Tell me about a time you failed to pitch something to leadership.

This question aims to uncover how you handle setbacks, especially in high-stakes situations like presenting to leadership. Interviewers are interested in knowing about your resilience and ability to learn from mistakes. To effectively answer this question, you should:

1. Start by recalling a specific instance where you had a chance to pitch something to the leadership and it didn't go as planned.
2. Highlight what exactly went wrong and how you processed the situation.
3. Most importantly, share what you learnt from the experience as well as concrete steps you took to improve or rectify the situation.
4. The end of your response should show growth and an ability to transform negatives into positives.

The main intent of this question is not to expose your failures, but to showcase your willingness to share learnings, admit mistakes and improve upon them.

In my previous role as a marketing manager, I remember pitching a comprehensive social media campaign to the senior leadership team. I was passionate about the idea and had put in a considerable amount of effort. However, I was so involved with the intricacies, I failed to explain the overall strategy effectively to the leadership team. The pitch was unsuccessful as they couldn’t fully understand the benefits.

Post the session, during my self-assessment, I realized that I had prioritized my excitement and attention to detail over clear and effective communication of the idea’s broader benefits. Since then, I've worked on my communication and presentation skills. I took a couple of online courses on business communication and began practicing my pitches with my peers to receive feedback and make necessary adjustments. When I got another opportunity, I applied these learnings. I pitched a new marketing strategy with a clear, concise presentation focusing on the broader impact, and it was approved.

In my previous role as a project manager, I proposed an idea to adopt a new project management software that I believed would increase our efficiency significantly. I'd exclusively researched the software's capabilities and was confident about its benefits. However, I failed to consider the team's adaptability to new technology.

When I pitched the idea, I was met with resistance, especially from senior leadership who were worried about the transition and training required. I realized then that while the software seemed beneficial theoretically, I underestimated the practical implications of its implementation on the team.

With this insight, I modified my proposal to include a detailed training plan and a phased rollout of the software. Instead of pushing for an immediate, complete switch, I suggested that we could start by using it for smaller projects and gradually expand its usage. This revised approach was better received, and we successfully implemented the new software over time with minimal disruption. This taught me the importance of factoring in all aspects and potential impacts of a change before proposing it."