What makes a great leader? Lessons learned.
By: Tess Black
Tags: Leadership Development, Lessons Learned, Leadership Skills, Leadership, Interview

A MBA student at Hult International Business School interviews three great leaders and unveils their hard earned lessons in leadership.

I recently had the opportunity to interview three amazing leaders for my MBA program at Hult International Business School. All three of these individuals I respect and look up to as leaders in their companies and their communities. My first interview was with the Scottsdale Fire Chief, Thomas Shannon. Thomas Shannon has 38 years of experience in the emergency service field and 32 years in fire service. My second interview was with Randy Morton. Randy was the former president and COO of Bellagio Hotel and Casino between the years of 2007–2020. My last interview was with Tregar Strasberg. Tregar is the founder of the national nonprofit, Humble Designs. In my interview with each individual I asked the same four questions; 1) What do you know now that you wish you knew ten years ago? 2) What events, critical incidents or situations help you learn that? 3) What do you think you need to learn today to get where you want to go? And 4) Who was the most influential person in making you who you are today? These three individuals are very different and have had a variety of life experiences. In my interviews with them I noticed commonalities that emerged about their leadership style. Interviewing these individuals re-enforced an idea that was introduced to me in my leadership courses at Hult and is my biggest take away from those courses. This idea is that strong leadership is less about the leader themselves and instead about the relationship between the leader and the individuals that make up their team and company. These leaders each touched on the importance of building a relationship based on trust with each member of their team and the importance of listening and addressing conflict.

Building trusting relationships an essential aspect of becoming a strong leader. It isn’t enough to just know your team members’ names. As a leader you should invest time into knowing each of your team members on a personal level. In my interview with Thomas Shannon he said “Everything you do in business and career is based on relationships. Relationships are important from the bottom up. If an employee is unhappy with their work it is usually because of the relationship.” (T.Shannon, interview, October 12th 2020) Thomas Shannon is responsible for 16 fire stations in Scottsdale Arizona and leads a team of 300 people. Randy Morton echoed this sentiment in his interview when he stated “Employees that have worked with him that were not given the opportunity to grow would get frustrated and quit.” (R. Morton, interview, October 13th 2020) Randy explained that it is crucial for the manager to get to know their subordinates very well. They should know not only their goals for their career but their personal life as well and help them to achieve these goals. “Employees will leave not because of the company but instead because of their relationship with their manager. The manager didn’t show interest in them and didn’t give them the tools to succeed.” (R. Morton, interview, October 13th 2020) Randy learned this lesson by watching employees that he worked with leave the company due to frustration with their direct manager. “The cost was turnover or underperformance and both are hard on the company.” (R. Morton, interview, October 13th 2020) Strong relationships are crucial not only for employee satisfaction but so that a team can function on a high level. This concept became evident to Thomas Shannon in 2008 when he was tasked to manage the security for Super Bowl XLII. Thomas said “it was essential to work across many different teams to ensure the safety of the event.” (T.Shannon, interview, October 12th 2020) Communication and forging strong relationships with each of the teams and their members was crucial to ensuring that the event would go as planned. Tregar Strasberg mentioned the importance of building trust with her team in our interview as well. When I asked what she wishes she learned ten years ago she said “I wish I would have known to hire the right people and just let them go.” (T. Strasberg, interview, October 19th 2020) Tregar also mentioned that moving forward she understands that she doesn’t have all the answers and needs to hire people that are experts and that she can trust. “I need the right people to make it happen. I need to have people with specialized skills to better the company.” (T. Strasberg, interview, October 19th 2020)

When Randy Morton was asked what he wishes he knew ten years ago he responded by saying that he wishes he learned to listen better. “Ten years ago I learned to become a better listener. I learned to take the time to listen to every employee to know their story, their family, their history. Get to know their spouses name and their kids name. I needed to understand what I could do as a leader to guide them and challenge them to give them an opportunity to grow to get promoted. As a leader it is important to find a way to give guidance to meet and exceed their personal goals.” (R.Morton, interview, October 13th 2020) Level three listening is a concept that I discovered in my course at Hult, Leading with Personal Impact. Level three listening is more than just listening. It uses body language such as eye contact and nodding to show you understand. When listening at level three you give the speaker ques that you understand by recapping things they said and giving feedback. Listening as a leader is even more important than speaking. Level three listening as a leader will show members of the team that you care about their input and that their ideas are welcomed and valued. It helps to build trust and a psychologically safe environment. Some leaders have such a large team to lead that communicating and listening to every team member can be difficult. Randy Morton had 7,500 employees during his time at the Bellagio and if he could not speak in person he would utilize tools like social media to be able to communicate to his employees and create a way for them to speak to him. “If I could not communicate in person it would be through social media, apps, podcasts ect. These tools were very successful to improve communication. Listening to the employees was crucial to understanding the needs and wants of the employees and to drive the consumer to success.” (R.Morton, interview, October 13th 2020) In the interview with Thomas Shannon on the topic of listening he said “I make it a point to call one of my 16 fire stations and just talk to anyone who answers the phone. I will ask them how things are going there and listen to what they have to say. This helps me to keep a pulse on every level of the organization.” (T.Shannon, interview, October 12th 2020) Thomas also has two all staff meetings every week. At these meetings he expects dissent but never contempt. “Contempt is like the check engine light of a team.” (T.Shannon, interview October 12th 2020) Thomas said that he will purposefully discuss topics that cause dissent in his weekly meetings. “You have to agendize ‘that awkward thing’ and understand the opposition point of view.” (T.Shannon, interview October 12th 2020) Discussing the opposing point of view demonstrates that opposing ideas are welcome and continues to build trust among the team.

The interviews with these three individuals was a great experience because I was able to see the lessons that I learned in this leadership course in practice. I understand even more the importance of relationship building as a leader and that every relationship is important. As Thomas Shannon put it, “The meeting you are in now is not the meeting you want to be in. Each meeting is a stepping stone to get you where you want to be.” (T.Shannon, interview, October 12th 2020) It is so important to build real and genuine relationships as a leader and for my own personal development. My three interviewees were very different from one another and had very different careers and life experiences. They all agreed, however, that to be a successful leader you must listen to your team, discuss opposing views and take time to build a strong relationship with every member of your team.

Tess Black

MBA Candidate — Hult International Business School