Leader/Follower Relations: Our State Director’s Transition from Military to working for a Publicly-elected Official

During my third week at the Office of Senator Tim Kaine the interns got an opportunity to speak with the State Director about the Office and professional advice.  Surprisingly, the State Director commented on the leadership style necessary to running the state-side office of a publicly-elected official successfully. Our State Director has previous experience in the National Guard as an Officer and he mentioned how this type of public service requires a much different leadership compared to what he was used to in the military.  Due to the clearly defined and highly filtered hierarchical structure of the military, the difficult portion of leadership is the decision-making process rather than getting those beneath you to follow your commands. Orders are quickly obeyed but leaders struggle with determining the correct decision for each situation. The Office of Senator Tim Kaine is split into two sections: the legislative (DC) portion and the regional (state-side) portion. The duties associated with each section differ.  The legislative section supports the policy objectives of Senator Tim Kaine as well as handles the press and communication work. The state office is composed of multiple regional offices which engage in community outreach and perform casework on behalf of constituents who need assistance in dealing with a Federal agency.

In our office, the State Director is forced to engage in consensus building between the regional and DC Offices in order to make decisions.  This is because the State Director’s equivalent is the Legislative Director of the DC Office. As such, the State Director is not fully autonomous and must collaborate with the Legislative Director to achieve the goals of the organization.   Moreover, the relationship between leaders and members within our office is much different than his experience as a military officer with subordinates. The relationship between leaders and members within the office is less structured and to ensure that decisions are executed accurately and to their full extent leaders must rely on the goodwill and support of their staff rather than rely on the power of rank.