Benedict Roemer – Leader/Follower Relations

The Campaign for Youth Justice is a small non-profit organization, so rather than being made up of multiple departments with directors and subordinates, the organization is mostly made up of a few departments of one person and is therefore constructed of many peer-to-peer relationships. The organization does have a CEO, however, and the communications department does have a director and associate, so there are a few leader and follower relationships to study. From what I can gather after working in the organization for a little more than a week now, and from the few meetings I’ve attended, The CEO does not direct much of the work but is instead someone whose opinion is respected and is therefore someone to bounce ideas off of. Also, in some cases the CEO is asked for approval of ideas, but I cannot quite determine if this is official organization policy or if it’s simply another way for members to show respect for the CEO’s opinion.

The respect which seems to be shown for the CEO is something that I’m excited to learn more about because she certainly never seems to ask or expect the respect of those working for her. When I first began, I met everyone in the organization and we all had coffee and snacks together as a welcome. During this event, everyone spoke casually with one another and would make jokes and laugh together. The CEO was central to this and would often be the source and subject of jokes made. In this way, the CEO placed herself at the same level as everyone, from the receptionist to department directors. In meetings she loosely guides the meeting and again will often lead tangents to talk about current events or comment on other things happening in the organization. This very loose leadership style seems to work in the organization because everyone else is very self-motivated and competent, and therefore are not in need of much guidance. However, I am still puzzled by the way in which people turn to the CEO for approval. I did have a one on one discussion with the CEO when I began as part of my orientation, and I believe that this experience may hold the answer to my puzzlement. Without ever having spoken directly to each other before, we somehow ended up having a wonderful discussion about current criminal justice issues and the way in which the system treats children. This then led to a conversation about education, and by the end of our time we had moved seamlessly through a wide range of issues and the time just flew by. From this experience, I gathered that the CEO is not only very intelligent and knowledgeable about the field in which she works. She also has a way of making someone feel listened to and included that makes quite an impression. This mix of intelligence and warmth makes her easily approachable and also someone whose opinion is highly regarded, hence the practice of asking for approval even though it’s not required.