Group 3 Interview with Alex Autry

Robin Beavers, Mike Donoghue, Daryl Flinn, Kris Hansen

University of Maryland, University College

It was decided in early discussions that the group would choose a distance education leader within the government sector. Our choice was Alex Autry, president of the Federal Government Distance Learning Association (FGDLA), as well as Assistant Director and Chief of Instructional Quality for the Air Technology Network Program Management Office (ATN PMO), which is part of Air University, Air Education and Training Command. The ATN PMO delivers education for military personnel and government employees within the Department of Defense (FGDLA).

Management style

Alex Autry’s management style, as measured on the Tannenbaum & Schmidt Continuum (1958), puts him solidly on the subordinate centered side of the continuum. He is still in charge of the curriculum, but asks the students to answer a six question survey. This provides insight into what they are seeking and their expectations, which he then uses to determine whether learning objectives have been met, and whether the delivery media is appropriate. By asking for their input, the effectiveness of his program is enhanced.

Autry goes further when he says: “Make sure your students learn what you want them to learn” (Autry, 2014). The people he leads and educates are military, many of whom have made it their career, so there is a level of professionalism, pride in accomplishment, and discipline that is more pronounced than in the civilian workforce. This should make buy-in easier, as subordinates are not likely to challenge change directly. Though the opening statement of this paragraph comes off as authoritarian, the decisions on what students need to learn was determined through a collaborative process involving those he manages as well as the students.

For strategic planning, Autry asks for input from subordinates. He does not always implement their requests, nor should he. Leadership is not management by consensus or avoiding conflict even if that results in short-term gains. Long-term gains and program improvement are more likely to occur if there is a balance between boss-centered and subordinate-centered leadership, with the manager, who has the final responsibility for the success or failure of the project in his hands.

Alex Autry has several charismatic leadership attributes that became evident right from the onset of the group’s interview. In the discussion, he spoke about the emerging use of satellite technologies to transfer data to run synchronous classes within his organization as well as the need to keep up with changing technologies so as to be ready to adapt to them. Autry mentioned how highly motivated his colleagues are and how they take great pride in getting the job done well. Autry’s confidence and optimism is strong and he projects himself as someone that believes in his cause, believes in those that he works with, and believes that they can accomplish the duties given to them. Rather than micromanaging his team members, Autry communicated that he oversees the coordinated efforts between them and lets these experts do their jobs. He has respect for professionalism and in turn seems to have earned the respect of his colleagues. Because of these attributes, task and maintenance functions are effectively infused throughout the organization.

Task functions

Task functions are methods of utilizing behaviors in order for groups to move forward towards goal achievement. Maintenance functions are strategies that helps build productive working relationships amongst group members. Throughout the interview with Alex Autry, there were several examples of how he manages group task and maintenance functions:

Information or opinion seeking: Autry talked about getting the viewpoints from his followership on ideas for aligning the mission statement and for strategic planning. This inquiry initiates collaborative teamwork that helps the organization make progress towards goals. Also, he discussed the importance of feedback surveys that students take during and/or after each course. This data helps his team make improvements to the quality of the training sessions.

Information or opinion giving: Autry spoke about his routine meetings with different teams. He shares the needs and goals of the program with his followership and reports on status and needs issues with his superiors. He provides relevant information about his group’s concerns and instructions on implementing plans.

Clarifying or elaborating: Autry elaborated extensively about how leadership works best within his organization. He reiterated about being honest, truthful, and treating others the way he likes to be treated. He was effective in communicating this message because of the repetition.

Maintenance functions

Encouraging: Autry’s approach is very encouraging. He is extremely easy to speak with. His philosophy of getting his followership to work productively is accomplished by using the concept of empowerment. He promotes self-discipline and pride as motivation techniques for members of his group.

Harmonizing: Autry spoke about change management as a difficult area because of the generalization that people do not like change. He said it works best once all stakeholders are on board.

