Leader Interview Each student will be required to interview a leader in their community. You may select a business and ind
Leader Interview
Each student will be required to interview a leader in their community. You may select a business and industry leader, coach, principal, elected official, or spiritual leader. You must conduct the interview in person or over the telephone. Questions should NOT be e-mailed to the leader as live dialogue is critical to this assignment.
Before you begin the interview, the student should explain the nature of our leadership class, and the general purpose of the assignment.
Questions have been answered in attachment
The student will prepare a written report of their findings.
Introduction: The final report should begin with an introduction to the leader selected, including the leader’s name, title, company, and why this particular leader was selected. This section should be 200-300 words. No citations are required unless outside sources are used to support the leader’s introduction. From the rubric: The author identifies an exceptional leader for the interview and includes an engaging, detailed, and compelling rationale for the selection, the author captivates the reader by providing intriguing and unique information regarding the speaker.
Interview: The student should then present the questions and the leader’s responses. The questions are 150 words. The length of the responses will vary. However, the average will probably be 50-75 words per question; thus, it would not be unusual for this portion to be 600-700 words including the questions. No citations are required as it will be assumed that the responses are from the leader. From the rubric: The author completes all required interview questions, additional unique and compelling questions are added to the interview; complete, detailed, and accurate responses are summarized to provide an engaging review of the interview dialogue.
Summary: The report will end with a summary of what the student has learned about leadership development because of this interview. This section should be 300-400 words and include citations to support the various aspects of leadership theory that you identify from the interview. From the rubric: The author accurately identifies the interviewee′s leadership style and supports this with specific and insightful reasoning; key elements of the interviewee′s leadership development are identified and expanded upon to create an accurate picture of growth and maturation of leadership skills; an analysis of key leadership concepts gained during the interview is included; author displays a reflective and in-depth understanding of leadership theory.
FORMAT:
The completed assignment must be prepared in APA format, including the title page, reference page, section headings, and in-text source citations. However, the interview responses may be single-spaced.
RESEARCH:
A minimum of three current sources (no older than 3 years) and reliable (they must include an author and date of publication). All sources must be cited.
An exemplary paper (A) will typically require 1100-1400 words (see requirements per section) to effectively complete all requirements.
I have provided an example template, the paper for which the format is to be set up, and the resource guide needed.
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1. How would you define effective leadership? Effective leadership is a complex concept because there are no specific set traits that must be embodied by all leaders. It does, however, require that one is able to evoke life and death listening on a daily basis, build relationships to ensure that you have the right people doing the right job at the right time, and consistently make decisions that benefit both the employees of the company and the consumers that they serve.
2. Do you think leadership develops with experience? Yes. While there are definitely people who have characteristics that make it easy for others to follow them, experience is a key factor in learning how to navigate situations that you can't prepare for, that aren't easily solved, and that involve diverse people and personalities. Prior to getting that type of experience, many leaders lack humility, compassion, and empathy, which are all necessary in order to be leaders who transform people, companies, and communities.
3. Are there one or two experiences you look back on as having been especially valuable in helping develop your own leadership? Please briefly describe them. One day, when I was an Assistant Director, a challenging issue arose and I had to make an important decision because the Director was off-site and unavailable. So I did. When the Director returned, I explained the situation before telling her what I decided to do and asked her what should have been done. When she told me, my heart dropped because I knew that I had not made the best decision. I began to panic and wanted to back pedal and try to reverse the decision, but she refused. She simply stated that the decision I made would stand and that we would deal with whatever we had to deal with if needed. It turned out fine, but I learned two important lessons: #1 – When you are training those under you, it is important that they know it's okay to make mistakes, and #2 – It gave me the courage that I needed to step up and make decisions instead of waiting for others to make them for me.
4. What made these experiences so valuable? It taught me that I do not need to be a perfectionist, that I needed to learn how to be okay with the outcomes of my decisions, even if it simply means needing to apologize in the end, and I learned that the support of a great leader is key in developing other great leaders.
5. Have your own views of leadership changed over time? Explain how. They have indeed! I once thought that I had to be charismatic, a great public speaker, and a fast thinker. I now know that I can be a passionate self, I can work on being a better speaker, and I can take my time to make deliberate decisions without feeling rushed. However, if a decision needs to be made quickly, I am confident that I have devised a team that are a great resource for me and that will give me the insight that I need to make the best decision possible.
