Resistance to change is expected in a Grade 7 role. A strong answer shows how you used challenge to improve the change and still maintained direction. The Grade 6 and Grade 7 Civil Service interview guide gives you senior questions and samples to work through before the panel tests how you handled entrenched opposition.
Question
“Tell me about a time you led a major change despite significant resistance.”
What Is Being Looked For
The panel will expect a change with organisation-wide or major service impact. Explain why the current model could not continue, who resisted and what legitimate concerns sat behind that resistance. Senior change leadership requires listening and adjustment alongside clear accountability.
Your answer should show how you built the case, involved affected groups and made decisions when full agreement was impossible. Describe how you used data, governance or pilots to move the discussion from opinion to evidence.
The result should cover adoption and operational impact. It is useful to show how you monitored the change after implementation and responded to emerging problems, rather than treating launch as the end.
Senior resistance examples should include a point where you changed the design because the challenge was valid. This proves that engagement affected the outcome. It also makes the moment where you held firm more credible, because the panel can see that you distinguished between a genuine service risk and a preference for the old approach.
Example Answer
I believe resistance contains useful information, but it cannot become a veto where change is necessary. My role is to identify the valid risk, adjust the design where appropriate and remain clear about the outcome that must be delivered.
I led the introduction of a single performance model across a directorate of 600 staff. Teams used local measures and manual reports, which meant the executive committee could not compare demand or allocate resources consistently. Several senior managers opposed the change because they feared losing local control and believed their services were too different for common measures.
I used six months of reporting data to show where definitions conflicted and where leaders were making decisions from incomplete information. I established a design group with managers, analysts and staff representatives. I separated a small set of common measures from service-specific measures, which protected local context while creating a reliable directorate view.
Two areas continued to resist. I met their directors individually, tested their concerns and agreed a three-month parallel run rather than immediate removal of local reports. I set clear exit criteria and required any proposed exception to evidence a material service risk. I also secured executive agreement that resource decisions would use the new common data from the end of the trial.
During implementation, I published data-quality issues openly and assigned support to teams with weak source records. This reduced the fear that early problems would be used to criticise performance.
All areas moved to the model by the agreed date. Reporting effort reduced, data became comparable and the executive committee used the measures to redirect staff to the highest-demand services. The exception process remained for future changes.
Prepare the part where you held direction after listening and adapting. Use the Grade 6 and Grade 7 Civil Service interview guide now to make sure your example proves senior change leadership rather than general consultation.
