Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Ryan Fedders
“People don’t remember what you do, but they remember how they were treated” (personal
communication, September 27, 2017). When asked how an area chamber of commerce president
defines a good leader, this was her straightforward response. Leaders are all around us: in our
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schools, in our communities, and in our area businesses. I was fortunate enough to be able to
interview a local chamber president, an elementary principal, and a vice president of operations at a
bank. Each leadership interview had surprising similarities, and each interview had significant
differences.
Similarities
Throughout the interviews, similarities abounded. The first significant similarity that I
discovered is that all three leaders agreed that an important quality of a good leader is that they have
great relationship skills. A key example of this came from the principal. He discussed with me the
importance of putting green chips into the employee’s bucket throughout their interactions, so that
when a red chip goes in, the relationship isn’t ruined or affected (personal communication,
September 22, 2017). This really resonated with me, as a major discussion that occurred during our
class was the need to have difficult conversations, and utilizing this strategy is an effective way to
maintain the staff member’s morale. Along with this same idea, the bank president stated, “You
will have to make decisions that may not be popular, but they need to be presented in a logical
manner” (personal communication, September 25, 2017). As a future leader, I need to take into
account the effects of my decisions, and I need to have the self-awareness of how strong my current
Next to building relationships, creating and maintaining a culture of learning stuck out as a
vital similarity. The principal that I interviewed put it very simply, “We do not want our doctor
performing the same surgery as thirty years ago, so why would we want to teach this way?” I really
pondered this for some time; creating a culture of learning that staff members buy into is the only
way to continue to get better at what we are trying to do. The bank and chamber president shared a
similar viewpoint. In order to give staff choice and flexibility to learn, they allow team members to
seek out conferences, trainings, or classes that would be beneficial to their work. The chamber
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president even goes as far as to set aside a portion of their budget to make this happen, and the staff
Finally, systems thinking was evident in each of the leader’s answers during our interview. I
was eager to hear their responses to this question With regard to the bank, the president talked with
me about her specific role involving numerous departments - the borrower and the banker, the loan
department, and the deposit side. If one part of this is kept out of the loop, then ultimately the
customer suffers. It was much of the same in the chamber president’s answer. She looks at how a
decision will affect the members within the chamber, how it will affect the specific business owner,
and finally, how it will affect her employees. All parts need to be taken into account. The principal
took a broader view on this as he discussed the importance of not just hiring new staff for his
school, but hiring them as teachers for the whole district. The turnover rate is high, so hiring good
employees will continue to impact students throughout the district. Ultimately, the parts of the
system in each scenario may be different, but all leaders said that each part needs to be taken into
Differences
While it was easy to see common similarities during my interviews, it may have been
even easier to see some vast differences. The first difference that I saw occured when I asked about
the changes in their field throughout their careers. In response to this question, the chamber
president stated that her role has changed the most in the last 15 years as the chamber has grown
from 350 members to now over 1,010 members. The bank president discussed how rules and
regulations have and are continuing to change, especially since the 9/11 attacks. More and more
regulations have been placed on banks since this time, and it has been even more evident in smaller
banks. According to the principal, delivering differentiated instruction has been the biggest change
he’s seen in his over 25 years of leadership experience. “It’s so important to meet kids where they
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need help in their learning,” he added. Each of the three leaders said that different things that have
changed in their field throughout their careers, but it was clear to me that each change has
Another clear difference was their views on mission and vision statements. Their answers
came back on all ends of the spectrum. In the chamber’s board room, their mission statement hangs
on the wall, and the president tries to have the organization “live through the mission statement.”
Each and every goal that they create at the start of the year directly relates to the mission statement,
and she applies every request from organization members to the mission; does it fit in with where
we are trying to go? The elementary principal talked about how the district has a mission and
vision statement, and it’s the leadership team’s job to apply this to their building goals. On the
completely opposite side of the chamber living their mission, the bank has a mission sent to them by
the corporate office, and they really don’t have a lot of say in it. She does try to bring it into their
departments, but it is difficult to get staff buy-in. This was a key difference that I saw because it
relates to much of our work throughout this class. Mission and vision are vital to any organization.
