Leadership Interview with Councilor Rosenthal

Leadership is a crucial aspect of an organization since it often determines the trajectory of a firm in terms of overall functionality and productivity. Indeed, organizations governed by executives with poor leadership skills often fail to achieve their goals, unlike institutions run by capable and effective leaders. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that leadership can be implemented in many forms depending on the leader’s personality and the overall organizational goals and structure. Similarly, interviews can be an effective strategy for understanding crucial career concepts, such as leadership and its vital aspects. Subsequently, the following blog will outline leadership insights obtained from an interview with an experienced leader in the public service sector, Garett Rosenthal from Oregon Metro, Councilor Rosenthal service district 3, which includes portions of Washington and Clackamas counties and the cities of Beaverton, Durham, King City, Sherwood, Tigard, Tualatin, and Wilsonville (Metro, 2022).

Compassionate and Inclusive Leadership

One of the key facets of leadership is inclusion, which typically entails ensuring that the members concerned are involved in the decisions made by the executives (Parks, 2005). In the interview with Garrett Rosenthal, he says, “You work with people. They do not work for you, “emphasizing the need for a positive employer-worker relationship in decision-making endeavors. Having worked for over 40 years in the environmental consultancy profession, Rosenthal reckons that leaders must always strive to ensure that they encourage the participation of their employees in making crucial decisions that may have an extensive impact on the overall running and functionality of an organization to ensure that everyone is comfortable with implementing the formulated policies (Smith, 2022).

The trait theory also explains the importance of leaders having traits to perform their functions effectively. The trait theory argues that leadership skills are inborn, where people are born with characteristics that enable the person to work and lead the people (The King’s Fund, 2019). The theory relies on the intelligence and personal characteristic of the person. The personal traits of a person influence the success of the leader in coordinating activities and managing people that work towards realizing a certain goal. The personal traits of the leader influence how the people one is leading reacts to the guidance provided by the leader.

Michael West also backs the inclusion aspect in the Michael West: Compassionate and Inclusive Leadership video, where he outlines that involving workers in leadership is crucial since it instills a leadership mindset in them, whereby they feel obliged to take care of the various activities involved in achieving the organizational goals and objectives (The King’s Fund, 2019). Compassionate leadership is heavily associated with collective leadership since the two leadership entities entail endowing employees with the feeling of being heavily valued regarding the fruitful contributions, they can make towards helping an organization achieve its overall goals and objectives (Kania & Kramer, 2011). Henceforth, leaders must always ensure that they deploy compassion and inclusion in their leadership activities to facilitate optimum managerial efficacy.

Councilor Rosenthal’s leadership style is the democratic style, where he allows the employees to grow their skills by participating in the organization’s decision-making. The employees feel recognized by the organization when they make decisions about the company. The leaders also might not have the ideas provided by the employees; hence, the organization benefit. The more ideas the employee gives, the more solutions the management gets to the issues requiring a decision.

Leadership and Conflict Resolution

One of the most prominent challenges experienced in leadership activities is conflict resolution, which typically entails solving the disputes that are often inevitable in the workplace. In fact, in the interview, Rosenthal outlines that solving organizational disputes can be challenging by quoting, “The best way to resolve a conflict is not the efficient way in most cases,” to illustrate how such matters can be extensively challenging (Smith, 2022). He demonstrates his point by outlining that the most efficient way of solving disputes is obtaining the aristocratic power required to authorize people to follow a particular course. However, the best method is inclusion, which entails brainstorming and discussion techniques to formulate a solution that suits everyone’s interests.

The Essence of Self-care in Leadership

Despite the vast advantages of dedication and commitment to one’s work responsibilities, leaders need to ensure they take care of their mental and physical needs. Otherwise, they risk losing their efficacy in fulling their duties (Brown & Wyatt, 2010). Moreover, Green et al. (2006) notes that failure to incorporate self-care measures when fulfilling one’s work responsibilities can significantly have detrimental effects on a person’s overall health. In the interview with Rosenthal, he mentions, “I have a garden, I make jam, I have five acres, and a lot of trees to care of,” as the self-care method he deploys to relieve some steam of the demanding work and time he invests in meeting his public service responsibilities. Similarly, he also points out, “You can’t win it all,” as a mentality he often deploys when trying to convince other board members who may be unwilling to resonate with his line of thinking as a way of protecting his mental health. Indeed, convincing to convince people to follow a decision that does not match their mode of reasoning can be mentally daunting, prompting the need for psychological self-care strategies.

Personal leadership philosophy entails the kind of leadership that one embraces in leadership attributes and strategies used to guide others. The leadership philosophy also includes personal values and beliefs that guide one in making the right decisions (Brown & Wyatt, 2010). My philosophy includes a dedication to my work regardless of what I might be doing. I believe in offering the best service and doing perfect work to my ability. I believe doing the work in the best way helps me identify my strengths and weaknesses. Identifying my abilities and weaknesses helps me make the right decision for my future endeavors. The philosophy was reflected when I was a class representative on the board of students. I served my classmates with determination.

Conclusion

Effective leadership remains one of the most prominent aspects of a firm since it often results in positive performance leading to organizational growth and development. One of the most effective leadership styles is compassionate leadership, which typically entails the deployment of a collective system of management where all the organizational members are involved in decision-making within the institution. Nonetheless, Rosenthal notes that leaders must always strive to implement policies and decisions that resonate with all organizational members involved since it ensures that everyone works collectively as a team towards achieving the organization’s goals and objectives, thus implying that compassionate and inclusive leadership is the ideal management style for positive organizational growth and development. However, it is worth noting that leaders often face challenges such as conflict resolution, particularly due to the divergent tastes and preferences witnessed within a worker population.

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References

Brown, T., & Wyatt, J. (2010). Design thinking for social innovation. Development Outreach, 12(1), 29-43.

Green, M., Moore, H., & O’Brien, J. (2006). When people care enough to act. Toronto: Inclusion Press.

Kania, J., & Kramer, M. (2011). Collective impact (pp. 36-41). Beijing, China: FSG.

Metro. “Metro Councilor Gerritt Rosenthal.” Oregon Metro, Metro, 17 Feb. 2022, https://www.oregonmetro.gov/regional-leadership/metro-council/councilor-gerritt-rosenthal.

Parks, S. D. (2005). Leadership can be taught A bold approach to a complex world. Harvard Business Review Press.

Smith, Ronnie L. “Garett Rosenthal.” May 10, 2022.

The King’s Fund. (2019). Michael West: Compassionate and inclusive leadership [Video]. Retrieved May 13, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrPm