Prepare for an interview, starting with the question you're dreading

I've got an interview for this role:

Team leader, customer support, a fintech with about 200 staff. They want someone who's managed before and can bring average response time down.

My background: Six years in support, two of them as a senior. One stint as a team leader for seven months that ended badly. I'm good at coaching people through calls, that's the part I'm actually proud of.

Start with the question I'm dreading: Why did you leave your last job after seven months. I left because my manager was awful and I don't want to say that.

For that one, give me:
- An answer I could say out loud in under a minute. Honest, no spin that would fall apart under a follow-up.
- The follow-up they'll ask next, and how I handle it.
- What not to say, specifically.

Then give me eight questions they're likely to ask for this role. For each, one line on what they're really checking, and a two or three sentence answer spine using my actual experience. Not a script, a spine I can say in my own words.

Then four questions for me to ask them, and say what a bad answer to each would tell me about the place.

Write the answers as speech, not prose. If it doesn't sound like something a person says, rewrite it.

What you get: A real answer to the hard question, eight likely questions with a spine each, and questions to ask them.