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Essayintrviewpaper.docxLouis Waller is a retired Marine Sergeant Major and currently my supervisor at the Veteran Administration Clinic Voluntary Services. This clinic roughly has over 300 volunteers that provide their time to help the Vets throughout the clinic. Mr. Waller is responsible for the job placement of every volunteers in the VA clinic. He currently supervises about 10 volunteers daily in the office where I work at. He is in charge of setting up monthly open house, job fairs at different VA sties as well as planning daily recreation events for the local veterans and many other things. His is job is very demanding and requires a great leader to do all the tasks that’s been bestowed upon him to do. I’ve been lucky to have a good working relationship with Mr. Waller. He has a demanding presence with a no-nonsense attitude but at the same time he is very approachable. He doesn’t mind helping and listen to suggestions and ideas of his employees and most of all he does not look over our shoulders at what we do. Mr. Waller is understanding and makes everyone in the office feel like we are a part of the team. I chose to interview Mr. Waller because I can relate to him because his leadership style and our common ground with our affiliation with the military. While I’ve only been working with him for a short period of time I have grown to respect his different leadership qualities which has made a great impact on me. In daily activities Mr. Waller has demonstrated good leadership traits such as making sound judgment, leading by example, mentoring, his decisiveness, his integrity and knowledge of his job. I had a chance to interview Mr. Waller and this is what he had to say.
How would you describe your leadership style?
I’m a tough no-nonsense but democratic type leader. I like to treat everyone with respect and trust them to make good decisions. I like to lead by example but at the same time involve the team in decision making and problem-solving process. My leadership could be collaborative at times. I’ve always believe in teamwork because you can get everyone to focus on a higher level and learn by each team members strength. However, at the end of the day I will still make the final decision. I don’t mind people making mistakes, but I want them to learn from their mistakes, and, what I won’t tolerate are people who put their own ego or their desire to look good ahead of the team. While most of my leadership experiences was formed while I was in the Marines I was able to apply those skills to my current civilian management position.
What qualities do you think a leader should possess?
There are many qualities a good leader should have but my top three is Integrity. A leader should be honest and demonstrate the highest value of trustworthy to moral and ethical conduct. If you are not honest or trustworthy your employees will not want to follow or listen to you. Decision making, is important because it can have profound impact in certain situations. A leader should have the ability to think long and hard about the problem and make the right situation at the right moment or time. Most all stand by your decision. An example is when I was deployed I had to make decisions that impacted my Soldiers lives on the battle field. Be focus and confidence. A leader needs to know their mission and be able to communicate effectively to lead. Its important to stay focus because if you’re not sure of what’s going on you can’t expect your team to know either. A good leader will learn to change their leadership to each team member in ways to communicate better in ways to motivate and inspire their people.
As a leader how do you get others to accept your ideas?
What is the most difficult part of being a leader?
For me the hardest part of being a leader is making mistakes. This is hard because of the type of leader I am. I try not to let my employees see I was wrong about something. However, I realized sometimes not every decision is going to right and its ok to make mistakes. As long as you owe up to your mistakes and make things right. Leaders should be transparent in everything you do and say to your employees, this will also allow them to admit to their mistakes so that others can benefit by the incident. Also, I think it lets your employees see that your human and capable of taking responsibility for your actions.
What important things have you learned over the years in the role of a leader?
Being in a retired Marines has allowed me the opportunity to experience different ways to be a leader. I’ve learn to come up with solutions to problems by analyzing and making decisions that’s best for the overall mission. I’ve learn you can not make everyone happy with all your decisions but as a leader you have to make sure to be neutral in solving problems. I’ve also learn by knowing your teams’ weakness and strengths that its helps building a strong teamwork and collaborate on mission. As a young leader I was inexperienced but the more I had a leadership role I’ve learned how to communicate and listen more effectively, and this has allowed me to grow and be a better leader. In my current position at the VA over the volunteering program there are many issues that arises from day to day I have to be able to analyze and find a solution and clearly communicate to the team on fixing the problem.
How do you delegate responsibilities to your team?
I think every leader should know their people’s strength and weakness. I delegate responsibilities by knowing who I can give certain task to complete. Once I’ve select one or two people I will give them clear and concise details and the expected goals on what I want them to achieve. I will ask if they have questions or concerns the task that’s been asked of them. I will make sure they understand the what, when and why. Then last, I will review and assess what was discussed because this process builds an agreeable trust. There are so a lot of moving parts where I work at and I have to be able delegate to my employees, so I can do other things that need greater attention.
How do you measure success for you as a leader?
I would determine what progress was done toward accomplishing a task and if it was achieved. As a leader showing success is the effects of my decision making, collaboration with my team and seeing positive results of the outcomes. I would measure my success by my team’s ability to use their talents in taking on higher tasks and demonstrating different ways in solving problems. For example, in the military one of my Soldiers was awarded a medal for a mission completed under my leadership I felt because of my mentoring and training led up to their accomplishment that would be a way I measured how successful I was.
Can a leader fail?
Yes, a leader can fail. If you place to much emphasis on your “authority” by instilling fear when assigning task for giving orders in a harsh way. Efficient leaders encourage and inspire their team without attitude. If you have no compassion for your team or do not care for their wellbeing or family, this will bring down morale and they will no be loyal to work for you. Your team should feel that you have their best interest. If you’re not willing to do the work as your asking of your employees, you will lose their respect eventually causing the work environment to become negative. Lastly if a leader shows no confidence, your team will not want to follow because they feel you don’t have control over any situation.
How do you handle stress and pressure?
I actually handle pressure pretty well. Being a prior Marine I learned how to handle stress and work under pressure many times. I’ve found that I can get things done more expeditious in challenging moments. For example, in my current position I have to set up back to back daily activities for the veterans and it can be stressful because of the details that go into putting these events together and time constraint. However, I’ve created a schedule that breaks down each event and I delegate a task to each one of my employees. I always have everything set up 30 minutes prior to the event start time. By managing my time and prior planning helps me with unnecessary stress and pressure and allows me to complete my tasks.
How do you go about resolving conflict?
The workplace can sometimes be stressful so as a leader you will eventually deal with some conflict within your team. Usually conflict comes from lack of information, lack of communication, miss information or no information at all. You have people that have a different perception on how things are said and done. So, when I come across my team members having issues among each other I have them come in my office to discuss the problem. I always stay calm and neutral and keep an open mind. I don’t get emotional or do I let the conversation get tense, I don’t believe it helps in resolving the issue when everyone is yelling. I don’t assume anything I will hear both sides of the story to see where the breakdown of communication that cause the conflict. Once I have all the details I will approach the conflict by finding a common ground between the team members. By reiterating the vision of the company, I will invite each person to come up with a solution to resolve this conflict.
