What type of leadership or behavioral questions are common in IIM B interviews?

Question

B.K Sharma · Accepted Answer

Common leadership and behavioural questions in IIM Bangalore interviews are designed to see how you&rsquo;ve handled real situations, not just how you&rsquo;d answer in theory. They often start with, &ldquo;Tell me about a time when&hellip;&rdquo; and expect a structured, honest response.
Recent examples include:

&ldquo;Tell me about a time you led a team under pressure. What went wrong and how did you fix it?&rdquo;
&ldquo;Describe a conflict in your team and how you resolved it.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Have you ever taken a decision that your team didn&rsquo;t agree with? How did you manage that?&rdquo;
&ldquo;Give an example of when you had to motivate someone who had lost interest in their work.&rdquo;

The panel usually digs deeper ,  if you say you &ldquo;resolved a conflict,&rdquo; they might ask, &ldquo;How do you know your solution worked long term?&rdquo; It helps to prepare 3&ndash;4 real stories from college, internships, or extra-curriculars with clear context, action, and outcome.

Divakshi Arora · Answer

At IIM B, behavioural questions can catch you off guard because they&rsquo;re rarely just &ldquo;Tell me about yourself&rdquo; &mdash; they push you into moments where your choices reveal your values.
Some candidates were asked: &bull; &ldquo;If your team is behind on deadlines, would you stay late to finish or push back the delivery date? Why?&rdquo; &bull; &ldquo;Describe a failure that changed how you approach work.&rdquo; &bull; &ldquo;If your team leader was making a decision you strongly disagreed with, how would you handle it?&rdquo; &bull; &ldquo;Tell me about a time you had to persuade someone much more experienced than you.&rdquo; &bull; &ldquo;In a group project, if someone is not contributing, how would you address it without creating conflict?&rdquo;
One thing to expect &mdash; they might flip your answer into a follow-up, like &ldquo;What would you do differently if this happened again?&rdquo; Practising with your own real situations, rather than generic textbook answers, makes you sound credible and keeps you ready for those curveballs.