Missy Interview

After generating a list of possible interviews I finally decided on the Director of the Teen CONTACT Program at CONTACT Crisis Line, Missy Wall. When I completed my interview with Missy, I was flabbergasted to see how many parallels there were between her responses and what we have talked about in class. When I asked her what she thought were some effective traits for leaders she said the ones who aren’t just “self-starters” but also “self-finishers” or in other words people who commit to something and finish what they have started. Also leaders are those who accept criticisms from teammates or those beneath them and also those who know how to be a follower at times too.

When I asked Missy whether or not she believed leaders were born or made she answered saying, “I believe leaders are both born and made. Sometimes you can just see it in a little kid that they were born to do something and other times people can become great leaders. For example, our Sync program that we do makes leaders. The kids go there, watch others, and by example learn to lead. Also some of these kids never have the support that a leader needs, therefore, sync is a chance for those kids to gain that support.” In class we watched a video about a guy in a park who started randomly dancing, he wasn’t considered to be a true leader until his first follower joined him. Alike in the sync program support is a necessity to become a leader.

Talking to Missy about what she does for a living connected a lot to our class as well. When I asked Missy how she was trained to lead she described her experience within her church and working in a small youth group. Her mentor further got her involved by teaching Sunday school adult programs and she too learned by watching other leaders. Later her learned skills were put to the test when she became captain of her basketball and soccer team. She learned by example and then evolved into the example. As a leader on the court, field, and in her social work today, Missy is passionate, full of energy, creative, excited about what she does, has a willingness and belief for change, flexibility, and most importantly she has a heart. She believes that we never stop learning and evolving, and that it is important to meet those below the leadership rank at their level. As a leader, you must judge where that person is at, and base your attitude, behavior etc. around their needs. She says the key is “evening out our expectations.”

Lastly, and most importantly, I asked Missy what the hardest thing about her job is. She responded saying that “you can’t lead everyone. You can try to do something but you just can’t read peoples minds and there will always be someone who thinks they could do it better than yourself or there will always be that one to criticize your work. However, we must learn from our failures and mistakes and just know that we are doing the best we can. Know that you can’t please everyone, but if you have confidence in what you are doing then all you can do is hope that others follow.” After speaking with Missy it has helped confirm my opinion that she is a great leader and someone I hope to further emulate.