Jessica Annabelle Horton

UH 120

Leadership Interview and Reflection

June 20, 2020

Part I

Person’s name: Jessica Lee Horton

Organization/affiliation/company person works for: Esther F. Garrison School of Visual and

Performing Arts

Person’s role with the organization/organization: Admissions Director, Business Education

Teacher, and Department Chair

Length of time the person has served in their role/capacity: Fifteen years

Part II
What is/are your greatest strength(s)? Greatest weakness(es)? “My greatest strength is that I

never stop wanting to learn more, be better, and achieve at higher levels. My greatest

weakness is that sometimes I take on too much and find it difficult to say no.”

What do you consider to be your most significant accomplishment or achievement?

“Professionally, my greatest achievement has been being recognized as a leader among

my teammates and coworkers. Also, having students come back after they leave our

school and say that I taught them things that helped them later is very fulfilling and I

consider that a great accomplishment”.

Have you ever failed at something? What did you learn from that experience? “I’ve definitely

failed before. One example is when I was invited to interview for a district level position

within the CTAE department. The position required a lot of high school specific

knowledge, and as someone who is a middle school specialist, I didn’t have the high

school hands on experience I needed to be the best fit for the position. I learned from not

getting the promotion. First, I learned that you should always look ahead to the next

thing you want to do and start preparing for the opportunity before the opportunity even

presents itself. In other words, be prepared for the next great thing. I should have

already devoted time to learning the ropes of high school CTAE. Also, I learned that

sometimes staying where you are is actually the better option. I didn’t get the position,

and within a couple of weeks, I was able to take on a more significant role in the school

I’m in. And I’m happier than ever”.

What are the most important values a leader should have and demonstrate? “The leader should

always have respect for everyone on the team. You may not be the best of friends with

everyone you work with, but you should be able to effectively communicate and
 collaborate with everyone. A leader should also have commitment to seeing the project

or task through, and the ability to flexible and adapt to changing circumstances”.

What is the difference between a Leader and a Manager? “This is one of my favorite questions,

and I actually pose this question to my 8th grade Business Education students every year.

In my opinion, a leader is someone who guides a group, but fully participates in the

mission; they’re a real team member. A manager also guides a group, but doesn’t

necessarily fully immerse themselves as one of the team. A leader thinks in terms of “us”

but a manager thinks in terms of “me” and “you all”.

How do you get others to accept/support your ideas? “I think it’s much easier to get others to

accept an idea when they get to have some ownership in it as well. I might present an

idea, but still leave the option open for others to make suggestions of modifications to

make my idea even better. Suddenly it becomes “our” idea instead of “my” idea, and

they’re more likely to support it because they had input”.

How do you provide feedback to others? Why is this important? “I provide feedback to other

members of my admissions team when we meet, which is either monthly or bimonthly

depending on the time of year. This is a good time for me to get their feedback as well,

and ideas they have for making our admissions process better. Feedback is so important

because it’s how we improve. When we find better ways to do things, the whole project

or process improves for everyone.”

How important is transparency as a leader? Or, is it important? “Transparency is so important

for a leader. People will not buy in to your vision if they don’t understand what they’re

doing and why they’re doing it. Even worse, by not being transparent, you run the risk of

your team thinking you may be keeping information from them, which can lead to
 mistrust”.

How do you incorporate ethics into your leadership style and decision-making? “Ethics cannot

be overlooked as part of leadership. Since the admissions at Garrison is based on

academic and audition criteria and extremely competitive, we have to be able to say that

all decisions are fair and treat all applicants equally. Ethically, I always consider if the

decisions are in the best interest of the students, and if the decisions are fair to everyone”.

Do you invite team members into the decision-making process? “Absolutely. I believe the best

decisions are a result of collaboration and communication, and different perspectives lead

to the most effective results. I always value team member input”.

Describe a time you took on a leadership role when you did not have the title of a leader? How,

or did, this prepare you for future leadership opportunities? “When I was first named

Admissions Director for the school, I definitely did not have the title of leader. I worked

in the administrative office and was responsible for data and reporting. However, I made

sure to educate myself on all aspects of admissions so that when the opportunity

presented itself, I would be the logical choice to fill the position. This prepared me for

future leadership opportunities because I discovered the value of learning the skills that

will set you apart when it’s time to find a leader.”

Can you explain your communication style? How do you ensure you’re communicating in the

most effective manner? “To me, the most important thing to remember with

communication is that you must use multiple channels of communication. It’s my job as

the communicator to make sure that my team receives and understands the message in

whichever way he or she is most comfortable communicating.”

How do you approach and mediate conflict among members of a team? “Conflict is another
 place where communication becomes key. I’ve found that most often conflict comes

from a simple misunderstanding - either someone has forgotten to communicate, or the

message was not understood. The two steps to take to solve a conflict are to first, clear

up any miscommunication, and then compromise to resolve any differences of opinion”.

