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Unit 2 Inspiration: Leader Identity Narrative

Christopher Duree

Arizona State University

OGL 482: Organizational Leadership Pro-Seminar II

Instructor Trista Guzman

March 30, 2024

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Introduction:

Since childhood, I have had a deep fascination for exceptional and effective

leaders. From researching accomplished military Generals to inspirational change leaders, I have

incorporated diverse perspectives and values into my leadership style. My interest in leadership,

specifically with team organization and task completion, has guided me in my life journey from

childhood until now. My path has seen high points as well as low points as I navigated various

leadership roles, with each turning point I have walked away with new information and new

experiences that all contribute to my current approach. I am passionate about serving others and

creating positive change, and I believe that effective and quality leadership is crucial in

achieving these goals. In this reflection narrative, I will explore my leadership journey, detailing

the challenges I have faced, the lessons I have learned, and how my experiences have shaped

who I am today.

Early Years:

I believe that my leadership journey started in childhood, as this was when my

fascination for leadership developed, and I had my first experience as a leader. My parents began

the process of divorce when I was about five years old. Although I was very young, I was the

oldest sibling and felt the responsibility of taking care of my younger sister throughout this time.

There were periods of neglect where I had to act as my sister’s caretaker, ensuring that she was

fed and entertained while our parents verbally fought and argued. During this period, I had to

grow up fast, put my needs to the side, and be of service to my sibling while she was not at a

stage to care for herself.

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As years went on, our parents moved on to marry again bringing in a host of step and

half-siblings. At the age of twelve, I was the oldest sibling and big brother to seven younger

siblings ages one through nine. Neither side of my family was well off, with both parents often

working multiple jobs and long hours away from home. I had the responsibility as a middle

school-aged boy of babysitting my siblings, cooking dinner, getting them washed up and ready

for bed, and ensuring their safety. There were times when I had to usher my brothers and sisters

into a tornado shelter during active sirens while our parents were away and waiting out the

storm. There were times when I had to have hard conversations, help with homework, and

negotiate peace. Ultimately, I credit this experience to my maturity early on as I had to very

much fend for myself and others with little to no guidance or assistance.

I learned a lot about leadership during this time, specifically servant leadership and

developing my values through the actions of caring for my siblings. I learned to be resourceful of

my environment, and the importance of planning. I had a mentor in my grandfather who helped

me grow into a protector and facilitator of peace, whose lessons still guide me to this day. His

lifelong interest in military history and the actions of great Generals led our conversations and

fostered my interest in those studies. I learned to care for my siblings not just because it was my

older brother's duty, but also because we were a team that depended on one another. I did

everything I could with the resources I had to develop that team, build comradery, and create a

high-functioning unit that could depend upon each other. I took ownership of preparing them for

life’s challenges and building their resilience and their abilities in preparation for when I would

no longer be there to help them.

Military Leadership:
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At the age of eighteen, I joined the United States Air Force, shipping out for basing

training just a couple of weeks after high school graduation. I had felt an immense calling to

serve my country with a strong family background in military service dating back to the

founding of our nation. It was at this time that I had my first real experience with organizational

leadership team building. Military service was a two-part lesson on leadership, first learning and

developing my leadership ability, and second, evaluating and modeling the leadership styles and

abilities of my superiors. At every point of my six years in the Air Force, I had a hierarchy of

leaders with various approaches, attitudes, and processes, exposing me to a large variety of both

good and bad leadership examples.

My first test started as being a team member accomplishing various tasks during basic

training and technical school. There were many points of training where an individual’s actions

could cause an entire team to fail a test or exercise. The group as a whole would typically be

punished for an individual’s failure before another attempt was made to complete the goal. It was

here that I learned the value of participation, paying attention to detail, and staying calm under

pressure. I also had to learn how to be a team player and accept the consequences of others'

actions but not blame them for failure. I was given opportunities to fail and have my team

support me and for my team members to fail to require my support. As a unit, we learned to not

play “blame games”, and to just correct the inefficiency, support and coach our peers, and move

on to complete the task.

Around my third year in the Air Force, I was promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant and

assigned as supervisor to a team of fifteen junior Airmen. My first official leadership role acted

as a major turning point in my leadership journey. It was here where I was pushed to my limits of

patience, and where my organizational ability was put to the test. My daily workload was to
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process and inventory thousands of pieces of equipment and prepare several dozen vehicles for

the next day. There were many times when I lost the focus or trust of the team after making bad

calls or misdirecting them on their tasks. I learned the hard way that my rank and title were

nominal and my abilities were lacking for the role I was in. After seeking guidance and working

to improve my capabilities, I found success by spending more time gathering information,

seeking varied inputs, and creating contingencies. I learned to value the input and opinions of my

subordinates and that I was not always right. Through making informed decisions and having

backup plans, I became very efficient in my daily duties and ultimately had a high-functioning

team that was successful at not only completing tasks but also improving processes and training

new team members.