6. Do you think leadership in your arena (e.g., sports, business) is much different from, or involves different pressures, then leadership in other arenas? Yes, my arena is education, and I think that the pressures I face are quite different from the pressures of those leaders with whom the bottom line is making a profit. In my arena, when making a profit is the end goal, our children suffer, and when our children suffer, the effects are long-term, both for them and for the communities in which they live and work.
7. Do you ever reflect, after the fact, about how effective your behavior was in a particular situation? Is this ever a source of new or different insights? Please share your insights. I spend time almost every day reflecting on the decisions that I made that day, what went well, what did not, and how I could have approached things differently. I write my feelings in my journal because it is important for me to be able to evaluate how my emotions played a role in my decisions. Since I know that my emotions can be a weakness, it is important that I operate not only based on my passions but on wisdom, insight from others, and careful thought on what is best for the good of the whole, not just specific individuals.
8. What do you feel is the single most important attribute for a leader to possess? I have to agree with Simon Sinek, the most important trait of an effective leader is courage. Take a look at his 2-minute video to see why.
9. Is there any advice you would give people early in their careers about leadership? Surround yourself with people who will encourage you, mentor you, and believe in you. Take good care of yourself, never stop learning about your industry, and make sure your main goal is to have gung-ho employees and raving fan customers.
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Leader Interview
Name
BUS6150
Human Behavior and Management of Organizations
Module 3 Application Assignment
Date
Professor
Dr. Rebecca Herman
Leader Introduction
Interview
How would you define effective leadership?
Do you think leadership develops with experience?
Are there one or two experiences you look back on as having been especially valuable in helping develop your own leadership? Please briefly describe them.
What made these experiences so valuable?
Have your own views of leadership changed over time? Explain how.
Do you think leadership in your arena (e.g., sports, business) is much different from, or involves different pressures, than leadership in other arenas?
Do you ever reflect, after the fact, about how effective your behavior was in a particular situation? Is this ever a source of new or different insights? Please share your insights.
What do you feel is the single most important attribute for a leader to possess?
Is there any advice you would give people early in their careers about leadership?
Summary
4
LEADER INTERVIEW
References
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BUS6150 Research Citation Guide
All assignments should include research that reliable, current, and with a substantive integration of citations. The Graduate Research Project (GRP) also requires that most of the sources are peer-reviewed.
Please seek to paraphrase, summarize, and synthesize what is learned from articles. Avoid direct quotes. There should rarely be a direct quote in discussions responses, video evaluations, and application assignments. For the GRP, one short direct quote for every five pages of body would be acceptable.
Requirements by Assignment Type
Responses to the weekly Discussion Questions:
· Sources require in-text citations and complete references.
· A minimum of one source is required.
· The required text is satisfactory for support.
· Other choices should be reliable and current.
· Peer-reviewed is not required.
Responses to the weekly Video Evaluations:
· Sources require in-text citations and complete references.
· A minimum of two sources are required.
· The video should always be cited and referenced.
· One additional source is needed to support your evaluation.
· The required text is satisfactory.
· The other source should be reliable and current.
· Peer-reviewed is not required.
Application Assignments (short papers):
· Sources require in-text citations and complete references.
· A minimum of three sources are required.
· The required text should be included as one choice.
· The other two choices should be reliable and current.
· Peer-reviewed is not required.
· Citations should be included in the synopsis, analysis, and summary.
Graduate Research Project (GRP):
· Sources require in-text citations and complete references.
· All sources must be current and reliable.
· Fifteen sources are the minimum requirement; however, most successful papers have twenty or more excellent sources with substantial citation integration throughout. Overall, at least eight peer-reviewed/scholarly sources must be utilized.
· The introduction must have citations and at least one peer-reviewed citation to set the tone for subsequent research. It is also very common to cite documents regarding the organization, when applicable.
· The literature review should include at least six peer-reviewed articles (eight-ten is more common). Overall, this section should have at least four sources per topic/theme to ensure adequate viewpoints are included.
· The analysis should include at least six peer-reviewed articles (it is ok if they are the same ones used in the literature review). Overall, this section should have at least four sources per topic/theme to ensure adequate comparison, contrasting, and analysis is achieved.
· The synthesis/integration must have citations. There isn’t a peer-review requirement here, but many students use previous sources along with additional articles to support recommendations. Overall, this section should have at least four sources.
· The conclusion must have citations and at least one scholarly citation to support the research process and ultimate call to action.
Description by Source Type
Reliable articles:
· All referenced articles must be reliable.
