In this paper, I will explain the information I learned from interviews with two people I

find to be great and inspiring leaders. The first interviewee is Neil DeSantis, General Manager of

Marcos in Asbury, PA, who has his own tragic tale of his efforts to run his own business. And

how he was able to pivot into a different role as his own business failed due to factors seemingly

outside of his control. My second interviewee was my own younger brother Logan McFadden. I

talked to him about his growth in leadership from team the captain of his HS soccer squad to

coaching the younger generation. That of which includes five teams with 120 boys total.

Neil DeSantis is my manager at Marco’s Pizzeria and runs one of the busiest and most

successful stores in the company. I chose Neil because I’ve worked multiple restaurant jobs over

the last 5-6 years. I've always thought he was overqualified for his position, purely due to his

understanding of personalities and abilities to retain a crew for a long period of time (something

not common in the industry). What I found interesting about Neil was he seemed like such a

qualified and successful person to be in the business of just running a franchise store. As it turns

out he used to own and run a very successful nightclub. When I asked him about his experience

in running his own business, I was sad to hear about his unfortunate tale of a person who he

inherited with the financial side of the business was embezzling funds that were supposed to be

paid as taxes for the business, for herself. After a few years, a tax bill he thought was being paid

by his finance manager showed up at his door totaling somewhere over 700,000 dollars. This

forced him to sell his business entirely and start once again from scratch. Although he recovered

financially via a new career and a legal settlement with the woman who had betrayed him, a

large part of his pride was taken away from him. His strength as a leader is his ability to develop

relationships with his staff and treating them respectfully as human beings. Despite hitting rock

bottom Neil was able to rebound by trusting in his strengths as a leader and his confidence in his
ability to run a successful business and now runs one of the most successful stores in the whole

franchise. Neil believes his success is due to his ability to lean into a more "y" style of

leadership. There is no anxiety from an overbearing boss because he understands that everyone

understands how to do their jobs.

My second interview was with my younger brother who currently coaches five soccer

teams with around 120 boys that are all in various stages in their development as soccer players.

I decided to do my brother because I feel like he is in a very specific leadership scenario as he is

teaching and guiding young men and boys. I asked him how his relationship with players varied

from team captain to coach. He responded that he feels that his style has changed much; the

tactical and technical components of the game are the same. He stated as a player he felt it was

more his job to motivate and uplift his teammates, and as a coach, he still does those things, but

also teaches and is directly involved in the development of his players. His strongest ability as a

leader, he believes, is his ability to push all his players past their mental barriers and even if they

may not be talented still be able to get the maximum amount of potential out of them. When I

followed up with how he gets the best out of his players, he talked about how he likes to be

positive and encouraging with his players. Things like celebrating the small victories and helping

to develop confidence, because when it comes to being able to perform to the best of your ability

you need to be confident in that ability. When I asked him about a leader who had a tremendous

impact on him, he mentioned the coach he had when he was in club soccer himself. Lane King,

he said was always a positive, genuine, and uplifting leader. “-He made a group of small-town

boys believe they could tackle the world. He never let us settle for the results and always forced

us to strive for better. All while being compassionate to how we were doing both on and off the

field.” The last question I asked Logan was how he feels he’s grown as a leader through his
career so far. He said that the area he felt he has grown most is in his confidence in his own

knowledge. He feels like he can simplify complex concepts to help any individual understand the

concept. He said: “Every player responds differently; you have to change the delivery of your

message for it to be properly received based on the individual.

I feel like both these leaders; Logan and Neil, use methods that we have discussed in

class. Strengths-based leadership and a more "y" style of treating people with respect and

building their confidence. Both individuals are in quite different in stages of their lives, but what

they have in common is their ability to help people feel inspired and confident in their ability to

be the best at what they do. Whether it be throwing dough or kicking a ball on grass; there is

always an opportunity to have a positive impact on people's lives whether it be a small or large

effect.