skills apply—building relationships, understanding others' perspectives, communicating persuasively, and adapting approaches—even if demonstrated in less complex contexts.

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