Gate-keeping: Autry strives to keep communication channels open between all involved parties.

Setting standards: Autry expects his system to work. This includes the technologies involved and the people developing and overseeing them. He directs test runs and makes necessary adjustments to ensure quality deployment of the system.

Empowerment and trust

In the discussions regarding his staff, Autry spoke highly of their abilities. While Autry manages the work and leads the unit, his description of the group presented a picture of personnel that share ownership of the tasks necessary to create, maintain, and deliver courses, while also being supportive of each other’s needs (described by Autry as a factor of pride). His staff members are participatory, perhaps even acting more like activists in that they appear to be well-invested in their mutual success, the material, and his leadership (Kellerman, 2009). Even in his closing statements in the interview, Autry recognized that a leader needs to acknowledge those people who helped him or her reach their leadership position, echoing the statement that in order to be a leader, one needs followers (Kellerman, 2009).

While not formerly portraying himself as an empowering leader, Autry described his unit as one that is mostly self-governing, only requiring him to step in periodically to make sure that work is being done as specified and that there are no difficulties within the operation. In the questions posed to him during the interview, his leadership type was typified by Sims, Samer, and Seokhwa as one that assists in “influencing others by developing and empowering follower self-leadership capabilities” (Sims, Samer, & Seokhwa, 2009, p.150). In addition, workers in the unit demonstrate knowledge sufficient to receive recognition by Autry and other leaders about the future direction the unit may need to follow.

Through the Influence Power Continuum (IPC) as described by Frank Heller, we can conclude that Autry utilizes a variation on the described decision making processes (Heller, 1973, p.188). Heller’s table reviews a number of delegation processes, all predisposed to deliberate managerial action. Indirectly though, Autry practices both joint decision-making with subordinate and delegation of decision to subordinate techniques, but without consciously informing his staff that he is enabling those practices. It was communicated that they are military professionals with similar backgrounds in discipline, suggesting that some leadership qualities are not communicated by Autry so much as inherited from previous experience.

Having this degree of faith in the ability of subordinates to make decisions on their own suggests an environment of trust. For Autry and his staff there is both the special shared experience of a military background that inspires confidence as well as personal conduct that fosters positive expectations (Lewicki, McAllister, & Bies, 1998). Autry also generates workforce trust by arranging overt demonstrations of stakeholder support. The conditions he creates inspire motivation, which leads to building trust, and then promotes delegation.

Workforce culture

The choice of a government entity certainly plays into the class discussions of leadership in a multicultural environment. In addition to his daily duties, Alex Autry presides over the FGDLA, a group that supports clients and instructs students from various government agencies (IRS, Army, Department of Justice, Air Force, etc.) as well as non-government sectors, including academic and corporate organizations. As president, Autry interacts with people of various cultures, races, beliefs, positions, motivations, and genders.

The interview with Autry brought to light many of the theories and practices regarding leadership discussed in the class. Through the questions and answers presented, it was determined that Autry’s leadership skills were learned and honed through his 27 year career in the United States Air Force, skills that Autry regularly practices and implements to great effect in his current position.

Autry comes across as having many of the qualities ascribed to those who are transformational leaders; transformational leadership may be defined as “a manner of leading whereby the needs of followers are placed as priority among leaders in the workplace” (Washington, 2014, p.3). Burns declares that a transforming leadership happens when “one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise each other’s performance” (Burns, 2010, p.67).

Several times during the interview, Autry asserted that motivating, empowering, and guiding those in subordinate positions is a crucial part of success for him as a leader and for the organization. He stated that when it comes to leading, he prefers to think of leadership as “look what I am a part of, not look what I built” (Autry, 2014).

Autry stated that he is fortunate that the majority of those he works with have a military background, which means that they share many of the same characteristics, including discipline instilled during their military service as well as values. Therefore, his followers can personally identify with him, which is another precept of transformational leadership (Yukl, 2013).