· Cited source must have an author and a date of publication.
· Exception: There are times that is it necessary to cite an internal company document, company website, government website, etc. Such sources will usually not have an author or date of publication. This is acceptable; however, such sources/citations will not count toward the minimum requirements.
· Citations from sources as dictionaries, about.com, Wikipedia, and encyclopedias are not relevant or appropriate for graduate assignments. These should be avoided. If used, they will not count toward the minimum requirements.
· Citations from compilation sites such as smallbusinesschronicle.com, businessballs.com, etc. are NOT deemed reliable because they often pull articles to their sites without explicit permission. However, if you find something in one of these compilation sites, you may be able to locate the ORIGINAL article via the library – that would be acceptable.
Current articles:
· The references should also be “current.”
· Constrain your search parameters to the last five years. [Last 2-3 is even better and sometimes required – please see specific assignment requirements!]
· The world is changing rapidly, and we must remain current with trends and research.
· Remember, it takes time to do research and get the article published; thus, data in journal articles is often several years old when published!
Peer-reviewed (scholarly) articles:
· Peer-reviewed means that there is an expert panel of scholars that does a double- or triple-blind review of an article – this may be referred to as juried or refereed as well.
· Each expert provides critical feedback and assessment and then recommends to an editor or publisher if the article should be published in their scholarly journal.
· The process produces a higher level of academic quality.
· Scholarly or peer-reviewed research are found in scholarly journals and will often have “journal” in the publication title. Example: Journal of Management.
· Scholarly articles are usually 15-30 pages long. Most will include an abstract, introduction, literature review, research methodology, research results, discussion, and recommendations.
· Peer-reviewed articles typically have 2 or more authors.
· The BEST and most reliable method to locate is through the library; be sure to use the “Advanced Search” option and constrain your search by checking the box for “Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals.”
Substantive Integration of Citations
· It is important to have a solid integration of citations throughout assignments .
· Do not just toss in a quote for the introduction or conclusion and believe you have satisfied this requirement.
· Example, in the Application Assignments, there must be a substantive use of citations in your synopsis to create a foundation; in the analysis to provide compare & contrast information; and in the summary to strengthen and support your position.
· It is important to have quality of citation integration not just that you have cited the required number and/or type of sources.
Conducting a Successful Library Search
· Select Articles & Databases – such as EBSCO and ProQuest
· Always conduct an Advanced Search
· Command line 1 – enter the most important keyword(s) and request that it is in the title of the article. For example, transformational leadership.
· Command line 2 – enter the next most important keyword(s) and request that it is in the abstract of the article. For example, healthcare.
· Check the box for Limit to Full Text – this avoids frustration because you will review only articles that you can fully access versus merely an abstract.
· Select a Publication date of Last 3 years – this will ensure it is current. If there are not sufficient results, you can ask for 4 or 5 years.
· If required, limit to search to Peer Reviewed/Scholarly – important for the GRP.
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Module 3: Sample Leadership Interview
Selection
I was fortunate to have the opportunity to talk with Nick Darin, Vice President of Finance and Technology for J&L Industrial Supply. He is indeed a very accomplished and dynamic individual as was evidenced during our discussion. Mr. Darin offered his thoughts and experience on leadership as well as sharing some of his own personal leadership philosophy. During our interview he displayed a command for the subject of leadership showing that this is an issue that he not only cares about, but that he has also devoted some time to exploring.
Mr. Darin is an experienced financial professional and business manager. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Dearborn with a degree in accounting and received his MBA from Central Michigan University. Mr. Darin is also a Certified Management Accountant and a member of the Institute of Managerial Accountants and Financial Executives International. He has almost twenty years of experience working in financial management and has held many different positions including modeling analyst, controller and executive positions.
Mr. Darin was selected due to his extensive experience and acknowledged commitment to excellence. Additionally, I have the pleasure of working very closely with him on a daily basis and knew that his answers and comments would be very candid. I wanted to understand the steps that Mr. Darin had taken and how his leadership has developed over time because I would like to develop myself to move into a position as a financial executive in the future.
Questions
How would you define effective leadership?
Leadership is the act (challenge) of aligning (vision) both human capital (competencies) and physical resources (land, machines, technology) to attain goals or aspirations. Do you think leadership develops with experience? Please explain.
Yes, life experiences (positive & negative) influence the learning continuum towards making optimal leadership decisions Are there one or two experiences you look back on as having been especially valuable in helping develop your own leadership? Please briefly describe them.