How do you motivate your team? “I motivate the team with encouragement and appreciation for

their hard work. One thing that the admissions staff members respond to are incentives.

For example, the week we have auditions, they earn days when they can dress in business

casual attire. We provide them with spirit wear items and free food. Since we’re in

education, we don’t have the ability to reward with financial incentives, but intangibles

go a long way for motivation.”

What is the most difficult part of being a leader? “The most difficult part of being a leader is

when you have to tell people things they don’t want to hear, or you can’t give them

exactly what they want, and you’re ultimately responsible for the decision”.

What motivates you to be a leader? “I’m motivated to be a leader because my mindset is that we

can do better, do more, and improve things for our students, parents, and teammates. I

like to be a part of positive change”.

How do you lead through change and times of transition? “We’ve had a change in

administration this year, so we’ve had a time of transition after having the same

administrator for the previous five years. Change can be tricky, because sometimes

people get into a routine of doing things a certain way and are resistant to doing things

differently. I think during change it’s important to set the tone for your team by keeping

positive attitude, and keeping the lines of communication open between yourself and the
 team.”

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? “There are actually two, but they’re both

from my father, your Grandpa Mike. The first thing he taught me was that you treat the

custodian the same as you treat the CEO. In the hotels he managed, he interacted with

everyone from the maintenance staff to the Marriott corporate executives. He treated

them all with the exact same respect and kindness, and really impressed that lesson upon

me. The second piece of advice he offered me is to never ask my employees or team

members to do anything I wouldn’t do. The hotels he managed employed hundreds of

people, and he was very busy. But once a month, he went upstairs and helped the

housekeeping staff clean one room from top to bottom. He believed that in order to

effectively help his employees reach their full potential, he had to be able to understand

what their job entails. So the best pieces of advice: one, treat the custodian the same way

you treat the CEO, and two, don’t ever ask anyone to do anything you wouldn’t be

willing to do yourself.

Part III

I’m very fortunate that in my hometown I know many local and community leaders.

However, when selecting an individual to interview for this assignment, I wanted to choose

someone who is a leader in the organization I want to work for, which is our local school district.

My mother, Jessica Horton, is a well-respected leader in the Savannah Chatham County Public
School System (SCCPSS). The school where my mother works is a visual and performing arts

magnet school, and all students have to go through an application process and admissions lottery

to attempt to get a seat to attend. In addition to teaching Business Education, my mother is the

admissions director for the school. In a typical year, my mother processes over 2000

applications for about 225 available seats. Part of her job is coordinating the application review

and arts auditions, a process which involves about 25 staff members and 10 outside judges. I

have served as a student volunteer during the auditions, and have always wondered how my

mother coordinates such a large, overwhelming process and makes it look easy. So, I was

excited to get her thoughts on how she leads her team. Also, since I plan to work with students

in speech language pathology, I was curious to get her feedback on how students with special

needs such as speech disorders are scheduled for services once they’re accepted to the school.

Interestingly, even though it is 2 months before school starts and 8 months before auditions,

when I interviewed her for this assignment, she was in the middle of scheduling and planning for

the upcoming year.

One of my biggest takeaways from this assignment is that being a leader can be difficult

at times. There are times when, as a leader, you will have to accept responsibility for and

explain the group’s decision, and sometimes that means people take it out on you personally.

Also, this assignment made me reflect on the importance of treating everyone with kindness,

respect, and professionalism. One answer that surprised me was when my mother discussed how

she viewed the position that she didn’t get as a failure, but a failure that she learned from. She

has always taught me and my brother that even being considered for an opportunity is an honor,

so I didn’t think that her not getting the position was a failure. It was good to hear that she used

it as a tool to appreciate the position she already had.

 I think that I will definitely apply the two pieces of wisdom that were handed down from

my grandfather. First, I will show respect and kindness to everyone I work with, no matter what

their position in relationship to mine. Also, I will make sure that anything I ask of my team

members (or students) is something that I am willing to do myself. I believe that this interview

opened my eyes to the importance of communication and feedback as well. When team

members have open communication and the ability to collaborate, the team overall will be

stronger.

I found this interview to be extremely valuable and relevant. One reason is that it gave

me more insight into the company, SCCPSS, that I want to work for. A fundamental rule of

interviewing is to do your homework and get to know the company before you get the interview.

Interviewing a current employee definitely gave me knowledge about the district. Also, the

interview made me realize that there are certain fundamental facts that apply no matter what

industry you’re in. My mother is in education, and her father was in hospitality. Yet the ideals

that worked in one setting worked equally as well in the other. So not only was the interview

valuable and relevant, it also was enlightening to see my mother as the educational leader that

she is in her school district.