Leader Interview Project

Student Names

San Francisco State University

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Phase 1: Potential Subjects and Implementation Plan

For the manager interview project, our group initially had two options for managers to

interview. The first option was Shauna Clements, Senior Area Director for Galileo Learning. The

second option was Michael Bingham, Director of Customer Management for Strategic

Healthcare Programs (SHP).

Our first option, Shauna, has been an Area Director with Galileo Learning since 2014. As

an Area Director, Shauna oversees a region of summer camps and directly manages the Camp

Directors running those camp sites. In the past, her region was comprised of six to seven camps

depending on the year, and so she managed a team of six to seven Camp Directors. More

recently, Shauna has taken on the role of Senior Area Director, which entails helping to train and

mentor new Area Directors as they are hired. Because of this added responsibility, she currently

manages a smaller region of three Camp Directors in San Francisco.

In addition to managing a team of Camp Directors each year, Shauna also manages two

Field Operations Coordinators at the Galileo Headquarters, including Kathy Sprowles from this

class. The other Field Operations Coordinator, Santina, is also a Camp Director and Shauna

manages her in both of these roles. Because of this overlap of Santina’s two roles, Shauna

currently directly manages four people. Our group contacted Santina for this project as one of

Shauna’s subordinates, who has the unique perspective of being managed by Shauna in two

different roles as both a Camp Director and Field Operations Coordinator.

Shauna’s manager is Emily Kuhlmann, who is the Bay Area Territory Director for

Galileo Learning. Emily manages the six Area Directors in the Bay Area, including Shauna, and

we asked Emily for her feedback as Shauna’s manager. We also contacted Allison Lopez, one of

the other five Area Directors in the Bay Area, in order to gather feedback from one of Shauna’s

peers.

Before becoming an Area Director in 2014, Shauna was a Camp Director for three years

running one of the San Francisco camps (2011-2013). As a Camp Director, Shauna managed

larger teams of 30+ summer staff at her camp location.

Shauna understands the project and agreed to participate as our leader and was available

for the hour-long interview we conducted. Kathy was the point person for contacting her and

scheduling the interview, as well as contacting her peer, subordinate, and supervisor. Our team

worked together to develop our interview questions. Kathy was present at the interview in person

and Siqi, Lauren, and Frances were on Skype to join the interview.

Our second option, Michael Bingham, is the Director of Customer Management for

Strategic Healthcare Programs (SHP). He has been in this position since 2015 and he currently

oversees a team of five Senior Customer Managers as well as seven Customer Managers (CMs).

These CMs oversee 1300 post-acute healthcare enterprises. He implements internal reporting

dashboards to quickly capture the overall health of each account. He has developed check-in

processes for CMs. Michael is the point person for any client escalations.

In Michael’s previous positions he was the Director of Marketing for Ergonmotion and

the Customer Service Supervisor at Mentor Worldwide. He has been in supervisory positions for

over 12 years.

Michael’s current supervisor is Zeb Clayton, VP of Customer Service. Zeb has worked

for SHP for 15 years. His peers at SHP, are Trish Stone, Assistant General Counsel (Lauren’s

boss) and Steve Leahy, Director of Implementation/Customer Service. His subordinate Katie

Gaunt would be available to speak with the team. Another Senior Customer Manager, Victoria

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Feld may also be open to speak with us, and as she worked with him at Mentor Worldwide, she

can evaluate his managerial skills over a longer period of time.

Both Shauna and Michael meet the basic criteria for the project. They have both been in a

managerial position for over three years and have three or more subordinates. They have both

agreed to be part of the project and participate in the one-hour interview. They both have a

subordinate, peer, and supervisor for us to contact for the project.

While both managers meet the basic criteria for the project and would be great options,

we have chosen Shauna as our first choice because she was easier to contact and more available

for our interview and follow up questions. Michael had some deadlines at work that made him

less accessible for the project. In addition, we think that the structure of a summer camp

company and terminology will be easier for people in different industries to understand and use

common language for our interview questions. We conducted our interview with Shauna,

gathered feedback from the people she works with, and our analysis of the interview and

feedback follows.

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Phase 2: Manager Summary

As a manager, Shauna is adept at problem solving. In order to solve a problem, Shauna

gathers information and determines the best course of action. She ensures that all decisions will

positively impact the company. As a leader, she motivates her employees and provides them with

the tools that they need to succeed. She builds strong relationships with her employees and

determines the best way to motivate them. She does not micromanage; she communicates a

vision and allows her employees a certain amount of autonomy and freedom in determining how

to accomplish that vision. She is a great leader but could benefit from improving managerial

skills such as dealing with more complexity in the workplace.

