My Final Portfolio can be found here: http://austinehunt92.wix.com/htmleadership
This site will be a summary of my leadership journey. Along with a description of my journey, it will explain how I got to where I am through 6 sections, including my Leadership Coursework, Work Experience, Industry Connection, Leading in Action, Promising Pitfalls, and more.
Throughout this semester we have covered many topics relating to leadership, and in the process have seen the many forms that it can take. For me, it has become more and more apparent how fluid leadership is; by this I mean it takes its form dependent upon the situation. For example, a leadership theory suiting a small group of knowledge workers at Apple Inc. will not work for a large group of manual laborers at Ford Motor Company. Because of the difference between the skills, knowledge and personnel in these two situations, not one leadership method would work the best for both. While books like Good to Great by Jim Collins describe practices and traits of the “greatest” leaders, the people studied may not have been so successful in another field; they were just in the best situation for them.
In the end, it comes down to there being not one universally great type of leader. However, people do have the ability to become the best leader that they can be. I believe that this comes down to following your passions. Regardless of the skills and traits you may have, you are not able to fully reach your leadership potential if you are not in the situation best suited for you. By following your true interests you will fall into a job that you will excel at, from which comes the greatest potential for true leadership.
For myself, I know that my passion is in helping people. This is the reason why I got into hospitality and have found success in the industry. However, I will be following my interests in helping people on another route after graduation by working in the emergency services field. With my passion for helping others in a job that allows me to do this in the most meaningful way possible, I believe that I will be able to become the best leader that I can be.
After appreciating the experience of Soda & Swine as a consumer and talking with its management, the direct of my case study has become clear. Leadership practices at this establishment lean toward connecting and energizing staff to improve the guest experience. By actively and continuously engaging employees, the management team of Soda & Swine is in turn able to provide an engaging, yet subtle experience for their customers. My case study will focus on the theme of community, among both staff and customers.
One of my favorite companies in San Diego is a hospitality collective called Consortium Holdings. One of the businesses within this collective is Soda & Swine, a craft eatery. Soda & Swine has been a go-to restaurant in the past few years for me because it provides its customers with not only great food and drink, but also a great experience.
Soda & Swine is located in North Park, a hip area full of unique bars and eateries. I chose to write about this restaurant because it embodies a warm sense of community to all who enter, be they local or foreign. A first came here when my parents came for a visit about two years ago. I had heard about it from a friend of mine and was enticed by the savory feeling that the name provoked. However, this savory feeling is not the only reason I have kept coming back. The experience of Soda & Swine is as follows…
Upon walking up to Soda & Swine, you are greeted by a worn wooden exterior with the name of the establishment etched into the facade, along with park bench-style seating facing the neighborhood. When you walk through the doors, you are immediately surrounded by a warm glow emanating from the lanterns lining the walls and tables. In front of you are several family-sized tables and one long community table spanning the entire length of the restaurant. Their menu is on a chalk board by the ordering counter and it is full of pork-based meals, cream sodas and beers, and desserts ranging from different kinds of pies to floats. After placing your order from the employee at the counter, you will take a seat at the long table, where you will be surrounded by a community of people brought together to experience the same sights, sounds, smells, and tastes that brought you here. All of these sensations work together to create the welcoming, home-like experience that is Soda & Swine.
How great leaders inspire action, a TED Talks video with Simon Sinek, has always been a favorite of mine. In it, Sinek talks about how leaders have to first get people to believe in the “why” of an organization rather than its “what” in order for that organization to become truly successful. The “why” and the “what” come from his idea of the Golden Circle (shown below).
As Sinek puts it, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it,” meaning that it is important to get believe to believe in the purpose of a company rather than its product. Not only is it important for customers and followers to believe in the organization, but it is just, if not more, vital for the leaders to believe in what they are leading. Though Sinek makes great examples with Apple Inc. and the Wright brothers, I have been able to take part in this Golden Circle firsthand.
For my first hospitality internship, I was able to work at Hotel Vyvant, a boutique hotel in the Little Italy district of San Diego. The owner, managers and employees here were all motivated to perform by “why” of providing a superior hospitality experience to all. With this purpose in mind, we went about the “how” by interacting with guests with emotional intelligence and setting their needs above all else. As a result, our “what” was top-rated accommodation here San Diego.
I chose to write about adaptive leadership because I believe it is the most important form of leadership in most industries today. The business world has become one characterized by change from the mass sharing of knowledge. “Knowledge workers” are a large part of the U.S. work force, with their work characterized by the handling of information. With the exponential growth of technology in recent years, this sharing and handling of information has caused rapid changes in many business sectors, and organizations have had to adapt quickly to survive. Because of this, adaptive leadership is crucial in both new and old businesses today.
Transactional leadership is the more classical form of management, with the leader-follower relationship based on appropriate roles, following instruction and achieving set goals. While this form of leadership has been successful in the past for its focus on tasks and production, it is neither an adaptive nor inspiring form of leadership. I experienced this form of management when I worked at an on-campus dining hall here at SDSU. Because our tasks at work never really changed, this was a functional style of leadership, though we only interacted with our manager when something went wrong. Because of this, my coworkers and I rarely experienced more than corrective criticism from our manager, which was uninspiring to say the least. While my manager was not a bad person by any means, he was not a good leader. On the other side of the spectrum lies transformational leadership, which focuses on promoting positive change in the work environment and building relationships. Managers who exhibit this style of leadership are able to inspire their employees by supporting them, sharing their vision with them and encouraging creativity. Though transformational leadership can sometimes be lacking in clarity since it leaves a lot up to employees to decide, it provides for a very stimulating environment. My current manager at the bar I work at is the definition of a transformational leader. Since I first began working for him, he was been extremely supportive of me and we have developed a healthy work relationship built on a foundation of trust. He is constantly challenging the status quo and inspiring my coworkers and me to perform at our best with his positivity.
What really stuck with me after reading Good to Great was the humility of the Level 5 leaders that were studied. As Jim Collins writes, these leaders are “ambitious first and foremost for the company, not themselves.” I think this is a large factor in why many of us have never heard the success stories of these companies; the CEOs were not looking for recognition. Collins writes about other “celebrity” CEOs who rose to great fame and fortune with their companies, but their companies often did not stay great. These were the leaders that were ambitious first and foremost for themselves and were not looking out for their company in the long term. On the other hand, Level 5 leaders were the ones looking to set up their successors and their company for success. These are the leaders that remained modest and humble throughout their own successes and focused on making positive changes in their organizations.
Our class is full of driven and successful aspiring leaders who understand what it takes to help make an organization great. In their blogs, my fellow students are not talking about their own successes, they are talking about experiences that have helped them grow and the values they hope to bring with them in their future leadership positions. When I look at my classmates, I see in them the makings of Level 5 leaders.
Courage – shows a lot of connection to self and shares personal information
Leaving your home and friends behind and starting a life in a new country is no small feat, and for this I nominate Hikari Hayashi for Courage. The Cowardly Lion would be in awe of her blog if he could access the Internet (and was real).
Coherence – the site has a consistency in the theme and “voice”
I’ve never even talked with her before, but Nikka Gamalinda has to win the Coherence award because her voice comes through loud and clear in her blog.
Crafty – the site is visually appealing
Right when you open his blog you see his beaming face, and you really can’t find anything more visually appealing than that. Congratulations, Jolly Mateo, you Crafty fellow. #ThinkJollyLiveJolly
Clever – the site kept my interest with cleverness or humor
I’m a fan of sass, and it abounds in Natalie Hauptman’s blog. Speaking of Level 5 leadership, quoting yourself is a form of humility, right? You a Clever lady.
austinhuntblog 