Participating in a Business Turnaround (evaluating and managing strategic objectives) Orchestrating the Divestiture of a $200M Business Unit (executing large scale initiatives aligning resources) What made these experiences so valuable?
Both required vision and the ability to influence resources to achieve results. Have your own views of leadership changed over time? Explain how.
Yes, my views have become more strategically focused. Heavily concentrated in alignment and coordination of competencies and resources to gain competitive edge (differentiator) from business and personal perspective. Do you think leadership in your arena is much different from, or involves different pressures, than leadership in other arenas? Explain.
Not really, any differences are a result of the leaders disposition towards the way they lead. Expectations are the same for all leaders but there are different goals in some cases.
Do you ever reflect, after the fact, about how effective your behavior was in a particular situation? Is this ever a source of new or different insights? Please share your insights.
All of the time, being a type “A” individual I have the constant challenge of not driving through issues and people to get results. I will summarize with the following: “Knowledge is Intellectual, Power is Humbleness”. What do you feel is the single most important attribute for a leader to possess?
The single most important attribute is the ability to influence people driven by cooperation, enthusiasm and confidence (motivation). Is there any advice you would give people early in their careers about leadership?
My advice would be that leadership is built on a system of human competencies and physical resources. The key is being to articulate the vision, influence and coordinate available resources.
How do you identify potential leaders in your organization?
By watching them articulate their position, analyzing their thought process for complex decision-making skills, assessing their ability to think outside of the box and observing if their peers respond to them as leaders. Who is one individual that you would describe as a highly effective leader? What makes this person such an effective leader?
Michael Jordan. He had the ability to influence others driven by cooperation, enthusiasm, and confidence. In your opinion what are some of the major obstacles to effective leadership?
Individuals sometimes seek out leadership without being prepared from a skills or accountability perspective. Leadership takes time and can be risky.
Can you provide an example of a time in which you were called upon to provide leadership in a situation that was foreign to you or outside of your “sweet spot”? What skills/attributes did you find most useful?
Taking on additional responsibilities outside of my core discipline such as Purchasing, and IT. The most important skill was understanding that I was not an expert in either field and needed to ensure my staff was very qualified. Could you generally describe the characteristics of ineffective leadership?
Lack of ability to influence, motivate, build teams, take calculated risks or provide vision. Can you describe the characteristics of an effective follower? Are there any additional characteristics that you would seek in your own followers?
Effective followers understand their skill set (competencies) and how they can impact the project or issue at hand.
Do you feel leadership is a learned skill or an innate ability?
I feel both are contributors but learned skill plays a bigger role due to the constant augmenting or building of knowledge base through experiences. Do you have any other thoughts or opinions regarding leadership that you would like to share?
Just do it!
Summary
In working and talking with Mr. Darin one issue became very clear. He is asked to lead in a very dynamic and fast paced environment. This fits well with Mr. Darin’s own personality, as he is himself is a very energetic and quick moving person. He frequently must “shift gears” moving from issue to issue very quickly. In fact in some cases our interview was interrupted and we actually conducted the process throughout the day as time permitted. Mr. Darin spends most of the day circulating through the office making sure to visit each of his managers, checking progress on assignments and providing feedback and guidance on their various projects. It is not uncommon for him to pull his management staff into impromptu meetings, discussing leadership and corporate strategic objectives. Mr. Darin is definitely a “hands on” manager and drives performance in his organization.
Mr. Darin demonstrates the ability to motivate individuals to accomplish objectives and create positive change. These are two themes that I heard echoed in his responses. His personal enthusiasm is demonstrated in his approach to interacting with his staff and tackling challenging assignments. He displays a clear commitment to producing superior results that is motivating and rewarding for myself.
In my interview and observations with Mr. Darin I believe the greatest lesson learned is the fact that a leader must find the leadership style and approach that best fits them and the situational needs. He is a high energy individual who demonstrates a pacesetting style that works with a very capable and motivated staff. He has been very effective in creating positive change and displays the characteristics he espouses. I cannot say that I would be the same leader as Mr. Darin as we are both shaped by different experiences, personalities and motivation. While I would seek to accomplish many of the same goals as Mr. Darin and would affirm the comments made during the interview, I do not believe that his approach would have the same effectiveness coming from me. This interview has provided me with an excellent opportunity to understand the important issues to leadership in an executive financial management position, however it is one step in the broader development of my own leadership skill set and effectiveness.
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