Personal View of Leadership Style

Shauna has defined herself as a situational leader, which is an adaptive leadership style.

Shauna adjusts her leadership to fit the development of the employees that she is trying to

influence (Anthony, 2018). She tailors her leadership to each subordinate (Buckingham, 2005).

This is an effective leadership strategy in her current role, as she is managing a small team.

When teams are larger with managers supporting more employees, situational leadership can

result in inconsistency, as employees may not know what to expect from their managers on a

daily basis (Wile, 2018). In the event that her team grows, Shauna must ensure that she is only

altering her words and not her behaviors (Wile, 2018).

A tactic that Shauna uses to be an effective manager, is taking the time and effort to gain

a full appreciation of her employees’ strengths and weaknesses (Buckingham, 2005). She sets

aside time with each employee to determine what they consider to be their strengths, why they

are excited about their role, and in what areas they would like to grow and work on. This

information thus helps her understand her employees’ needs and how to effectively provide

support for those needs. She values letting her employees guide their own experience.

Shauna conducts regular weekly check-ins with her employees to gauge if they require

any support and if they do, she assesses what kind of support they require. She then determines

the best way to give them direction. Shauna is supportive of her employees’ professional goals;

additionally she assists them in accomplishing personal development goals. Shauna prides

herself on being an authentic leader by sharing her imperfections. She exposes vulnerability to

build trust and creates a collaborative atmosphere (Goffee, & Jones, 2000). By communicating

her weakness, she also builds solidarity between managers and subordinates (Goffee & Jones,

2000).

Leadership Style Assessed by Others

Her subordinate and superior both recognize Shauna as a skilled situational leader. Her

subordinate stated that Shauna views all of her employees as unique and adapts her management

style to best suit each person. She appreciates how difficult it must be for Shauna to constantly

adjust her leadership style for each team member that she supports (Rohner-Moran, 2018).

Shauna’s subordinates, peers and superiors view her leadership style as a combination of

affiliative, pacesetting and coaching. She builds strong bonds with her coworkers by building

trust and creating a harmonious environment that allows people to collaborate. She practices

tough empathy and although she builds strong bonds with her team, she is still able to keep them

accountable for their work. She leads by example and sets high standards for her team.

Additionally, she helps her employees develop their own personal goals as well as their

professional goals. She encourages them to succeed and sets them up to accomplish their goals.

Emotional Intelligence and Personality Type:

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Shauna shows a high level of emotional intelligence when working with her peers and

subordinates by demonstrating her empathy and social skills (Goleman, 2004). As a strong

situational leader, Shauna is able to adapt her approach based on the individual needs of the

employees she manages and based on the situation at any given time. For example, Shauna

described a recent challenge she faced at work when an employee was going through a traumatic

personal experience. Shauna discussed how she balanced having empathy for the employee and

being there for them emotionally, while also still holding them accountable to their professional

responsibilities. In addition, Shauna uses her emotional intelligence when working with her peers

on the Area Director team. She said when there are conflicts or challenges on the team, she is

able to read the room and see how people are feeling based on their body language and she

notices if anything is going unsaid. Shauna is also able to use her social skills to form authentic

relationships with her coworkers. Shauna mentioned that she uses humor to help make people

feel comfortable. Both her peer, Allison, and her subordinate, Santina, mentioned that Shauna is

a great listener, and Allison appreciates that Shauna checks in with her about her personal life, as

well as professionally. Shauna identified that she is not great at small talk and wants to continue

to ensure that she makes connections with people every day and is accessible and approachable

to her coworkers.

Shauna’s coworkers expressed a strong level of trust in her and emphasized her

cooperation on the team. She demonstrates a high level of agreeableness and has excelled in her

current people-oriented position. Shauna’s supervisor also commented on Shauna’s confidence

in tackling new projects at work, and her self-discipline and determination in fulfilling her

responsibilities, demonstrating a high level of conscientiousness.

As a leader at the height of her career, Shauna can be described as “The General” from

the Seven Ages of the Leader (Bennis, 2004). Shauna explained that she is one of the most

experienced Area Directors on the team and is very comfortable in the role since she has been in

the same position for a number of years. She helps to train and mentor new Area Directors and

both her supervisor and peer mentioned the valuable experience she brings to the team. Since she

is at the height of her career, a big challenge is ensuring she is really hearing others when they

voice their opinions or concerns. In our interview, Shauna talked about making sure employees

feel that their concerns are heard and validated, so it appears as though she is conscious of really

hearing others and responding to their insights.

