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LEADERSHIP INTERVIEW

Leadership Interview

Cristina M. Valencia

Kremen School of Education, California State University, Fresno

Dr. Jonathan T. Pryor

December 27, 2021

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In the Fall of 2020, I had my first employment experience as a graduate

assistant; I landed a position with the Educational Talent Search Program (ETS) at

CSU, Fresno. I was incredibly nervous about the interview process, as I had not worked

in almost ten years, and this would potentially be my first experience working in the

education sector. Almost immediately, a lot of my anxiety and nervousness was relieved

since my interviewer, Olga de Nuñez, had a very warm and welcoming personality. After

she introduced herself as the director of the ETS program, she immediately stated, “I

like to conduct my interviews in a non-traditional manner, with a more personal

approach.” This helped relieve some of my stress since the interview took a much more

natural tone, versus a standard question-answer interview approach. A week later, I

embarked on what would become an eight-month journey with an incredible,

informative, and supportive ETS team, which contributed greatly to my professional

growth.

Director Nuñez is the current director of the ETS Program at CSU, Fresno, and

has been in this current roll since 2019. ETS is a TRIO program whose mission is to

“provide comprehensive services to students from six Central Valley high schools, and

to assist, identify, and encourage participants to graduate high school and enroll in post-

secondary education” (Educational Talent Search, 2021). She oversees a full-time staff

of three, which consists of two college counselors and one administrative assistant.

Alongside the full-time staff, Director Nuñez also oversees graduate student assistants,

volunteers, and graduate students who are completing their internship requirements.

In addition to her role as a supervisor of the ETS team, some of her other

responsibilities include meeting with institutional leaders, supervisors, educators, and

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other stakeholders to further promote and educate the community as to the crucial

benefits of ETS as well as representing Fresno State; traveling to valley high schools to

meet with their educators; ensuring that all aspects of ETS services such as student

workshops, guest speakers, and summer programs are efficiently implemented;

attending board meetings (non-profits); program budgets; grant proposals, and much

more (O. Nuñez, personal communication, October 7, 2021). Director Nuñez is also a

very active member in her community and is passionate about advocacy work within the

Latino Community, African American community, and other marginalized populations

within the Central Valley.

I chose to conduct the leadership interview with Director Nuñez because I believe

she exemplifies what a true servant leader is; as Martin et al. describe, servant leaders

are those who at their core value and practice empathy, integrity, and sacrifice (Martin

et al., 2019). As Martin et al. (2019) explain, empathy and wholeheartedness are critical

qualities of a servant leader to possess, especially those who strive for social justice. I

have personally witnessed these qualities to which the authors refer to in Director

Nuñez. Director Nuñez demonstrates empathy and wholeheartedness towards her

students who are often marginalized, and to those who she seeks social justice for in

the community. She models genuine kindness to all those she aims to serve including

her staff.

The Interview

The interview consisted of fourteen questions (see Appendix A), each designed

to gain a deeper understanding as to the type of leader Director Nuñez is, and to

understand the passion she has for her work and the students she serves. I began by
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asking Director Nuñez how she approached her work as a leader and the type of

leadership philosophy she subscribed to. Director Nuñez proceeded to explain that she

approaches her work as a leader and supervisor in a democratic way, where she values

the ideas and feedback of other people. She explained that she does not solicit ideas

and feedback from others just to check a box, but rather because she greatly values

and appreciates teamwork and cooperation (O. Nuñez, personal communication,

October 7, 2021). Director Nuñez firmly believes in the value her staff brings to the

program and how running a program “is not a one man show” (2021). She explained,

that when there is a problem to solve there is no better time to obtain ideas and

feedback from others to arrive at the best possible solution.

In the time that I spent working with ETS, I experienced different aspects of

Director Nuñez’ leadership style; the synergistic leadership style which Elrod et al.

(2019) describe as “a holistic approach to supervision where the supervisor focuses on

both the goals of the organization as well as the personal and professional goals of the

employee” (p. 149), is a leadership quality that I believe Director Nuñez possesses.

When a leader values the input, ideas, and feedback of their staff, this not only helps

the organization, but it also allows for personal and professional growth. These types of

leaders value the input of their staff, no matter their role, or title. They do this knowing

that departmental, professional, and institutional growth comes from the ideas and input

of all staff members.

In terms of leadership philosophy, Director Nuñez understands her leadership

philosophy as that of a servant leader. She admits that she was not always comfortable

using this label to identify her leadership style as she felt she did not deserve the title; it
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was not until her previous mentor and supervisor explained to her that all her actions

and commitment to serving students and the community truly exemplified that of a

servant leader. He encouraged her to see her hard work, dedication, and passion and to

accept the title of servant leader. Director Nuñez humbly commented, “I feel that I am

here to serve; we all have roles, and my role is to serve” (O. Nuñez, personal

communication, October 7, 2021).

My next interview question asked Director Nuñez how many year’s experience

she had as a supervisor or leader, and which experience(s) prepared her for her current

role. Professionally speaking, Director Nuñez has eighteen years of experience in

supervisory and or leadership roles (O. Nuñez, personal communication, October 7,

2021). However, she shared how she experienced her first role as a supervisor when

she taught bible study to a group of children; she was fourteen years old at the time.

