Interview a Leader

Jeff J. Reed

University of San Diego

LEPS-550-02-SU21 Public Safety Law

 I contacted a supervisor to discuss their leadership or management style and

their effectiveness in leading particular situations. This supervisor has worked in the

industry for over 15 years and was recently promoted to his position. To assess the

methods used by this leader, I asked, "Do you considered yourself as a leader or a

manager? What traits or characteristics do you have that support your claim? This

supervisor answered, "As a leader, one of my distinguishing characteristics is allowing

individual employees I work with to have a significant amount of decision-making

freedom and ability to work autonomously towards accomplishing their missions. I

refuse to micro-manage employees that are in a leadership position themselves. Time

and time again, I have seen this cause irreparable harm to employees' motivation and

their personal development. However, with this freedom comes a significantly increased

amount of responsibility for the employees I supervise."

I also asked him, "Absentee leaders are people in leadership roles who are

psychologically absent from them. They were promoted to management and enjoy the

privileges and rewards but avoid meaningful involvement with their teams. Does this

type of leadership describe you?" He answered, "I attempt to be as engaged as

possible with the teams that I work with. Meaningful involvement with teams includes

being present and creating an environment where employees feel comfortable

questioning decisions I make in non-critical situations. For example, I usually attend all

team briefings on our first day of the workweek. Besides providing updates to the

teams, I seek questions from the teams and try to dispel rumors. Although some

questions are asked in our formal briefings, more likely than not, I will later be asked

questions by team members in the hallways, by the coffee machine, etc. These
interactions generate discussions and invoke ideas about ways to improve our

department. I value these interactions as they can lead to meaningful change. There will

always be time constraints or unexpected delays in project completion; however, I try to

be as engaging as possible with the team I work with."

According to Kotter, "leadership is about vision, about people buying in, about

empowerment and, most of all, about producing useful change." The supervisor I work

for has those characteristics and does not display the traits of a manager, but one as a

leader due to giving me the freedom to run my team without micro-managing, freedom

to accomplish missions, and I have bought into this style of leadership. He empowers

my leadership abilities by giving me the authority to motivate and develop those under

my control with their personal and professional development. I have been given the

freedom to take department members into the future and making them successful in the

organization.

According to Scott Gregory, "Employees were most concerned about what their

bosses didn't do." I am fortunate to work for a leader who is not absent and who is

engaging, checks in daily, and is always around when I need him. This style of

leadership goes against what a stereotypical manager would do. Gregory also states

that "Being ignored by one's boss is more alienating than being treated poorly."

Checking in and addressing the needs of others improves job satisfaction, increases

proactivity, and creates high engagement. As my supervisor stated, daily interactions

can lead to meaningful change. The Principles of Marine Corps Leadership states, "To

promote efficiency and morale, a leader should inform the Marines in his unit of all

happenings and give reasons why things are to be done." Keeping the employees
informed makes them feel like they are part of a team which in fact makes them perform

better and maintain a positive outlook.

Leadership is about getting people to understand and believe in the vision and to

work and achieve goals together. Managing is more about administering and making

sure the day-to-day operations and being done. I am confident that I am working for a

leader and not a manager based on my interview with him and observing his daily

interactions. The behavior and actions of my supervisor are to produce useful change

through his vision, and I see it when I interact with him. According to Neubert, "Some of

my favorite bosses were outgoing and checked in with staff daily to ensure all was well.

They were well-spoken and made staff aware of the group's plan, so we were all striving

for the same goal". My supervisors' traits are motivation, knowledge, openness,

agreeableness, and he is very likable, which mirrors being a leader with personal

power. He is well-spoken and knows the importance of teamwork and completing tasks

as a group, and leads by example.

 References

Kotter, J. (2013) Management Is (Still) Not Leadership (hbr.org)

Gregory, S (2018) The most Common Type of Incompetent Leader

MCRP (2008) 6-11 Marine Corps Values: Appendix A, B

Neubert, Sean (Nov 2004) The Five-Factor Model of Personality in the Workplace