Culture and Managing in the New Economy

As previously stated, Shauna is focused on supporting her employees’ professional and

career development. Santina stated that Shauna is conscious of her personal goals and suggests

projects to help Santina work on those goals. Shauna also advocates for Santina to be more

involved with projects in the office that will help support her professional development. In

addition to supporting her employees’ professional and career development, Shauna has also

demonstrated many of the other eight behaviors of the high scoring managers at Google (Garvin,

2013). She talked about supporting her employees’ work-life balance, showing her concern for

their personal well-being. She has received feedback on being a good communicator and strong

listener. Santina mentioned that she appreciates the autonomy that Shauna gives her, and Shauna

herself mentioned that she does not “get in the weeds,” indicating that she empowers her

employees and does not micromanage.

While Shauna does not manage multinational teams currently, she does manage different

camp teams, each with their own unique camp culture and norms. When Shauna visits the

different camps she manages, she first gathers information from the Camp Director in advance to

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get an idea of the team makeup and culture. When she arrives at a camp, she observes the team

working together and also has one-on-one conversations with individuals to get an idea of the

specific team’s needs and values. These are learning strategies she has developed to help

understand each of her camp teams’ cultures, similar to the analyst cultural intelligence profile

for deciphering a foreign culture (Earley and Mosakowski, 2004). Shauna recognizes the

importance of diversity on a professional team and said “You don’t just want a bunch of people

to agree on everything, you want people who will think of things you wouldn’t have thought of

yourself” (Clements, 2018). She talked about the value of having people on a team coming in

with different perspectives and experiences.

Coaching, Feedback, and Motivating Others

Shauna uses many approaches to motivate her employees. First of all, she thinks that

motivation comes from hiring the right person for the right position. It is important to have

expectation setting in the interview process and also that the employees are happy in their work

and have fun. One of the methods she uses to motivate people is by giving positive feedback.

Understanding why they are doing and what they are doing is the most important thing for some

people, and it really makes people feel happy to let them know they are doing their work well.

Shauna mentioned that she always gives 80% positive feedback and 20% constructive feedback

to her employees. In addition, she not only provides support in their work but also in the entirety

of their experience. Shauna fosters mutual reliance and friendship among coworkers to bond with

them (Nohria, Groysberg & Lee, 2008). In addition, Shauna motivates her subordinates to do

their best work by giving them a lot of autonomy. Her subordinates are very personally

motivated because of Shauna’s trust. We think Shauna could improve her motivation skills by

focusing on individual differences because there are differences in people that cause variations in

strengths of needs.

There are several ways that Shauna asks for feedback. The manager evaluation is used for

formal written feedback twice a year, and Shauna also uses quarterly evaluations to ask for

specific feedback. In addition, Shauna uses her regular weekly check-ins to solicit feedback,

which is very efficient and allows any problems solved right away. Shauna provides feedback to

her employees in an effective way. First, she gives feedback based on their work and personal

goals. She asks for their preference for feedback, either written, verbal or a combination of the

two. She tries to understand how someone is feeling about their own performance and then

provides context using fact-based observations. Shauna believes in approaching constructive

feedback as an area of growth and an opportunity for employees to develop. Her subordinate,

Santina, feels comfortable with the feedback she gets, and she thinks that there's more to learn

from negative opinions than praise. Shauna asks for feedback often and provides opportunities

for others to give her feedback.

Performance Management, Managing and Rewarding Performance

For performance management, Galileo employees set standard goals for themselves at the

beginning of the year including work product, professional development, and interpersonal goals.

Shauna checks in on these goals periodically throughout the year to see how her employees are

progressing. Shauna uses a performance system similar to Deloitte’s, by not asking about the

skills of each employee but about her own future actions (Buckingham, Marcus & Goodall,

2015). Shauna talks to underperformers clearly and directly, letting them know what she has

observed, and why they are not a fit for their position. Shauna always tries to give clear and

constructive feedback early before a performance intervention plan is needed. If a performance

intervention plan becomes necessary, Shauna makes sure she clearly outlines what behaviors

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need to change and a timeline of when the changes need to be made in the plan. Shauna gives

people small gifts or uses her food and recognition budget for rewards. She also allows

employees to work from home at least one day per week. Shauna rewards employees in a way

that actually makes them feel an impact, which we think is successful.

