The Leader that Transformed Me

As I started to read through the chapter on Transformational Leadership, I got a little excited because I was recognizing what had happened to me and how close to home this lesson was.  This is my chance to brag on the best leader that I have had the pleasure of working for.

As the lesson states, “transformational leadership is a process that changes and transforms people” (The Pennsylvania State University, 2018).  In my case, the impact of strong leadership completely changed my life’s trajectory and put me in the situation where I am today.

In 2015, I was nearing my timeframe to start negotiating for orders.  I wanted to stay in the same community but my options to do so were in Guam or Bahrain, not the most appealing places to take my wife and two young kids.  I opted to leave the job that I loved and move to Maryland, a place where I had dreaded since I came into this field.  I had absolutely no intention of staying here.  I opted to do my three years, try to promote and then return to Virginia Beach or try for San Diego, where I would hopefully be for another three years and would fall into a job.

I was speaking with the “elder statesmen” at work about what to expect and none of it sounded good.  I was truly dreading the next three years.  One of them mentioned that we had a trusted source in Maryland, someone who had recently retired and was establishing a new office in a larger corporation.  I knew this guy by name but his reputation had preceded him as a hard worker and great all-around guy.  After a phone call, he was willing to screen me, to make sure that we would be a good fit for each other.  Oddly enough, when I arrived to interview, he wasn’t a part of it.  He let the other members of the office do the screening because he didn’t want his personal opinion to overrule what the rest of the team felt.

We talked about the work climate and what I could expect.  He covered the perks of the job; I would be wearing civilian clothes, would make my own hours and the biggest perk, my rolodex would exponentially grow, meaning that I would be more involved with the old community more than I had been.  After the meeting, I found out that I was accepted and would work in his office when I got to Maryland.

As I mentioned before, I knew “Dave” by reputation but he came to be the most natural leader that I had ever met.  Every topic we covered felt that he had tailored it to my level of understanding.  Northouse (2016) talks about the “connection that raises the level of morality in both the leader and the follower” (pg. 162), and “Dave” was a master at it.  Portfolio management was entirely new to me.  He understood this and took the time to give me training, the amount of time I needed to finish and comprehend it, which helped me to reach the potential that he saw I was capable of.

The text discusses four traits of transformational leadership:  charisma, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration (Northouse, 2016, pg. 167).  “Dave” was extremely charismatic, which the text (House, 1976) defines as being dominant, having a strong desire to influence others, being self-confident and having a strong sense of one’s own moral values” (pg. 164).  I may have mentioned before that my office is comprised of type-A personalities.  That may be enough to highlight the self-confidence and dominant demeanor.  Beyond that, “Dave” was clear in his values:  hard work, honesty, trust and transparency were what he asked of everyone in the office.  He would give you anything needed for the job so long as he knew what was going on and you were truthful about it.  His desire to influence others was in the form of making them the best and most well-rounded managers that we could be.  Not only did he ask all of this from the other team members, he embodied it every day, making each of us want to follow.

“Dave” started the office from scratch, meaning that all the lessons learned and relationships built were a product of his hard work.  In his first two years, when he only had one person to help him, he increased his budget ten-fold and his portfolio quadrupled.  Not only was he a strong worker, but he was good person as well, which inspired us all to do more, to try to be near his level.  He had to sacrifice time away from his family in order to get the portfolio where it was, so having an 8-hour work day became less of factor considering what he had done.  This didn’t only apply to hours, but he inspired to be as knowledgeable as he was because saw how people reacted to his valued opinion on matters.

“Dave” was truly a visionary.  It seemed as though he could read a situation and visualize how it would pan out, including reactions from others.  This also allowed him to see the direction that technology would take our community.  Sometimes I would be in awe of the things that he would introduce and conceptualize how to integrate in the customer that we support.  Northouse (2016) says that, “it encourages followers to think things out on their own and engage in careful problem solving” (pg. 169).  Seeing “Dave” do this encouraged us to push the envelope of what was possible and to use our imaginations to develop new ideas.  Granted, I work in a research and development portfolio, where this should be natural, but I had been used to following guidelines all of my career and this was a break from the norm.

As I mentioned above, every interaction I had seemed to be tailored for me.  If I needed personal advice, he always seemed to look at it from my perspective and to offer outside consideration, advising as to what route would be best.  Understanding that for some time, I had issues with thinking “outside the box”, so I given projects that were close to what I had done before.  He was completely supportive of my development and personal well-being.  All he asked was trust and transparency.

“Dave” embodied all of the traits that the text highlights, but he also became my friend and a trusted confidant.  Now, after two years, when I had planned to go back to the areas I talked about before, I have decided to retire.  I enjoy my job and the team that I work with, to the point that I’m leaving the Navy so that I can stay here, in proximity to the people that have transformed my life.  He literally took an outside chance on me, showed me what it meant to lead by example, gave me an opportunity and made me decide to change my life trajectory, a decision that greatly impacts my family as well.  They have noticed the change in me as well, which makes them more willing to see this through as opposed to having to start over, again.

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Canvas learning management system. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1940315/modules/items/24597567