University of San Diego

LEPS 540-Organizational Leadership

Joseph Eyerman

CONFIDENTIAL
Memorandum
Date: May 23, 2021

To: Professor Jenkins

Subject: Interview a Leader

I began my law enforcement career in 1999 and have worked with/for countless

supervisors. Some supervisors inspired me to be a better version of myself, and some inspired

me to promote. I wanted to promote to both emulate the supervisors I admired and to replace the

ones that should have never been supervisors to begin with. I was an officer for the first 6 years

of my career, and a sergeant for 13 years after that. I moved from the prison to parole 3 ½ years

ago and have enjoyed being a parole agent. One of my recent supervisors has had a profound

impact on me and for this assignment, I chose him to interview.

After reading material from this module, I chose to ask the supervisor:

1) Do you prefer to manage or lead your subordinates?

2) Do you feel it is important to lead by example?

3) Do you consider the sharing of your knowledge/training/experience with your

subordinates important?

Regarding question 1, the supervisor explained that he identifies as a leader, and wants to

encourage his subordinates to follow his example. He believes in a team concept and he wants

all members to buy in. He also added that he likes to be in the game and would not ask a

member of the team to do anything that he would not or could not do himself. I found this

leadership principle just like that from “Principles of Marine Core Leadership”, “A person who

knows their job thoroughly and possesses a wide field of

knowledge. Before you can lead, you must be able to do the job. Tactical and
technical competence can be learned from books and from on-the-job training” (2008).

When answering the second question, he said that it is extremely important to set and be

an example to those under his charge. Additionally, he believes sharing his successes, and

failures, as a supervisor contribute to the growth of all involved. Doing so allows all members of

the team to get better thus the unit, as a whole, will improve. General Cates writes, “To promote

efficiency and morale, a leader should inform the Marines in his unit of all happenings and give

reasons why things are to be done. This is accomplished only if time and security permits.

Informing your Marines of the situation makes them feel that they are a part of the team and not

just a cog in a wheel. Informed Marines perform better. - The key to giving out information is to

be sure that the Marines have enough information to do their job intelligently and to inspire their

initiative, enthusiasm, loyalty, and convictions” (2008).

For question 3, he said it is his job to teach and train his subordinates. He added that it is

paramount as a peace officer that we do things lawfully, and within department policy. He

explained he likes to find out what career goals each team member has and build on those. My

supervisor said it is extremely important to get to know who works with/for you and create a

positive atmosphere for learning. The agency is only as good as its leadership, and one day the

rookie may become the supervisor. The community, department, and parole unit deserve the

best we have to give. Kotter asserts, “Leadership is about vision, about people buying in, about

empowerment and, most of all, about producing useful change. Leadership is not about

attributes; it is about behavior. And in an ever-faster-moving world, leadership is increasingly

needed from more and more people, no matter where they are in a hierarchy. The notion that a

few extraordinary people at the top can provide all the leadership needed today is ridiculous, and

it’s a recipe for failure” (2013).

and experience I have. However, none of it matters if I do not share some or all of what I have

learned with colleagues. Leaders and incredibly important to the success of any organization,

and even more so in a law enforcement agency. The supervisor I interviewed said he can be a

manager if/when the situation requires it or when it is appropriate to do so. However, he enjoys

being a leader, and constantly wants to prepare his subordinates to eventually be leaders as well.

I recently moved to another parole unit and no longer work with/for the supervisor that I

interviewed. I miss working with him, and I often turn to him when I, or another parole agent,

have issues/situations that he can help with.

Work Cited
Kotter, J. (2013). Management is still not leadership. Retrieved 5/23/2021
from https://hbr.org/2013/01/management-is-still-not-leadership

Northouse, P. (2021). Leadership: Theory and Practice 8th Edition. Retrieved 5/23/2021 from:
https://ole.sandiego.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-2290280-dt-content-rid-32832819_1/xid-
32832819_1

Penn State. (2016). The Dark Side of Trait Leadership. Retrieved 5/23/2021
from https://ole.sandiego.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-2290289-dt-content-rid-30721985_1/xid-
30721985_1

United States Marine Corps (2008). RP 0103- Principles of Marine Corps Leadership. Retrieved
5/23/2021 from https://ole.sandiego.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-2290289-dt-content-rid-
30721987_1/xid-30721987_1