Building and Managing a Team, Group Dynamics

As the leader of her Camp Director team, Shauna is highly competent. She firmly

believes in the importance of the team and instills her values to other members. She always

spends a lot of time with her team and helps them feel connected. By working closely with the

team, she mentors and supports team members in various ways. In addition, Shauna believes that

“play is important in team formation.” Thus, she came up with different levels of team building

activities to help align everyone. Shauna is also a good problem solver. She earns trust from her

team members and is someone that the whole team respects and can rely on. Shauna’s

subordinate, Santina, stated that she is mostly pleased with Shauna as a manager, and Shauna

should keep on doing what she's doing. During our interview, Santina also raised a concern that

Shauna could address to further improve herself. Santina gave us an example from this past

summer when she opened up to Shauna and shared some feelings of frustration about certain

parents at camp. Shauna went straight to problem solving when Santina just wanted and needed

to vent. Santina realized that Shauna was instantly turned on to an operation mode. Santina said

“We can problem solve in a minute, but for my sanity, if you think that parent was being

unreasonable at all, can you just vent with me for a second as a person before being my

manager” (Rohner-Moran, 2018). Group dynamics are built from a leader’s self-awareness,

willingness to communicate, and his/her ability to take feedback from his/her team members.

Shauna also mentioned the same thing when she was asked about her own personal weaknesses

in the interview, demonstrating her self-awareness by saying, “When there is a challenge, I jump

into problem solving instead of validating the way they are feeling first" (Clements, 2018).

People are strong when they know their weaknesses.

Communicating and Decision-Making

In terms of communication and decision making, Shauna is very vocal and can provide

context and historical information for the rest of the Area Director team when they are making

decisions. Her decision-making process is fair reasoned as she is able to make decisions based on

facts. She usually looks into what was done in the past, what were the challenges and how the

team could do things differently. According to her supervisor, Emily, Shauna likes to gather data

to ensure she has all the information needed and that she understands the true desired outcome

before making a decision. Once a decision is made, she both stands firm and uses flexibility

when needed. Moreover, when making decisions, Shauna always looks at the big picture to see

what the ultimate goal is and determines how it ties back to the company’s mission. She also

communicates effectively with her team about the desired goal she is seeking before making

decisions. In our interview, Shauna emphasized that ensuring the team has a clear vision and

team members are on the same page is crucial to decision making. Clearly stating the desired

outcome she is seeking helps to reduce disagreement about the potential solutions because the

options can be tested against her stated vision (Frisch, 2008). Meanwhile, Shauna also looks at

decisions from different lenses, considering how they could impact others. Her peer, Allison,

also thinks Shauna is a strong contributor, who often speaks first and almost always offers her

opinions or thoughts before making decisions. Shauna usually makes decisions based on

historical data and her previous experience. Her supervisor stated that Shauna brings so much

experience to the Area Director team. She shares her own experiences, the experiences of her

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Camp Directors, and what she has observed from others on the Area Director team. Those

experiences are then considered by the decision makers for the project they are making decisions

about. However, leaders who always rely more on their past experience when making decisions

sometimes make misguided choices, thereby fall into the anchoring trap. In business, a past event

or trend can anchor subsequent thoughts and judgements (Hammond, Keeney & Raiffa, 2006).

Power and Influence

Shauna has held a diverse range of leadership positions during her nine years with

Galileo Learning. She joined as a Camp Director, which involved on the ground management of

over thirty temporary summer staff. From there she transitioned to an Area Director position,

managing a smaller number of Camp Directors. Later she went on to achieve the Senior Area

Director title, which added the responsibility of training new staff. To be an effective leader

while holding each of these roles, Shauna has had to utilize different techniques for navigating

the political terrain and exerting her power and influence to grow her staff and the organization

itself. Additionally, Shauna exhibits a set of well-developed values that she communicates,

which allow her to work well with people to resolve conflict, institute organizational changes,

and effectively network for personal and professional growth.

It could be said that Shauna’s power as a leader comes from the formal title she holds as a

director (both while in charge of a camp and at present, other camp directors). Michael Jarret, in

his HBR article “The 4 types of organizational politics,” uses the term the “Rocks” to describe

the “stabilizing foundation that keeps an organization steady in times of crisis” (Jarret, 2017).

