1. Personal Leadership Philosophy
Vinny Reiter
I believe the basis of my leadership philosophy has two fundamental pillars –
accountability and inspiration. I look at a leader as someone who accomplishes results for his or
her organization by effectively balancing workforce accountability with workforce inspiration. I
further believe leadership is based on intentional acts with a specific result in mind. Leaders
should be kind, humble, tolerant, productive, accountable, and provide a service to those they
lead.
Accountability involves managing employee performance on an ongoing basis. This
includes defining expectations, setting goals, monitoring results, and giving regular feedback.
Communication is paramount in building a culture of accountability. With that in mind, I would
develop a plan to communicate broad expectations to all employees while setting goals for
individual employees that related to the overall organizational goals and expectations. I am a
firm believer that feedback is the “food of champions” so my approach would include regular
positive and constructive feedback. While I would expect any employee to be accountable to
achieving their goals, I would offer any support I could to help him or her achieve the goals.
Inspiration involves listening to people, creating a culture of engagement for all
employees, involving them in decision making, encouraging them, praising their progress, and
facilitating interaction throughout the entire team. I believe inspiration starts with developing
mutual trust and respect with those that I am leading. Trust and respect is best developed by
being kind, humble, tolerant, and allowing your actions as a leader to demonstrate that you truly
care about those that you are leading. I learned the value of team work throughout my entire life
and truly believe that Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM). Under that principal, I
believe in giving every team member a role where they can meaningfully contribute to the
organizational cause and believe it is important for a leader to facilitate each team member
working in concert for a common goal. I have found that people respond well to praise and tend
to strive for even more when their accomplishments are and progress is positively acknowledged.
My style tends to be steady and compliant. I tend to be empathetic and generally care
about others and their aspirations. I understand that everyone comes from a different place and
has had different life experiences. I believe I am a person of integrity and tend to be humble. I
believe I can use these natural tendencies to be an effective leader that balances accountability
and inspiration for the benefit of a cause and for the benefit of those I lead.