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Thank you for all your excellent advice on how to be a manager, how to be interviewed, and even how to conduct interviews and why they're the most important thing a manager does. 

I recently went through interviews with  5 different  people, for my first formal management role, and I got the job!!! 

Aced every interview, in large part due to a LOT of preparation and practice. Recording my answers and playing them back was one of the most effective tools for improving. 
Particularly: 
- how to answer the leadership style question,
- how to talk about past achievements 
- how to research & state salary expectations. 

The preparations gave me so much confidence, they allowed me to answer questions in as real and authentic away as possible ie without faking or trying to game the system, and without minimizing my achievements through false modesty. 

For the questions I hadn't prepared, the mere act of so much preparation gave me the confidence to take my time and think on my feet. I believe in the end, the most senior guy I spoke to was far more interested in how I dealt with the unexpected, than in whether I gave a "right" answer or not. 

To sum up: excessive preparation did not make me sound canned and dead: it created an entirely opposite effect. 

I'm now looking forward to starting one-on-ones with my new team, and putting lots more of your advice into practice. Consider me one very happy customer. I'll be recommending your site to others for sure :)