The Rocks are built on the formal structure and authority that comes with titles like Shauna’s

director status. While it’s true that this gives her legitimate power over the people she is in

charge of, Shauna combines it with the well-practiced ability to understand what people who

work for her need to succeed within their roles. This combination is the hallmark of a leader who

accepts the power that they have without hesitation, and knows how to flex it to motivate and

influence those around her.

When it comes to establishing her power as a leader, Shauna most strongly relies on

“referent power,” as described by French and Raven in their 1959 article “The bases of social

power.” Referent power, describing “the potential to influence based on the strength of a leader’s

relationship with their subordinates,” fits with the goals Shauna has for the people she leads.

Furthermore, through her use of referent power, it becomes clear why people appreciate Shauna

as a mentor and leader. She makes the effort to know what every person working for her needs,

with the understanding that everyone needs to be lead differently. Shauna is all about authentic,

personal connection, which shows in the feedback she received from subordinates and peers. Her

approach to an effective conversation is to ask the right questions, listen critically, and provide

personalized feedback. Additionally, Shauna utilizes her “expert power,” or power of

knowledge, when approaching decisions, conflicts, and change.

Conflict Management and Leading Change

When confronting issues, Shauna is described as having “confidence in sharing

challenges and differing opinions… enabling her to share more authentically while also stepping

back to hear other perspectives” (Kuhlmann, 2018). She is also said to consistently provide

“experience or research to back up her thoughts and opinions” when conflicts arise (Lopez,

2018). This approach to dealing with conflict is described by Kathleen Eisenhardt in the article

“How management teams can have a good fight” as one of the many ways leaders can resolve

conflicts in a way that is beneficial for all involved. Shauna understands that arguments are a

natural occurrence when working as a team and knows how to help the team argue effectively.

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When approaching a controversial decision, Shauna makes sure there is enough data being

considered on either side of the argument to make a logical decision. This focus on issues, rather

than personalities, helps direct difficult conversations in a productive way. She also establishes a

sense of fairness and equity in the process by using intuition to watch if there are people that do

not feel comfortable speaking up. She understands the importance of having all voices and

opinions heard. This is part of the very effective strategy of maintaining a balanced power

structure where, again, personalities are being left at the door and an unimpeded exchange of

opinions is encouraged regardless of title or status. Finally, Shauna knows when to take a break

as tensions rise during difficult discussions and how to use humor as a de-escalation tool. Often

times the most difficult conversations to manage are those involving change within an

organization.

For any leader, having to implement an organizational change can be difficult and tense.

The leader may have visibility to information that allows them to understand why a change is

necessary, but their subordinates may not have access to the same information. This can make

requests to change seem unreasonable. When Shauna deals with changing initiatives at Galileo

Learning, the qualities that build her up as a great leader provide her with the tools she needs to

lead her subordinates. Shauna always approaches a new initiative by learning as much as she

can. She knows how important it is for the leader to understand the details behind why the

change is being implemented. The three aspects of understanding she focuses on are why change

is necessary, the process by which the change will be implemented, and the goals post-change.

By having a firm personal understanding, she is able to take the initiative to her subordinates and

effectively communicate the reasons behind the change. Shauna believes that for someone to

“buy in” to a decision, they need to feel like they are involved, and part of the change, rather than

just being told what is happening and what to do. In addition, they need to understand the

expected outcomes and where they fit in to the post-change environment. For Shauna, clarity in

communication of plans and an empathetic, personal touch is everything she needs to keep her

team bought in.

Conclusion

Shauna is an effective leader and is suitable for her current role. She received very

positive feedback and recognition from her supervisor, team members and peers. Shauna is a

strong situational leader, able to adapt her style and approach to the individuals she is working

with. She demonstrates high emotional intelligence, especially in her empathy and social skills.

According to one team member, Shauna spends a lot of time with her team members to help

make them feel connected. She is a good listener and problem solver. She builds trusts among

her team members and is someone that her team respects and can rely on. According to her

supervisor and peers, Shauna is a good decision maker. Her decision-making process is fair

reasoned, with the least interference of personal emotions and prejudices. She also values

diversity on a team and understands the importance of hearing other perspectives.

We believe Shauna is best suited for a position that involves managing a small team, so

that she can continue to make personal connections and provide an individualized management

style. Because of her high level of emotional intelligence and strong soft skills, we think she will

continue to do well working for a people-oriented company like Galileo. She is excelling in her

current role, as she is responsible for managing people who work directly with customers and

children and therefore need strong soft skills. We do not think she woul

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