Leadership Development In Small Organizations : Interview With A Leader

Introduction:

In this final essay, John Miller, former Deputy Fire Chief of Operations for the city of Toronto and family friend will be analyzed. The purpose of this paper is for the reader to come away with not only a more informed understanding of the decision making structures that Chief Miller has performed throughout the course of his career; but also a more profound application understanding for how such decisions could translate to leadership best practices in other fields. One of the primary reasons for why I chose Chief John Miller to interview and draw useful knowledge regarding leadership styles and effective management techniques from was the fact that I have always known Chief Miller to be extremely well respected amongst his employees and those he interacts with. Desiring this trait while still being an effective leader is something that I wish to work towards; therefore, he was a perfect starting point in terms of gaining a better and more appropriate understanding of leadership/management.

Analysis:

Although there we’re many different styles of leadership Chief Miller incorporated, he indicated that democratic leadership was what he was most comfortable with and was the approach that he most often uses. The reason behind this was said to be the fact that democratic leadership allowed for better idea generation and 360 degree feedback throughout the entire process of leadership/management.

Further, in terms of inspiration to be a leader, there was no single individual that the interviewee stated he learned to be a leader from. Instead, he indicated that the process of inspiration for becoming a leader was more tied to the desire to lead by example. Chief Miller also indicated that upon entering the fire service, he began as the “low man on the totem pole”. Working his way up, he began to realize the many issues that the rank and file of the fire department based on a daily basis. As such, as his career progressed and he began to be tasked with more and more responsibility, the experiences of working through the drudgery of day-to-day life as a simple grunt remained ever present in his view of leadership and the importance of this calling.

Another insight I learned was the fact that the attribute of patient and persistent management has clear and definitive rewards. Chief Miller indicated that one of his strongest attributes had to do with the fact that he liked to observe a given situation prior to making a determination. He noted that he has seen far too many leaders/managers take the bull by the horns prior to understanding the actual situation and this creates a dilemma in which they are not able to make decisions based on all the existing evidence. Because of this, he always tries to approach the problem in a very slow and methodical manner. He indicated that doing it like this allows for him to come to understand personalities and situations to a more full and complete degree prior to making a final decision.

An important thing to note is the fact that Chief Miller still see’s the learning process as ongoing. As such, one of his needs that he sees for himself is the need to explain his motivations and intentions at various levels to his command staff. For instance, although he may do a good job explaining the reason to the City Council for why he plans to move forward in one particular direction, he oftentimes assumes that he have already explained these factors to his mid-level managers. This creates unneeded confusion that could be affectively diminished if he were to hold more regular status updates and plan of action meetings. Chief Miller indicated that it is something he is still working on and something that he believes he can improve over time.

Likewise, roadblocks to success have been evident and encouraged me to understand that an effective leader is not one that has only experienced smooth sailing. For the most part, Chief Miller stated that he has not experienced any major roadblocks or setbacks. Yet, one very negative situation he detailed involved prior work experience and the way that he was passed over time and time again based upon a seemingly nepotistic system. During this time, he developed a great deal of capability and vastly improved the ability of Station 321 to respond to existing needs within the city. However, upon hearing that the chief of fire was retiring and that they were planning on replacing him from another city, he become greatly frustrated and tendered his resignation. In retrospect,

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