EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

BY: HALLIE WACHOWIAK

 EFFECTIVE LEADER

► The person I see as an effective leader is Mary Jane Robb – Commander, Management Services, who is
currently the person in charge of the Personnel and Payroll Unit in the Contra Costa County Office of the
Sheriff.
► The Personnel and Payroll Unit is comprised of about 25 people who process payroll, personnel
transactions, contracts, and grants for more than 1,100 employees.
► Mary Jane has worked for Contra Costa County since 1997 and has been in a supervisory role since 2000. In
2006 she became the Sheriff’s Director of Support Services when she joined the Sheriff’s Office. In 2011 she
was promoted to Sheriff’s Chief of Management services which was then converted to Commander,
Management Services in 2020. The Commander, Management Services is a leadership positions which is the
non-sworn equivalent to a Captain in the Sheriff’s Office.
► I chose Mary Jane as an effective leader because she has been the head of the department I have worked for,
for over the last eight years. I have been able to witness the effectiveness of her leadership style. She has
helped me grow into a better leader in our organization.
 The leadership topic I wish to explore is improving my
ability to delegate and manage a project. I chose this topic
because I am new to being a leader and delegating tasks
MANAGING has not been something I have needed to do. I have learned
that delegating is an important part of being a leader
AND because you are giving others the chance to learn and grow.
Also being a new leader, I have not had many opportunities
DELEGATING to manage a project, and the ones I have led tended not to
go as planned. Being able to learn different ways of leading
projects and being more effective by delegating would be
very useful in helping me grow into the leader I want to
become.
 WHAT FACTORS DO YOU CONSIDER IN MAKING IMPORTANT
DECISIONS, AND WHO DO YOU INVOLVE IN THE PROCESS? 

I believe that any decision I make that results in impacting another is important. How large or small of an impact,
there will be collateral benefits or damages to others, therefore any decision I make both professionally and
personally comes with an appropriate level of thought. For this answer I will focus on my decision-making as it
relates to my current position as the Commander of Administration for the Office of the Sheriff. First, since I work for
an elected official, my first consideration is “how will this look in the paper?” when I’m tasked with having to make a
decision as anything I do in my position can/will affect others. Once I get past that thought, I do the following:
•Review the task at hand
•Determine what outcome options are available 
•What is the goal or outcome of the decision
•Who can/will be affected by this decision and what will that affect look like?
•Identify stakeholders…other managers/divisions that will be affected, and my chain of command, and gather their
expectations and requirements
•Draft the decision in a written document for review by the stakeholders and my chain of command
•Upon approval, implement the change

Again… this is for decisions that result in impacting many others. For decisions that may only impact my immediate
team, I would discuss with my managers prior to implementation. If the decision only impacted one person, I would
discuss the decision with that person prior to implementing. Bottomline…the bigger the impact of the decision, the
bigger the number of stakeholders, or level of authority one needs to work with prior to making the decision.
 I believe people motivate themselves. It is necessary for a good leader/manager to
support their colleagues, have their back, guide and mentor their team, but also not
be afraid to “do the right thing” either good or bad. The work environment has a lot
to do with motivation. Feeling needed, respected, valuable to the organization is the
true motivation. Knowing what you’re spending 8, 10, 12, 24 hours doing, needs to
be appreciated, otherwise motivation (often identified as morale) breaks down. Yes,
a leader must lead, develop a plan, mentor and train for a successful workplace, but
at the end of the day, people are people and the motivation to “get out of bed and

HOW DO show up to work every day and do a good job” is more about feeling valued and
respected for your skillset. Many think “Money Motivates” and while we all know
we need the paycheck or we won’t be working, at the end of the day, when someone
YOU leaves a job (not for a promotion) or an agency has a recruitment and more
importantly a “retention” problem, there is most likely an internal leadership
MOTIVATE problem… lack of motivation… which leads to a morale problem. So, how do I
motivate:
OTHERS?  •Acknowledge my staff
•Say “Good Morning!  Hi! Have a Good Evening”
•Gather input from the team when the decision affects them
•Be courteous and kind
•Acknowledge the good job they do
•Address the problems as they surface
•Don’t be afraid to discipline if needed
•Promote from within whenever possible
•Rise together and Fall together
HOW DO YOU HANDLE CO-WORKERS
WHO ARE DIFFICULT TO MANAGE? 
First… interviewing candidates for a job is a very important part of the hiring process. Rarely does an
employee become difficult to manage due to skillset, it’s their personality that creates the “difficult”
employees. It begins with meeting with the employee and mentoring them on their performance issues.
Employers need to address difficulties as they relate to performance. How does the behavior affect the
employee’s performance, attitude, ability to “get along in the workplace?” Employees don’t need to
like each other, but there must always be respect, courtesy and professionalism. When that breaks
down, and it usually does when an employee is being disciplined or mentored for poor performance,
attendance, or attitude via complaints, what I do with a difficult employee is:
•Talk to the employee in private
•Address the concerns at hand
•Ask the employee “What is going on?” You ok? I notice you’re “making errors,” “calling in sick a
lot.”  Again, I focus on the performance aspect. But, it may be something else… Child ill, parent ill,
divorce, etc. 
•Develop an “action plan” to assist the employee with improving performance.
•If the performance continues to not improve, move along in the corrective action process.  It will
either help or it won’t.
•If it doesn’t help…continue down the discipline path
•I also find it helpful to “out counsel” the employee. Encourage them to seek better or different
opportunities. 
 HOW DO YOU COMMUNICATE
WITH GROUP MEMBERS?
Aside from informal one-on-one conversations, meeting are called (via ZOOM
or SKYPE or TEAMS…due to COIVD). Group meetings are generally Round
table discussions if it’s just updates. If there is an agenda or training, then a
formal invite is sent out, proper presentation handouts are provided. There
must always be room for each member to have a voice, give input, and it is
important to remember that all must feel the environment is “safe” so
participants will be honest and not fear retaliation for their openness. Without a
“safe environment” the group will not participate and only those who “agree”
with the presenter will give feedback. The facilitator must set the guidelines
and have all agree. Then if someone doesn’t follow the guidelines (gets
argumentative or disagrees angrily) I stop the conversation and remind all of
the guidelines. I also look for “body language” as “anger or disagreement” is
very visual. And then, that needs to be addressed often by calling on the person
to engage them in the conversation and change their tone.
 DESCRIBE A SITUATION THAT WAS DIFFICULT TO
HANDLE AND HOW YOU APPROACHED AND
HANDLED THE SITUATION. 

As a manager, it is important to ensure your operation can sustain functionality at all times. Staffing and managing workload is an
ongoing challenge for all managers. Succession planning is also something a manager needs to be cognizant of to ensure the
operation is sustainable with qualified employees to promote up when openings occur. This was the case with my management
staffing levels just as COVID-19 hit. Due to budget constraints, I lost a Director of Support Services for Grants and took on the
daily management of that division, then I lost my Personnel Director and had to take on that daily management along with my own
job duties. While I struggled to recruit for the Personnel Director position, I realized that in looking at my organization as a whole
unit, there was high probability that institutional knowledge would be lost within 5 years, due to an aging workforce, and without
restructuring, the division could experience major functionality gaps. But getting my chain of command to “buy in” to my idea was
a big hurdle. Change is hard for everyone and when posed with a reorganizational structure change, it’s easy to just say “no, not
right now..”  These are the steps I took to gain acceptance and approval for the reorganizational proposal:
•Assess the situation – what is the task at hand and anticipate what hurdles will need to be addressed and overcome
•Develop a strategic plan
•Write the proposal addressing the pros/cons associated with the plan (SWOT Analysis)
•Since funding is the hardest obstacle to overcome in the County, the proposal needed to include a saving or no change to the Net
County Cost
•Demonstrate how the proposal would benefit the entire organization
•Address succession planning – aging of the unit and loss of Institutional Knowledge
•Building promotional opportunities for current employees
 DESCRIBE A SITUATION THAT WAS DIFFICULT TO
HANDLE AND HOW YOU APPROACHED AND
HANDLED THE SITUATION. (CONT.)

