Unique Interview Question About Mistakes

Tom Gimbel, CEO of LaSalle Network, uses a unique interview question to assess authenticity, asking candidates about a significant mistake they’ve made. This approach reveals candidates’ ability to own up to and learn from their errors, reflecting their genuineness and self-awareness. Gimbel values this insight to determine if the candidate has been authentic throughout the interview.

“Tell me a time that you really screwed something up that cost the company money and what you learned from it.”

He emphasizes the importance of selecting a mistake that demonstrates real experience and growth, steering clear of trivial or exaggerated faults. This strategy helps identify candidates who are humble, reflective, and capable of learning from past mistakes.

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With over 30 years in HR and leadership, I help organizations transform workplace culture by aligning values, communication, and accountability.  My training and speaking approach blends experience, data, psychology, and humor to make leadership real, reliable, and realistic—no buzzwords, just practical tools that the every-day human can apply immediately.   Why? Because culture isn’t built by policies—it’s built by consistency, presence, ongoing skill development and true leadership. I teach people to communicate with courage, set boundaries without guilt, and create teams that don’t need a vacation to recover from work.    

 

– Wendy Sellers, The HR Lady®  

 

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Wendy Sellers
Wendy Sellers, known as “The HR Lady®,” is a dedicated HR consultant and business partner of all size businesses, a conference speaker, and management trainer who specializes in understanding the unique culture and goals of organizations in order to improve business outcomes.

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