While all of the interviewed organizations do have a mission and vision, the amount of input, buy-
The last difference that I took away was how each leader keeps their employees accountable.
At the bank, they do this by using deadlines. “In our world, there are a lot of deadlines, and we
simply have to make them,” the president explained. The chamber president has a three-step
process to keep everyone accountable. First, she looks at employees job performance on a day-to-
day basis, which she then establishes and evaluates goals based on. Finally, she looks at their
interaction with members of the chamber, as this is who they are there to serve. The principal came
back to relationships for his response to this question. He talked about the importance of taking the
time to create and maintain relationships, and that, if this was done correctly, the staff will want to
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work hard to achieve their goals. Although each response may have been different in how they
keep employees accountable, the reality is that they all work. No interviewee ever talked about
Surprises
While conducting the interviews, there were also a few surprises that really jumped out at
me. The first surprise is how many employees the leader is directly responsible for. The bank
president has eight employees that directly report to her, and the chamber president has six.
However, the elementary principal has 78 employees, certified and classified, that report to him.
How can we expect school leaders to be responsible for over nine times as many employees as a
high-ranking executive within a bank or a leader of a large chamber of commerce? This number
definitely shocked me, as it has to be incredibly difficult for a school leader to ensure that this many
employees are completing their jobs using today’s best practices. This is one challenge that I did
Another surprise I found was that all of the organizations focus on collaboration. I knew
that this was a huge emphasis in the principal’s school, and it didn’t surprise me to see that it was
important with the chamber due the sheer number of members they have. It did surprise me to see
the bank president rely heavily on collaboration. I have always seen banks as organizations that
have employees with clearly defined roles and expectations, and they only stick to their role. The
president said, “We could do our jobs without collaborating, but we do them better because we
collaborate.” After having a discussion with her about this, my view on the topic changed, and I
would now be surprised to see any organization not place a focus on collaboration!
My final surprise was about how these leaders kept a balance in their life. All mentioned
that it is vital to put family first, but only the elementary principal mentioned how important it is to
take the time to eat right and exercise every day. His reasoning behind this was that “if you take
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care of yourself, it will make you better at your craft.” I wholeheartedly agree with this statement,
and with all the research supporting exercise and healthy eating, I was surprised to not see it
mentioned more.
Big Ideas/Takeaways
One of the biggest takeaways from these interviews came from the principal. We were
discussing the qualities that define a good leader, and the quality that he had second only to building
relationships was to create shared leadership. He told me that others around have to take some
leadership responsibility because it is too much to put on one person’s shoulders. As a future
leader, it will be important to surround myself with co-workers that have different strengths and
abilities than myself, and it will be critical that I utilize them to maximize our leadership abilities.
Finally, if I am able to create shared leadership amongst the staff members, then it will feel like
everyone has a say in where we are heading as a school, and the drive to achieve our goals will
drastically improve.
My two other big takeaways from my interviews came from the bank president. First, when
asked to give one piece of advice to a new leader, she responded with, “Ask questions. Do not
pretend to know everything.” I left the interview thinking about this for quite some time. As a new
teacher last year, I always felt that I would be getting in the way or bothering my school leaders if I
had a question. Based upon this response and previous conversations that I have had with my
school leaders, this is completely the opposite. Asking questions and showing vulnerability are the
The final takeaway came when she told me, “At work, be at work. However, take the time
to pursue other passions outside of work.” Admittedly, the second part of this advice is something
that I already see myself struggling with. When I am at work, I feel as if I do a pretty good job of
staying on task and using my time wisely, however, there aren’t enough hours in a day to get
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everything done. I find myself taking numerous things home to grade and work on, and while I can
do this now, something will need to change as I begin to look towards having a family. In
concurrence with this advice, the principal and I talked about time management as well. He talked
about how everything may not be taken care of throughout the day, but you have to understand that
you can come back again tomorrow and try your best to get it done. This will be something that I