Running Head: FBLA LEADERSHIP INTERVIEW ANALYSIS 1

FBLA Leadership Interview Analysis

Ryan Fedders

EDL 270: Drake University

“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

relationships are before these decisions are presented.

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

buy-in to the individualized training has been tremendous.

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

consideration throughout the decision-making process.

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

significantly impacted how they lead their respective organizations.

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-

in, and focus on it are very different.

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

having a problem with staff accountability.

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

not realize most school leaders face on a daily basis!

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

only ways that I will be able to improve as a teacher and as a leader.

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

continue to work on throughout my career.

Time Spent on this FBLA - 17 hours