Transition to Civilian Leadership:

My time in the Air Force was shorter than I had expected. I had intended to serve twenty

or more years and work until military retirement. Unfortunately, I sustained injuries leading to a

medical separation from the service, forcing me to abruptly seek new employment opportunities.

My first post-military job was home theater and sales floor supervisor at Best Buy. I relocated to

a new state, was given a brand-new team, and was wearing a new uniform. This period marked a

major turning point in my leadership journey as I quickly found out that my rigid military style

of leadership that was effective was now useless in this new environment. My first year as a sales

supervisor was met with many setbacks, growing pains, and relearning what it meant to be a

leader of the team.

Coming into the role I had no expectations of how the job should be or could be

performed. I did not know the extent of my control over things like product placement, pricing,
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scheduling, or other factors of team organization and planning. I discovered that Best Buy had

many of the same qualities as a military operation. There were multiple stores spread out across

the country like bases. There was a mission, although less critical, it was my goal to accomplish

the mission, in this case, it was hitting a sales target and meeting performance standards. There

was even a chain of command much like the military, with each store having its version of

troops, frontline supervisors, and a hierarchy of upper management and leadership. Because of

this similar structure, I readily assumed that my skillset would be perfect for the task and I began

implementing sweeping changes to mimic those that worked for me in the prior job.

I assigned individuals to certain areas or zones in which they would be responsible for

everything from product facing, cleanliness, and pricing accuracy. I set a specific schedule in

place with all lunches lined out, when breaks would happen, and who would cover what

departments. I instituted a rigorous training program attempting to align the strengths of all

individuals and round out the weaknesses. I thought that I had been selected for the role for a

reason and that my management would want me to bring the rigid, disciplined structure of the

military into this work environment. It backfired catastrophically. Several team members stopped

showing up, others outright refused to adapt to the changes, and many people quit or moved

departments. I experienced a high rate of turnover that brought about many questions about my

methods and what my intentions were. I had thought that by ironing out all inefficiencies and

adding structure, I would have the store running like a clock, however, I miscalculated several

aspects of the situation.

While Best Buy was very much like the military there were a few key differences that I

overlooked. The “troops” were not there to serve a higher purpose or to make a sacrifice to their

country, and they weren’t there on a contract. This new crew was mostly high school kids
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working part-time while going to school, many of whom were friends who started working there

to be together and enjoy their time, get a good discount, and earn some cash on the side. “The

advantages of working part-time for many include the greater attractiveness of part-time hours,

greater accessibility to the family, lower levels of stress, and higher levels of life satisfaction”

(Harrington & Hall, 2008, p. 156). I had created an environment where these part-time

employees are required to treat their job like a full-time career. This is where I learned about

intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and the importance of understanding the values and personal or

professional goals of your team members (Falk, 2023). Nobody on my team needed that job, and

none of them were forced to show up and follow orders. I put them in a position where they were

required to do more than what they were fairly compensated for and more than what they had

signed up to do.

It would be several months before I began to correct my approach and begin to realize

how my actions were impacting the team and my store negatively. I began having weekly

mentoring meetings with a manager who I trusted and he was very helpful in helping me course

correct. I started being more supportive of my team members, more flexible with the schedule,

and accommodating of their interests. I started to lean back into that servant leadership style

from my teenage years and began to treat my crew with the respect of a younger sibling. I started

turning my weekly one-on-one conversations into more of a personal check-up instead of a near-

scripted talk about key performance indicators and performance metrics. It was at this time that I

decided to start pursuing a degree in Organizational Leadership to correct my inefficiencies and

round out my skillset. I discovered and implemented emotional intelligence, and started treating

my team more like fellow humans and less like expendable resources.
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While much of the damage could not be undone, I apologized to those still under my

influence and made the needed changes to have a high-functioning yet interconnected and

family-style team. Our performance seemed to improve more and more over time and I realized

that not all conversations had to be about the numbers. I let my team start setting their own goals

and taking charge of their departments. “By giving employees genuine autonomy, leaders can

reduce the sense of powerlessness and stress that people feel and increase their willingness to

exercise more fully their capabilities” (Kouzes, 2017, pg. 223). I spent quality time getting to

know my team, exploring their interests engaging in conversations about their goals. I learned to

help remove roadblocks in both their personal and professional lives as best as I could, which

resulted in more focus and performance at work. My team ended up being the top home theater

department in sales revenue for several months of my last year. My time as a sales supervisor

was one of the largest growing periods of my leadership journey as I made many failures, but

was able to implement new ideas and methods, and eventually reach the same goal through

different means.

