Guidelines for Leader Interview Synopsis
One of the purposes of this course is for you to learn to identify leadership strengths and challenges in others and in your self. Please write about your interview in this light.
Begin with a description of who your interview target is. Give as much pertinent background as you can about who they are, who they work for, what their responsibilities are and what challenges they face in their current assignment.
Talk about what you feel this person’s strengths and challenges are. Talk about how they developed their leadership skills and what they feel they do well and don’t do well. How did they get to their current position? Was there an important mentor(s) involved? As we have discussed in class, authentic leadership is about who the leader is, and who they are is determined by the events in their lives. Can you determine if there is any significant event(s) that had a major impact on your interviewee?
Give me some candid feedback on the person. Did you like them? Did they make you feel welcome? Were they wary of you and your purpose in talking to them or were they open and willing to share their insights? What did you learn form their surroundings (office, employees, mementos, pictures of family, etc.)?
Lastly, compare yourself to your interviewee. What similarities and differences did you notice? Could you see yourself in their position someday?
You will not be able to answer all of these questions because each one of your interviews will be unique. Don’t be afraid to “read between the lines” of their comments and use your own take on what they say. Some of this is intuitive. Good leaders know that they sometimes have to rely on their intuition.
Double spaced, one inch margins, five page max. Remember, quality counts.