Leadership Assignment 

This assingment  was opened my eyes to the importance of a true mentor. The following includes an essay about my experience. 

Stephen Barr

Eastern Gateway Community College

MGT 206: Business Management Capstone

Professor Karen Spindler

July 16, 2023

For the action mentor assignment, I chose my father, Craig Barr. Craig is the Vice President and Chief Quality Officer at Heritage Valley Health System, a three-hospital health system in Western Pennsylvania. In addition, he is the Executive Director of Heritage Valley Healthcare Network, their population health division. Craig has been associated with the health system for over 30 years. 

In discussion with Craig, he believes that his leadership style is collaborative, in that he likes to work closely with team members and fully believes in them finding their purpose to reach their full potential in the work environment. 

My beliefs for being an effective leader require sets of skills, qualities, and behaviors that guide a team towards achieving a common goal. Being that there is no one-size-fits-all formula for effective leadership, certain characteristics and practices tend to contribute to successful leadership. These include having vision and setting goals, communication and listening skills, integrity, trustworthiness, and problem solving. 

In past leadership positions, I’ve utilized different leadership styles. For example, when I was captain of the football team, I frequently used an authoritative style of leadership. During my time leading that group, from experience I knew what needed to be done and had to dictate the path that needed to be followed in order to be successful. With the younger individuals, you have to possess a more coaching/authoritative style in order to produce results. At that time, they were new to the program and needed to be shown how and why things were done in a certain way. However, I do not believe that this style of leadership is applicable for every leadership position. 

In a different scenario, when I was the mow crew manager for Keepin’ It Green, I used a democratic style of leadership. I used this style of leadership because I found myself willing to listen to the team and willing to adjust the workload based upon their feedback, while also being in charge of results. My reasoning for using this style was due to the fact that I felt that I was a leader who worked just alongside the crew. I believe that people feel personally and professionally fulfilled when a leader acknowledges and acts upon what they have to say.  

One of the leadership theories that Craig and I discussed was service. He stated that he felt that as a leader it is important to be service oriented toward your employees. That includes accountability. Examples of service and accountability that he provided were always letting your employees know where he is going to be for the day and communicating how he can be reached. He also indicated that he attempts to respond to an employee within 24 hours when they reach out with an issue or concern even if it’s only to say, “I’ve received your email and will get back to you soon.” He stated that being a service oriented leader requires caring for employees by attending funerals, providing meals and sharing in the personal trials that people face in their personal lives. This is something that I’ve not considered and feel that I can improve upon. I’ve always considered my role as a leader to end when the workday ends, but this shows me that I need to go beyond that and sometimes give some of my personal time to show employees I care about them in a more personal way.

Another area that I feel that I need to develop is motivating employees to grow in their potential. Craig mentioned that he finds significant satisfaction in facilitating his employees to obtain a new certification or help start a new program that is outside of their comfort zone. I have been focused on my own professional growth and advancement but realize from our discussion that growing others can provide personal satisfaction. 

An additional management theory we discussed was motivation. Motivation is a key component when it comes to leadership. Craig touched on the concept of PRIDE, which stands for a personal responsibility in delivering excellence. He mentioned that he is always encouraging others to deliver excellence in what they do. This can be personally satisfying because it develops a sense of pride in one’s work. In past experiences, I had not considered this approach with a mowing crew, because it is hard to keep their motivation lawn after lawn. Although with this perspective, I can instill a motivation to do the very best for each client we may be servicing. I also feel that I can do better in complimenting them at doing the very best for every client. I realized that much of this approach was something that many of my high school coaches used in order to motivate the team. The coaches insisted on excellence on every play, every down, and every moment during my time playing. Looking back this was also very evident during my time as a college football player. The intensity was increased, but still carried the same idea of keeping players motivated play after play. I now see that many of these leadership styles are evident in many aspects of life and are used on a daily basis for even the simplest of tasks and jobs. 

In conclusion, I feel that the leadership style that I want to grow and develop is a combination of collaborative and service-oriented leadership. Through my mentorship with Craig Barr, I learned the importance of working closely with team members, which empowers them to find their purpose and reach their full potential. I also realized the significance of being a service-oriented leader and going beyond the workday to show genuine care and support for employees in their personal lives can increase potential output. Overall, my mentorship experience with Craig has broadened my perspective on effective leadership. I am now striving to combine collaborative and service-oriented approaches, while also adapting my leadership style to fit the needs of different teams and situations. By continuously developing my leadership skills and incorporating these principles into my actions, I aim to create a positive and empowering work environment that drives individuals to future success.

References

Leadership styles. Corporate Finance Institute. (2023, May 30). https://corporatefinanceinstitute

.com/resources/management/leadership-styles/

How to choose a mentor. It’s Your Yale. (n.d.). https://your.yale.edu/work-yale/learn-and-gr

ow/career-development/mentoring/how-choose-mentor#:~:text=It%27s%20critical%20to%20know%20that,Form%20a%20relationship%20first.