Supervisor Interview

For my Leadership and Change class last semester, we had to interview someone who we believed was a leader and making change happen. It immediately struck me to interview my supervisor, and mentor, Steve. He is absolutely a leader in a change effort. He works tireless to communicate local and healthy food to a community, and motivate a change within our community. He is very precise about the work his team does, and sets high standards. At the same time, he is always willing to do any task that he may ask his constituents, and always makes the environment fun. 

I would like to share this interview about leadership that I had with Steve. This interview gives a more personal, and inside view point on Local First Arizona. It really shows how innovative, dedicated, and passionate a non-profit organization can be!

·       Within the organization, do you observe more energy and effort being directed toward meeting the objective of the change effort? Do you see individuals challenging questions and validating for themselves the need to change? – How you view other in the organization wanting to participate in the change; are they part of the change, do they make effort with personal lifestyle, etc..

We are all completely bought in to the work that we do. Our organization’s goal is to build consumer participation in the local economy, and I’d say that we are all very dedicated to making those individual consumer choices that we encourage others to make as well. For instance, we all visit the farmers’ market for much of our produce, we all participate in buy local month in December, and there is often at least one of us present at many of our events, enjoying the experiences for ourselves. We hold ourselves and one another accountable on this, so yes, I would say that we are very dedicated to being a part of the change.

·       Within the organization, does your group that is guiding change motivate and inspire others to participate in the change?

Yes, I think so. Our organization understands that we will not successfully change Arizona’s economy without the participation of other members of that economy. A large portion of the work that we do is inspiring others to make changes for themselves, by reminding them of the big picture. We walk the walk when it comes to building the local economy; we inspire other businesses via practices such as ensuring that almost all of our b2b transactions are done with local companies. Often we find that businesses are hesitant to do this due to the perception of the expense with working with locals, so by doing this, we help to lead the way for other entities to follow.

·       Within the organization, does your group that is guiding change consistently get the resources, information, and support it needs to progress rapidly?

Not always. Sometimes we need to work with limited resources to get the job done. It can be a challenge, but we work hard to bring together resources that already exist in the community. For example, for our Fall Festival, we borrow picnic tables from the Roosevelt Row CDC in stead of renting costly table/chair combos for seating.

·       Regarding the change effort, what is your vision? How do you make your vision compelling and desirable for your constituents/other individuals?

Local First Arizona´s goal is simple: Make Arizona a better place by supporting locally owned businesses and building vibrant communities that residents are proud to call home.

·       Do you and your constituents/ other individuals in the organization  discuss the vision, goals, and strategies in routine management meetings as well as formal and informal gatherings?

We do regularly discuss how our initiatives fit in with the vision/mission/goals of the organization, however, there is minimal discussion on developing our mission/vision/goals further, except on a case-by-case basis, as it pertains to the evolution of our initiatives. For example, when we adopted a new initiative that promotes “good food” we had a process of defining exactly what “good food” looks like, and had to decide whether or not advocating for (for example) GMO-free food was within the scope of our mission/vision/goals.

·       Within the organization, do you use recognition and reward systems that inspire, promote optimism, and build self-confidence? Do you observe new ideas being proposed and tested by your constituents/other individuals in the organization?

Yes; LFA is all about recognition and empowerment. Our organizational belief is that people perform their best when they enjoy what they are doing, and feel a genuine passion for that work. To that end, all members of staff and the head leadership at LFA regularly recognize the various volunteers, staff etc. in the form of appreciation, encouragement and recognition.

·       Regarding the change effort, are there quick results that are made visible to all? Do your constituents/other individuals regularly recognize and celebrate even the small important achievements?

Yes, we have very active social media streams, and utilize our live twitter feed to highlight all things small and large, then facebook to highlight the big stuff. This platform also allows our members to retweet and share the message, further amplifying our voice and reach!

·       Within the organization, are new projects and initiatives being launched to make more significant changes to the organization’s processes, technology, and systems?

Yes, for example, we are currently in the process of a major website overhaul, addressing many issues with website functionality, as well as integrating a new web platform

·       Within the organization are people seeking to understand what they need to do and what is expected of them to be successful in the change effort? Do they use old habits, values, and traditions to describe how things have changed?

Our team is very good at seeking consensus and collaborating to meet goals. Our office setup, we have one giant table that everyone sits at, so we often work together to develop our own capacity through internal mentoring and advising. We are very much a team, and we are always working on building new strategies and habits that will make us a more productive workplace.