Leadership

I suppose what leadership represents most in my internship in Cape Town at the U.S. embassy was that it came in so many forms. Direct leadership, knowledge based leadership, project leads, and in this setting, protection. The beauty of working for the government overseas is they embrace a hierarchy of direction on nearly every level and require you to be aware of it. For me personally, the leadership areas where I was allowed to thrive was taking the lead on projects, as well as outside the gates during our Mandela Day volunteer work. By organizing, instructing, and afterwards, informing, others on what I was doing, I was able to showcase leadership qualities to my supervisors on multiple occasions. I imagine it would be hard to find a setting and organization where leadership was less evident than an American Embassy, so I have been fortunate to see it in action.

Profile: Lisa Takata

When asked to interview someone who held a position that you aspire to, I was fortunate enough to schedule some time with Lisa Takata, Deputy City Manager of Phoenix. Initially scheduled for a brief 30 minute interview, we spoke in some detail for the better part of two hours. Discussing her career path, major accomplishments, the key variances in council-manager form of city government as well as many other topics, I found the interview to be most engaging and very informative. Lisa could not have been a better interviewee, allowing me to steer the questions in a variety of directions for far longer than the agreed upon time slot with no objection. While her opinions and insight on the position were of great value, I think what I'll take away from the meeting most was what kind of city official I hope to be: open, helpful, and after 20 years, still in love with my job.