Leadership Styles

Leadership is one of the many values stressed here at the Town of Gilbert and  an important part of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, because it reigns in the many hectic elements of the job and drives every employee towards a common goal and purpose. As an intern, I am able to be a fly on the wall and observe the different management styles around the office. I am big advocate of observing others in order to incorporate positive leadership tools into my professional tool box.

Leah Hubberd, the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, has a very welcoming democratic and transformational leadership style, which is the reason why I chose her for my interview. She welcomes input from fellow team members and peers when making decisions. I've noticed this type of leadership style boost employee moral because it helps team members feel that their opinions matters since they are making contributions in the decision-making process. She organizes as weekly team meetings so everyone can understand what everyone is working on and brings everyone together to delegate tasks that need to be accomplished in the upcoming weeks. Since everyone in the office is so busy working on various assignments and attending meetings, the weekly meetings gives everyone time to de-stress by planning out their week and get input from other team mates on ways to help ease their workload. I'm really a fan of Leah's inclusion of employee affirmations before the start of the meeting. We each go around the table and say one or two positive things about an employee who has helped us during this week. This builds cohesion and solidarity in a very hectic work environment and also eases any tension that might be felt during the week. I will definitely incorporate the daily affirmations and weekly team meetings when I am a manager of a department. I can definitely see the value it has on employees.