Week 2 leader/follower relations

As my experience and work continue with the Virginia Housing Alliance, I wanted to focus on the leader and follower relationships at the organization. From what I have observed and the work I have done, it seems that one core group works as a team to get critical work done. This team includes executive director Brian Koziol, senior policy analyst Molly Jacobson, and the operations manager Brianna Pitchford. These three work together to gather research, produce policy proposals, meet with relevant political actors and other organizations with similar initiatives. This team works under the direction of Brian but has a lot of autonomy to work individually. From what I have observed, it seems as if Brian relies a lot on his team to make decisions; he ultimately has the final say but takes others’ expert opinions into account. Molly Brianna and I rely on the direction of Brian but have the knowledge and ability to do the work on our own and return with the finished product. The senior policy analyst, Molly, also maintains a lot of her own projects, which I am included in. Molly meets with many other organizations related to affordable housing and broadband services in Virginia to come together and plan out policy needs and goals; Brian is not a part of this work she simply reports back. 

The leadership styles of individuals at the various levels at VHA is a direct relationship because it is a small group. As an intern, I work directly with the executive director. Everyone that I have worked with has influence and a leadership role; I suppose a lot of the influence comes from having more experience with this organization and type of work. This allows for a high level of trust and cooperation between all employees and interns. I enjoy this kind of work environment because I have the time to work individually and return with my contribution to the group. 

Overall, employees receive general directions, but they are essentially self-directed due to the high level of trust. There are some standard procedures and methods to meetings, fact sheets, and proposals, but there are a lot of new methods and techniques required to push VHA’s mission statement.