The characteristics and tenets of being a military leader also translate into the corporate and academic arena (Bass & Riggio, 2010; Shook & Nelson, 2008):

• “Possessing the flexibility and adaptability to meet the alternating role as leader/follower.” Autry asserted that being able to adapt is key in leadership and as a distance educator. In his position as both a subordinate and a leader like many leaders in management positions within organizations.
• “Developing and improving listening skills in support of successful mission accomplishment.” Autry said that listening and staying involved with various sectors of the organization is essential. As management, he listens to leadership while addressing the needs of his followership.
• “Assessing both your own strengths and developmental needs”.  Autry stated several times that he is open to learn, that he may know how to do something but he has to be willing let others approach tasks. He warned against being stubborn and adhering to traditional ways in lieu of trying something new.
• “Developing subordinate as individuals and as a team while also meeting mission requirements”. Autry asserted that it is important to give responsibility and motivation to those who work for you. He is ardently aware that his leadership is defined by his followership and that he must form relationships to get the most out of individuals so that they can work better in teams and complete tasks.
• “Creating and establishing trust between leaders and followers.” “Do what you say you are going to do,” Autry stated that trust is a must in leadership.
• “Finding a mentor and being a mentor.” Autry still regards his mentors, one a distance education professional and one his former commanding office as friends and men who were willing to help and guide him. Both of these relationships helped to make him the leader is today. Additionally, he is aware of the importance of mentoring those coming up under him.

Conclusion

The interview with Alex Autry was like witnessing many of the theories and practices studied in the class come to life. As both instructor and leader, his chief concerns are for those he is in a position to influence within the guidelines of his organization’s mission, vision, goals, and objectives.  As an instructor, Autry’s abiding concerns are whether the method of delivery is appropriate for the intended audience and if students are learning what they are supposed to learn. As a leader, he is keenly aware of the need to mentor and empower those working under him, his belief that it is better to be part of a great team than to boast about your accomplishments as a leader.

References

Autry, A. (2014, April 02). Interview by K. Hansen [Web Based Recording]. Alex Autry interview. Retrieved from https://learn.umuc.edu/d2l/le/11774/discussions/posts/1355671/ViewAttachment?fileId=375920

Bass, B.M., & Riggio, R.E. (2010). The transformational model of leadership. In Hickman, G. R. (Ed.), Leading organizations: Perspectives for a new era, 2nd ed., 76-86. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Burns, J.M. (2010). Leadership (Excerpts). In Hickman, G. R. (Ed.), Leading organizations: Perspectives for a new era, 2nd ed., 66-75.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

FGDLA. (n.d.). Alex Autry Jr. Retrieved from http://www.fgdla.us/uploads/Alex_Autry_Bio.pdf

Heller, F. (1973). Leadership, decision making, and contingency theory. Industrial Relations, May73, Vol. 12, Issue 2, 183-199.

Kellerman, B. (2009, June 11). Barbara Kellerman on Followership [Video File]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgLcAF5Lgq4

Lewicki, R., McAllister, D., & Bies, R. (1998). Trust and distrust: new relationships and realities. Academy of Management Review. 23 (3), 438-460.

Shook, B., & Nelson, A. (2008). Developing USAF leadership skills via distance education and simulation. Journal of Interactive Instruction Development, 20(4), 15-20.

Sims, H. P.; Samer, F.; Seokhwa, Y. (2009). When should a leader be directive or empowering? How to develop your own situational theory of leadership. Business Horizons. 52(2): 149-158. Language: English. DOI: 10.1016/j. bushor.2008.10.002.

Tannenbaum, R., & Schmidt, W. H. (1958). How to choose a leadership pattern. Harvard Business Review, 36(2), 95-101.

Washington, N. (2014). Transformational leadership and its effect on followers from leader perspectives: an analysis of multiple leaders across organizations. US: ProQuest Information & Learning. Retrieved from: PsycINFO.