Leadership Paper Please interview a manager or supervisor who has

Leadership Paper

Please interview a manager or supervisor who has people who report to him/her. This person could be your supervisor.

 

Conduct an interview with that person either in-person or via the phone using the 6 interview questions below. Please also ask a couple follow-up questions or other questions that interest you as well!! If you would like, you could give the 6 questions to the person you are going to interview in advance so they can reflect on them before talking with you.

 

Turn in a 1.5 to 2-page single spaced paper that includes the following:

 

1. Your interviewed manager’s: a) name and position; b) organization; c) number of people he or she manages; d) years experience as a manager; e) how you know this person.

 

2. Summarize and report his/her answers to the 6 questions below as well as any additional questions you asked (i.e., # 7 below). Since you are limited in space, this should be a summary of what you think is most important (i.e., not a dictation of what he or she said). Although it’s ok to leave some stuff out, you should summarize at least part of his/her answers from each of the 6 questions.

 

3. Considering this interview with a manager, your past experiences, and what you have learned about people in this course (i.e. individual differences, motivation, teams, and leadership), do you think you would like to be a supervisor or manager in the future? Why or why not (if you are not sure, explain why)? please incorporate insights gained from your self-assessment results. If possible, please write at least a couple of paragraphs on this one.

 

“In the future, I hope to establish a private nursing practice. Prior to starting my own practice, I want to assume a leadership role in a healthcare organization to strengthen my understanding of a variety of strategic business issues and how to resolve them. I hope the leadership role enables me foster the development of new practices and innovative systems that will enhance patient outcomes and improve nursing practice as a whole.”

Interview Questions (Also, don’t forget to get the info for # 1 above):

 

Q1.  What are the two or three biggest challenges (i.e. the most difficult part) of managing the people you do? Can you think of any particularly difficult types of people or situations to manage?

 

Q2.  Describe something you have done as a manager that has really “worked”. That is, something you did that really motivated people, or made them work harder, or show better teamwork, or helped you or the organization in some significant way. Another way to think of this is something you are pleased or proud of in your managerial life.

 

Q3.  Describe something that you have done as a manager that did not work, or caused problems, or seemed like a good idea at the time but was not ultimately successful.

 

Q4.  Recognizing that I am an MBA student currently studying human behavior in organizations, what do you know now that you wish you knew then (e.g. before you became a supervisor)? What should they be teaching us that is really important (but you perhaps did not get enough of when in your training or you were in school)?

 

Q5.  Describe the best manager you (the manager) have had in your working career. What did he or she do that you found effective? The more specific the examples are the better.

 

Q6.  What are some of the things you enjoy most and least about supervising and leading others?

 

Q7. Please ask any additional questions that you may have.

 

I was able to come up with some answers but you don’t necessarily have to use them in the essay. You may please provide an alternative answer as you dim fit.

Thank you for all your assistance. You have been of tremendous help to me this semester.

 

Q1.  What are the two or three biggest challenges (i.e. the most difficult part) of managing the people you do? Can you think of any particularly difficult types of people or situations to manage?

When asked about her biggest challenges as a manager, she responded that implementing change is not easy in older employees that are set in their ways. It is hard to lead when people are resisting. In her experience as a nurse manager, delegating responsibilities is another challenge she has been faced with “getting everyone to buy in or making people to do it may be difficult but you have to take the bull by the horn and decide or take one step further in discipline”. There was an obvious tone of resentment from some of her subordinates, which she had been able to tactically bring under control in the past. She said she had written up staff members in the past that were not willing to comply by the rule. She added, “A manager has to take some steps to keep his or her job or else face the wrought of the management”.  She explained that sometimes when subordinates resist the delegated task even though it is within their job description, she would calmly approach them indicating her expectations in an assertive manner, and also provide them with “clear and explicit work guidelines”. Also it is “a challenge when work is delegated and it is not done the way it should be done or in a timely manner”.

Trying to please everyone and still be fare e.g. scheduling, some may expect me to be lenient with them and grant their schedule request at the expense of others. Some may not be satisfied

 

 

Q2.  Describe something you have done as a manager that has really “worked”. That is, something you did that really motivated people, or made them work harder, or show better teamwork, or helped you or the organization in some significant way. Another way to think of this is something you are pleased or proud of in your managerial life.

We used to have issues with break times, sick calls and low staff morale. I was able to come up with a plan for monthly team schedule/ rotation. This led to reduced sick calls, which attracted incentives from upper management. We received discounted movie tickets and snacks were served to the staff at night.

I also implemented preceptor and preceptee scheduling so as to make it easy for the new orientee to follow 1 person instead of changing preceptors everyday.

 

Q3.  Describe something that you have done as a manager that did not work, or caused problems, or seemed like a good idea at the time but was not ultimately successful.

Nancy recounted her experience after hiring an employee based on a friend recommendation and not by merit. The newly hired went through orientation and all necessary training but she wasn’t a perfect fit for the position. She wasn’t a team player and her errors “almost cost me my job and I eventually had to let her go”. Hiring is an important aspect of any organization that cannot be taken lightly. Recruitment and job matching plays an important role in performance management. Therefore abilities should be assess properly during the selection process (Baldwin et al 2013).

If you hire the wrong people for a position, it will come back to haunt you.

Q4.  Recognizing that I am an MBA student currently studying human behavior in organizations, what do you know now that you wish you knew then (e.g. before you became a supervisor)? What should they be teaching us that is really important (but you perhaps did not get enough of when in your training or you were in school)?

 

Q5.  Describe the best manager you (the manager) have had in your working career. What did he or she do that you found effective? The more specific the examples are the better.

My director is selfless. Everyone comes to her for both personal and work related advice. She is extremely knowledgeable about standards of care. She was able to modify and improve on standards while maintaining proficiency and patient safety with smooth running of the department. She always attends meetings and keeps staff update with latest trends.

 

Q6.  What are some of the things you enjoy most and least about supervising and leading others?

Nancy enjoys being part of a team and being a liaison between staff and management. She sees it as her responsibility to “empower her subordinated with the knowledge and skill that they need in providing a satisfactory patient care”. She supports staff educational development by enrolling them for training classes and in-services that are related to the patient population and care provided on her unit. She says she also encourages her staff to take advantage of the facility’s tuition reimbursement in forging ahead in their education and careers.

She added that the things she enjoys the least are making decisions that will not make every team member happy or having to deliver bad news in the department.

 

is responsible for performing annual performance appraisal on her subordinates and communicates the outcome to human resources.

 

open communication, meeting goals set by staff,

Q7. Please ask any additional questions that you may have.