A Challenging Opportunity:

After a successful year in the sales supervisor role, I was looking for something new and

exciting. I had felt somewhat trapped by the four walls of the store and did not have the creative

freedom that I had hoped for. I was allowed to move into the installations side of the business as

a team lead for Magnolia Custom Services, a high-end residential audio and video installation

unit of Best Buy. I worked out of the same store and had the advantage of leveraging the

relationships and connections that I had built from my time on the leadership team, so the

transition was smooth. I went from serving customers in the store to serving them in their homes,
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which turned out to be more of a challenge than I could have ever imagined. I started as a team

lead in a trade that I had no experience in, leading a crew that had years of experience. I had to

learn how to navigate leading a team that knew more than me, while also leaning in on them to

help train me for the new role.

Asking someone to train you to be their boss is never a simple or easy task. There must

be a level of professionalism from both sides that permits growth as the working relationship

depends on it. I was dropped into a leadership role running a crew that had all applied for the role

I was given and I was not given any training prior. This role in addition to being highly technical

on the installation side, also had the complex task of communicating with clients in their own

homes and acting as a project manager on multi-day projects. I had to relearn how to talk to

customers in this environment as it was drastically different than customer contact in a retail

store. In the home, the client has all of the power and control over the situation. I had to learn

how to speak up for my team, negotiate with a customer, manage a project, and coordinate team

efforts all while still learning to do the technical part of the job, mounting displays, connecting

speakers, programming entertainment systems, and running cables through attics and walls.

It was at this turning point that I felt overwhelmed in my ability to lead a team as I was in

over my head from a skill standpoint. I had a hard time trying to be a leader of a team who was

reluctant to give me help and who I relied on for information and training. I could not implement

many of my methods as a leader due to not having any expert power or influence over the team

or varied situations. This is where I started to go back into my toolbox and evaluate all of my

prior experiences. I found that my best chance at being successful in this role would come from

building relationships and leveraging my resources. I vowed to not make the same mistakes from
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the past and took quality time to develop a plan of action. I decided to use my connections in the

store and my formal position to assist my team in areas that they had no control over.

Instead of trying to become a subject matter expert quickly and take control of the team, I

looked at what I uniquely brought to the team and decided to add where I could. I got to know

the members on a personal level through working hard and proving myself, earning their respect

and their attention. I used this time to find where they had been struggling from a job perspective

and identified roadblocks to their performance. Many inefficiencies in the supply chain process

made their jobs harder on a day-to-day basis, and they had little influence on getting changes

made at the store. I found an area where I could be meaningful by using my past connections to

have meetings with the store’s key leaders and personnel. Using my connections and network of

other store leaders I began to reach out and look at ways in which we could work together to

improve issues impacting our workflow. “No one person may provide for all of your

developmental needs, but taken together the entire network of your relationships can have a

powerful impact on your career” (Harrington & Hall, 2008, p. 194). Together we devised a plan

to separate orders, stage equipment and product, and streamline the standard morning and

afternoon process. By utilizing my relationship, I was able to take stress off of the team, improve

their quality of life at work, and enable them to do their job more effectively and with less stress.

By finding a unique way to help my team, I earned their respect and was able to grow our

performance and impact on the mission.

Conclusion:

I have held many roles as a leader, learning new things about myself and improving my

abilities along the way. With many setbacks along the way, I have been able to course-correct
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and identify areas of growth in each setting. I would not be the leader I am today without the

help of mentors, peer feedback, and practice. I have learned that making mistakes is part of the

job of a leader, but learning from those mistakes and sharing both my failures and successes is

the most important part. I began my educational journey into Organizational Leadership as a way

to help me identify my faults and become a better leader in all aspects. I am now at the point

where I want to help my team in any capacity that I can and enable them to accomplish more

than they could have imagined. I know that I am still young in my career and will make many

more mistakes, but I believe that through mentorship, reflection, and feedback, I can make

adjustments be a constant learner, and improve. My goal is to finish my Organizational

Leadership degree but remain enrolled in graduate studies to continue my journey. I hope to one

day be able to share my experiences with others and help new leaders to not make the same

mistakes that I did along the way. Without mentorship and reflection, I would not be the person I

am today.
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References

Falk, S. (2023, March 8). Understanding the power of intrinsic motivation. Harvard Business

Review. https://hbr.org/2023/03/understand-the-power-of-intrinsic-motivation

Harrington, B., & Hall, D. T. (2008). Career Management & Work/Life Integration: Using Self-

assessment to navigate contemporary careers. SAGE Publications.

Kouzes, J. M. (2017). The leadership challenge. Wiley.