Leadership
Leadership means showing enthusiasm, direction, and accountability to help teams and individuals achieve their best. At every grade, assessors want to see that you take ownership and support others to succeed.
What assessors look for: Evidence that you take ownership, motivate others, provide direction, and hold yourself and your team accountable for outcomes.
What Leadership means
Leadership means showing enthusiasm, direction, and accountability to help teams and individuals achieve their best. At every grade, assessors want to see that you take ownership and support others to succeed. This behaviour is one of the nine assessed under the Civil Service Success Profiles framework. Most departments ask for 250 words per behaviour at AA–HEO level, and 500–750 words at SEO and above.
The Civil Service defines Leadership as a core behaviour that assessors evaluate at both sift and interview stages. The exact wording of the framework may vary slightly by department — always check the job advert for the specific wording used.
Example statement
Below is a 250-word example for Leadership. Every example on this site is original, word-count accurate, and includes a STAR breakdown.
[S] A new starter joined our team during a period when our usual training mentor was on long-term leave. The new starter was struggling to grasp our case management system and their confidence was dropping.
[T] I needed to ensure the new starter received adequate training and support without delaying our team's ongoing workload.
[A] I volunteered to take on the mentoring role and created a two-week training plan based on the existing mentor's notes. I scheduled daily 15-minute check-ins, adapted my teaching style when I noticed the new starter learned better from visual examples, and paired them with a buddy for peer support. I also adjusted my own schedule to handle some of their simpler tasks while they built competence, and kept my manager informed of progress weekly.
[R] The new starter was handling cases independently within three weeks — one week ahead of the usual timeline. They later told my manager that the structured support made them feel valued. Our team's case backlog did not increase during the transition period.
- Shows proactive ownership of a problem (volunteering, creating a plan) rather than waiting to be asked.
- Demonstrates adaptability (changing teaching style based on observation).
- Balances support for the individual with protection of team performance.
- Includes a clear, measurable result (independent within three weeks, no backlog increase).
- Confusing leadership with seniority — you can show leadership at any grade.
- Describing only what you told others to do, without showing how you supported them.
- Using the word "led" without evidence of what you actually did differently.
Plagiarism note: This example is for inspiration only. Adapt it to your own experience. Assessors can spot generic or copied statements, and they score poorly.
Examples by grade
Each grade requires a different level of complexity. Click your grade to see a tailored example.
Focus on following procedures, supporting team goals, and showing awareness of wider context.
EOShow initiative within your role and understanding of how your work supports the team.
HEODemonstrate broader awareness, stakeholder engagement, and proactive problem-solving.
SEOShow strategic thinking, cross-team influence, and management of wider priorities.
Grade 7Demonstrate senior-level strategic oversight, policy awareness, and organisational impact.
Grade 6Show director-level strategic leadership, cross-departmental influence, and systemic change.
How to write a Leadership statement
Follow these steps to write a strong statement. For a full guide, see how to write behaviour statements.
- Pick one specific example. Choose a real situation from your work, volunteering, or education. One well-told example beats three vague ones.
- Write the Situation in two sentences. Set the scene quickly. Assessors do not need every detail — just enough to understand the context.
- State the Task in one sentence. What did you need to achieve? Be specific about your responsibility.
- Spend 60% of your words on Action. This is where you show what you did, not what the team did. Use "I" not "we".
- End with a clear Result. Include a number if you can. What changed? What was the outcome?
Write long, then cut. First drafts of 350 words usually contain a strong 250. Focus on cutting adjectives and filler phrases like "I felt it was important to" — they add words without adding meaning.
Interview questions
At interview, you may be asked follow-up questions about your behaviour statement. Prepare for questions like:
- "Tell me about a time when you demonstrated leadership."
- "What would you do differently if you faced that situation again?"
- "How did you ensure your approach was the right one?"
See the full interview question bank for Leadership.
Frequently asked questions
Most departments ask for 250 words per behaviour at AA–HEO level. SEO and above may allow 500 or 750 words. Always check the job advert — the limit varies, and on Civil Service Jobs it is sometimes a word limit and sometimes a character limit.
Yes, but you must rewrite the example to focus on the specific behaviour being assessed. The same project could show Leadership (how you directed the team) and Working Together (how you collaborated with stakeholders), but the emphasis and wording must be different for each.
You do not need a dramatic story. A well-told ordinary example — Team leader who stepped up to coordinate a new starter's training when the usual mentor was on leave. — scores better than an extraordinary one told badly. Assessors look for clarity and evidence, not grandeur.