I presented the proposal to my chain of command. It was not originally “well accepted” since civilian staffing (in a sworn
organization) is not necessarily a priority until civilians start retiring or leaving for better opportunities. I addressed the
obstacles (I didn’t anticipate) and told my chain of command to review and get back to me. Then, I waited for a
response. My proposal was well crafted, clearly demonstrated the benefits to the organization and was cost-saving. The
difficulty with my chain of command was the “structural change” as they did not see the need for any changes. I then
reminded them that I can retire at any time, all four (4) of the account technicians can retire at any time, my two (2)
Directors and (1) Supervising Accountant can retire within 2-5 years, and unless there is a career path for staff to advance
into supervisory roles and shore up the accounting area, the SO will experience big gaps within administration within the
next two years. AND…there isn’t one member of the Sworn Ranks that can “fill the gaps” as Personnel and Finance are
specialized areas filled with civilians who specialize in specific fields of education and experience. Civilians aren’t
interchangeable like Sworn…we all didn’t go to the SAME training… like sworn.
 
Outcome:  I got approval to move forward with the reorganization and as suspected, it was the right changes to make.
 The Path-Goal Theory says that leaders need to identify and satisfy
the needs of those they manage by helping them identify how to
reach their goals, clearing the path towards those goals, and
rewarding them for reaching their goals (Martin, 2009).

PATH-GOAL
THEORY Mary Jane does a good job mentoring those who are a part of her
team. She wants those she manages to have the opportunity to
grow within the company, and she does this by working out
development plans for employees and mentoring and training
them to use their knowledge and skills to reach their goals. She
knows that making employees feel valued and respected is
important for their growth because it motivates them to want to
accomplish their goals.

Martin, R. (2009). PathGoal Theory of Leadership. Encyclopedia of Group Processes & Intergroup Relations. Ed. John
M. Levine and Michael A. Hogg. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 636-37. 
 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory says, “each of us are
motivated by needs and in order for us to feel happy and motivated
in life, we must satisfy those needs” (Maslow Hierarchy of Needs,
2016). Everyone is motivated by something, and for us to be
successful we need to figure out what our needs are and then take
MASLOW’S the necessary steps to reach them.

HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS Mary Jane works hard to get to know her employees and figure out
what they need to be successful. When she deals with employees who
are difficult to manage, she considers what she knows about the
employee and asks questions to get to the root of the problem. She will
work with the employee to see that their needs are met and that they are
still successful at work.

Maslow Hierarchy of Needs: Helping understand what motivates your people. Educational Business Articles.
(2016, May 9). https://www.educational-business-articles.com/maslow-hierarchy-of-needs/
 Democratic leadership style is described in our Lesson 3 presentation
as part of Lewin’s 3 Participatory Leadership Styles and centers around
everyone getting a say in the decision-making process. Though
everyone’s opinion is considered the final decision may come down to
the leader or a group consensus. This style is popular because the team
members feel like they are contributing to the team and that they are
DEMOCRATIC being heard.

LEADERSHIP
STYLE Mary Jane gives her employees the chance to voice their opinions and
give their input when decisions need to be made. She takes what
everyone says into consideration before making her final decision. She
values their opinions because she is aware that she does not know
everything and having the input of those around her will give her
insight into things she is not an expert on. Sometimes her decisions
mirror what her employees have expressed, and sometimes she has to
go in a different direction when the need arises.

https://canvas.asu.edu/courses/86034/pages/l3-overview-and-learning-materials?module_item_id=5607495
Lesson 3: Presentation.
Being given the opportunity to interview my boss, Mary Jane Robb, has
helped me understand her leadership methods and how she works as a
leader. This knowledge will give me a better foundation for our working
relationship because now I know how to better interact with Mary Jane and
how she handles her role as the Commander of our unit. In addition,
adapting to her leadership style will help me grow into the type of leader
that will thrive in our organization.
During the interview, she talks about how she handles difficult co-workers
and asks them questions to try and get to the root of the problem. This is
something that I would like to try and implement myself when dealing with
others. Understanding that their behavior could have something to do with

REFLECTION
factors outside of the workplace will give me a better grasp of what I may
need to do to help them succeed. I tend to shy away from confrontation, but
realizing that someone may be acting out because of outside circumstances
will help me to step up and be a better leader by meeting with the employee
and questioning them to get to the root of their problems. I need to work on
going outside of my comfort zone to help my co-workers succeed.
I would have to disagree with Mary Jane when she mentions that she
believes people motivate themselves. Yes, people do what they want when
they want, but they will have more drive to reach their goal when given the
right motivation. That motivation may be as small as a “please” or as large
as a promotion/raise. I believe people need some form of motivation
because if there is nothing to inspire them to reach the goal, what is the
point of putting in the effort?