LEADERSHIP
Interview
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Interview took place on Wednesday March 26
th2014.
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The leader’s name is Sarah Flores
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Her position is manager of the specialty clinics at Children’s
Hospital of Orange County. She is a registered nurse of 12
years with a Master’s of Nursing in Public Health.
Assignment
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The interview was established between the student and the leader to allow the
student an opportunity to better be able to explore and evaluate different personal
and organizational leadership qualities.
Why This Leader Was Selected
◦Sarah Flores was my clinical preceptor this past semester at Children’s Hospital of Orange County. ◦While observing her interactions with patients and other staff members, I quickly began to notice the
strong leadership traits that she possessed.
◦As a leader, she is a positive role model for her peers and well respected. Even when she has to try to multi-task several tasks at once, she remains energetic with an up-beat and positive attitude for her patients and peers.
◦Even when in doubt, she remains confident which I think helps others trust in her capabilities.
◦She invites open conversations which allows others opportunities to collaborate and helps build team dynamics.
◦In her interactions with her staff, she has an unhurried and confident approach despite running low on time.
◦She has a warm, genuine, and accepting approach with her interactions and can easily get her team excited about a potential change.
◦Sarah projects CHOC’s visions and goals with every decision she makes and this comes through with her passionate and caring intents.
Interview
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Several questions were asked such as:
◦ Can you name a person who has had a tremendous impact on you as a leader?
◦ What are the most important decisions you make as a leader of your organization?
◦ As an organization gets larger there can be a tendency for the “institution” to dampen the “inspiration.” How do you keep this from happening?
◦ Where do the great ideas come from in your organization?
◦ How do you or other leaders in your organization communicate the “core values”?
◦ Do you set aside specific times to cast vision to your employees and other leaders?
◦ When faced with two equally-qualified candidates, how do you determine whom to hire?
◦ What is the biggest challenge facing leaders today?
◦ What is one mistake you witness leaders making more frequently than others?
◦ What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?
What did you learn about this nursing leader
as a result of this interview?
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I learned she seeks strength from her co-workers and is very humble.
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She is extremely passionate in CHOC’s mission and vision and takes time specifically to ensure
others are excited for the future and about how they can become a part of it as well.
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She advocates largely for her patients, but also advocates for her staff members to actively
ensure their happiness at CHOC and success.
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She’s a “people-builder,” and enjoys seeing others succeed.
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She values the importance of team work and communication and makes sure to always celebrate
any victories, no matter how big or small, which is admirable to me.
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Through the interview results assessment, it appeared as though Sarah is a transformational leader.
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Sarah embodies all of the qualities this type of leader possesses such as building up team morale,
instilling pride in the group, and acting as a positive role-model.
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Sarah also believes in raising one another to higher levels, both in their careers, as well as
personally.
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She takes an interest in her group members and always tries to encourage them when needed and
strive for their success, as well as hers.
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She believes in the creation of future potential leaders and always takes time to help staff reach
their full potential.
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She also focuses on relationship building and believes the team either succeeds together or
ultimately fails together.
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She includes all team members in group decisions, develops team dynamics by giving team-building
assignments to the group, and always makes the group feels connected and excited about future
changes.
Most Interesting/Surprising Aspect
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The most interesting part of the interview was seeing just how effective
she was as a leader, but also as a follower.
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She has an immense amount of respect for her supervisor.
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She not only has all the desirable traits of a great leader, but also of a
great follower such as supporting her supervisor’s personal vision and
ideas; knowing when to challenge decisions as needed; accepting
risk-taking ideas and translating this to her team; and is loyal and
appreciative of her supervisor.
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Given her success at CHOC, as well as in her education and overall
career, it was surprising to me just how humble she was.
Were Expectations Met?
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Sarah absolutely met my expectations and reasons why I chose her for my
interview.
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With her positive and encouraging words, commitment to CHOC, and
insight into what makes an effective leader, as well as follower, Sarah is
an excellent mentor for any future clinical nurse leader.
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She strives for excellence both professionally as well as personally.
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Sarah is a strategic planner, an avid learner, and effective communicator.
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She makes what many would think of as a difficult role, seem effortless
and achievable.
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I feel so fortunate to have been given the opportunity this semester to
Self Reflection
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I learned that I need to work on my inner self-confidence so I can
have more followers who are able to trust my capabilities.
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Since I’m a new graduate of nursing, self-doubt comes easy for me. I
see now, from some of Sarah’s responses, that if I don’t overcome
this internal doubt, then I will struggle to gain trust from others.
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I also learned more about what traits I look for in a good leader,
which I was later able to identify some of those traits in myself as
well.
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Overall, I would say the interview made me more aware of my
Overall Learning Experience
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By strategically asking this leader questions to elicit responses
relating to team dynamics, organizational vision, and personal
perception of leadership, I was able to see leadership from a
different perspective.
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Leadership isn’t simply about a leader’s individual
characteristic strengths, it’s about the strength of the team,
but also largely of the organization the team serves.