She saw this opportunity as a supervisory role because she had many duties such as

constructing lesson plans, distributing activities/assignments, as well as teaching songs

to the children, but most importantly because she had many children to teach who

looked up to her. I found her response very insightful; although Director Nuñez was only

fourteen years old, she understood this was a leadership role as it entailed many duties

and was aware she had the responsibility to be a role model to the children. At 24 years

of age, she became a supervisor at her very first job and has remained in supervisory

and or leadership roles, whether as a coordinator, associate director, or director in every

professional role since.

When discussing what role(s) have prepared her in her current role as director of

ETS, she explained that every single job thus far has prepared her for this position,
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including being a bible study teacher at the age of fourteen (O. Nuñez, personal

communication, October 7, 2021). A leadership quality that has guided her work in

every supervisory and leadership role, is having integrity. She shared how she learned

at a young age that being a person with integrity is something that a leader must

possess. She understood that having integrity meant being honest with the children in

her bible study group, and if she made a promise to them, she had to honor that

promise. As a professional, she accounts her efforts being valued by others because of

her integrity and core values.

In her work within ETS, she models integrity among other core values to her staff

and to the students she serves; Kouzes & Posner (2018) explain that an exemplary

leader who models behavior that they expect of others, must first understand their own

guiding values. In truly understanding your guiding values you can put voice to them. In

doing so, this inspires others to do the same and they in turn can put value to their own

core principles. This is what truly exemplifies what Kouzes & Posner refer to as

Modeling the Way- and it is a leadership quality that Director Nuñez demonstrates.

Other past employment experiences which helped Director Nuñez prepare for

and achieve the work she does today was the work she did at Parent Institute for

Quality Education (PIQE) (O. Nuñez, personal communication, October 7, 2021). She

shared how working at PIQE helped her understand the Central Valley as a whole and

to understand the school systems within this valley and why some students enroll in

postsecondary education while other students do not. Director Nuñez explained how her

leadership position within this role, contributed to her understanding of the inequities

within the Central Valley, its educational system, but also the educational system across
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the nation. She explained how working with PIQE provided her with the opportunity to

question and to try and deconstruct why inequities exist in school systems, particularly

here in the Central Valley. She questioned why disparities from one group of students to

the next exist, and how these disparities manifest into the academic success or lack

thereof between groups. She came to understand that if given the resources and equal

opportunities all students, no matter their race or socioeconomic status, have the power

to succeed.

In one of my interview questions, I asked Director Nuñez if she had mentors

along her educational and career path. She explained how it was not until 2017 when

she became involved with Central Valley Latino Giving Circle, that she had the

opportunity to connect with a mentor (O. Nuñez, personal communication, October 7,

2021). Per Director Nuñez, within this organization, conversations began to evolve

around the subject of the recent Latino representation in leadership and power in

various sectors within the community, compared to 10-15 years ago. This organization

included members such as CSU Chancellor Castro, Fresno State President Jimenez-

Sandoval, news anchor Graciela Moreno, Fresno Councilmember Esmeralda Soria, and

many others. It was within this diverse group of leaders that the questioned was posed:

who here has had the opportunity of connecting with a mentor? The answers surprised

many in the group as those who were most successful and influential in their current

roles were those who had had multiple mentors along their educational and career

paths. It was around this time, that her friend and colleague offered to be her mentor.

Director Nuñez shared how he was able to keep her accountable on projects that she

was spearheading, and provided support, guidance, and advice throughout her career
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path. She shared how this was a great experience and growth opportunity. She also

appreciated that this mentor came from the business sector, which provided a different

lens, and because they had similar cultural backgrounds.

This part of our interview was very insightful as I have not had the opportunity of

connecting with a mentor; as I have progressed in my educational career and as I get

closer to embarking on my professional career, I feel the mentor aspect is one that

potentially is missing in my path. I also I appreciated Director Nuñez’s explanation on

what a mentor/mentee relationship should be. She explained that it should not be

conflated with that of a friendship, it is one that comes with responsibility and goals

(sometimes it may seem like homework), someone who will hold you accountable in

your professional, academic, and or personal life, someone who will support and guide

you, and most importantly someone who will challenge you.

Challenging the Process is another quality an exemplary leader demonstrates

(Kouzes & Posner, 2018); here, the leader challenges the status quo, and implements

changes large or small, that can have a lasting impact. Per Director Nuñez (2021), she

has often engaged in work outside the purview of a director to try and address the

challenges that minorities often face, especially in the educational sector. The

experience and the knowledge that she gained at PIQE has allowed her to develop her

advocacy and passion for ensuring that students have access to resources that will

ensure they reach their academic potential and enrollment in postsecondary education.

This passion is what drives her work with ETS. She has used her previous experience,

knowledge, and advocacy for equity among students to continually challenge the

process. Whether it entails implementing new ideas, workshops, or guest speakers,

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these are the types of innovations that challenge the normal day-to-day processes and

in turn make a program more efficient, with the end goal of having these small wins

make a lasting impact on the lives of students. These positive impacts can then spill

over into the community.

Director Nuñez has demonstrated her commitment to Challenging the Process

(Kouzes & Posner, 2018) by the incredible work she does within the community. She

shared that she has been involved in many organizations over the years that have been

instrumental in guiding her work (O. Nuñez, personal communication, October 25,

2021). However, her involvement with the California Women’s Foundation, is where she

helped implement change in government policy. This organization was tied to a project

in which they were tasked to draft an assembly bill. This entailed persuading assembly

members in the local district to support the bill. The purpose of this bill was to ensure

that undocumented adults would receive free non-urgent care in Fresno County. Money

had been set aside by Fresno County, but it now needed to be allocated, and it was the

task of these leaders to draft the bill explaining why and how the money was to be

utilized. They needed the support of an assembly person to champion the bill. Director

Nuñez stated that this involved a lot of community work, however she knew the hard

work was worth it, as this was something the community needed. The project picked up

the attention of assembly members and instead of it becoming a county program, it

became a statewide initiative. Director Nuñez expressed her gratitude in being able to

be part of the genesis of this project. Next year, undocumented individuals aged 50 and

older will have access to free healthcare which will undoubtedly aid thousands of

families across the state.

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When discussing potential areas for further improvement, Director Nuñez

explained that she likes to self-reflect and take inventory after large projects; this is

where she asks, “why was the project successful, or why was it unsuccessful?” (O.

Nuñez, personal communication, October 25, 2021). She stated that the answer to

these questions are critical because they help to inform whether the project succeeded

or failed due to her leadership style. For example, did she manage the project

appropriately, and did she provide clear and detailed instructions to her team? She

shared that some of the areas she would like to improve is to provide clearer directions

to her staff and to be more organized within her work.

As far as strategies she utilizes when she needs support or guidance, she

explained she firsts thoroughly researches the issue to see if she can find a solution on

her own (O. Nuñez, personal communication, October 25, 2021). If that does not

provide her with the appropriate solution, she turns to her colleagues and or her

supervisor. She shared how she has colleagues in other sectors outside of education,

that she can turn to for guidance, support, and feedback. Having colleagues in sectors

outside of education, has helped put things in a different perspective that has been

beneficial to her work.

I wrapped up our interview by asking Director Nuñez what excites and motivates

her in her current role, and what her future professional goals are. Per Director Nuñez,

what truly brings her joy is helping and supporting students, families, and her

community in any way that she can. Regarding her future goals, she aspires to become

a board member in a corporation or in the educational sector. She realizes that many
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corporate boards lack representation of people of color and would like to represent that

voice.

Conclusion

Director Nuñez is an exemplary leader, she demonstrates all the qualities within

the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership (Kouzes & Posner, 2018). She Models the

Way by modeling behavior that she expects of her staff and students, she Inspires a

Shared Vision by envisioning program improvements and including others in the

process, she Challenges the Process by implementing program and community

changes that truly have an impact, she Enables Others to Act by soliciting ideas and

feedback from her staff knowing that great work is not done alone, and finally, she

Encourages the Heart by the genuine kindness and support she provides to her

students and staff. She is truly a servant leader. I greatly enjoyed my time working with

ETS; however, I now have a new appreciation for the experiences, knowledge, passion,

and dedication that Director Nuñez incorporates into her daily work.
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References

Educational talent search. (2021, September 7). Fresno state. Retrieved on October 9,

2021 from

https://studentaffairs.fresnostate.edu/talentsearch/fresnostate/index.html

Elrod R., Haynes C., Cade S., Forrest A., Loch T., & Schuckman G. (2019). No cookie

cutter approach: Supervision in community college student affairs. Community

College Journal of Research and Practice, 43(2), 149-152.

Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2018). The student leadership challenge: Five practices for

becoming an exemplary leader. Wiley.

Martin, G. L., Williams, B. M., Green, B., & Smith, M. J. (2019). Reframing activism as

leadership. New Directions for Student Leadership (161), 9–24. https://doi-

org.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/10.1002/yd.20317
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Appendix A

Interview Questions

1. How do you approach your work as a leader and supervisor?

2. What is your leadership philosophy?

3. Approximately, how many year’s experience do you have as a leader/supervisor?

4. What past professional roles would you say prepared you for this current

leadership position?

5. Did you have mentors along the way?

6. What is your educational background?

7. In your opinion, which would you say better prepares you for a leadership

position, education or experience?

8. What does a typical day as a leader look like for you?

9. Are there any areas in your current role as a leader that you see has room for

improvement?

10. Is there a particular individual(s), or strategies that you turn to when you require

support in your role as a leader?

11. What types of professional development have you been a part of or have been

involved in?

12. Are there particular organizations or associations that have helped you become a

better leader, or that you consider integral to the work that you do?

13. Is there something in particular that really excites and motivates you about your

role as a leader/supervisor?
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14. Do you have a particular goal(s) whether in the near or distant future, regarding

your role as a leader?