Interview Questions and Answers

1. What is the most important leadership model used in your organization?

I am not sure if it is the most important, but the most common leadership
model is Situational Leadership. Situational leadership theory proposes that
there is no single "best" style of leadership. Effective leadership is taskrelevant, and the most successful leaders are those who adapt their
leadership style to the ability and maturity of the individual or group they are
attempting to lead or influence.
2. What aspect of emotional intelligence do you think is most pivotal for an
employer to maintain?
I subscribe to the mixed model of EI. The mixed model has 5 main
constructs: self-awareness, self-regulation, social skill, empathy and
motivation. Identifying the most pivotal is a difficult task. The absence of any
of the 5 constructs leads to a breakdown in EI and can harm the
employee/employer relationship. The construct I found most beneficial when
leading is self-awareness. It is important to know one's emotions, strengths,
weaknesses, drives, values and goals.
3. What leadership style do you abide by? How is this useful for your
organization?
Perhaps I did not answer question 1 correctly. Within Situational Leadership I
am most comfortable Supporting. Supporting employs low directive and
highly supportive behavior. Supporting is best used when an individual has a
high to moderate competence at the task at hand and his or her level
commitment varies.
4. Do you require that employees take a self-assessment test like the MyersBriggs, and if so, can you describe the impact that this has on the work
environment?
Our sales representatives take a self-assessment to determine their
respective selling styling. Grifols subscribes to the Challenger commercial
strategy that, through research, identified 5 selling profiles: the relationship
builder, the lone wolf, the challenger, the problem solver and the hard
worker.
5. Which traits or skills do you believe create the best possible leader in your
field and why?
There are leaders and there are those who lead. Leaders do so from a
position of authority. Those who lead inspire others by communicating why

they believe what they believe. Those who identify someone with similar
beliefs will follow them, not for financial gain, but for themselves. The best
leaders know why they do what they do. Simon Sinek wrote a book, Start
With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. I highly
recommend it.
6. What type of internal resources do leaders and managers have at their
disposal to improve their leadership skill?
Grifols offers several leadership development opportunities. Our commercial
business has a formal leadership development program for emerging
leaders. Established leaders attend an annual Leadership Week during
which they have an opportunity to learn from experts and their peers.
Individuals are able to attend other classes through private institutions.
7. Describe how you utilize the use of executive coaching with your
employees?
I am assuming you are referring to executive coaching as coaching designed
to elevate others to higher positions of authority or responsibility, not the
coaching of executives. To maintain employee engagement, I firmly believe a
leader must help others reach their goals. Some of the sales people I lead
want to be the best representative they can be. Others want increased
responsibility. My job is to help them achieve their goals. I separate coaching
conversations from performance management conversations. Our coaching
conversations focus on skill development while performance management
focuses on specific tasks or opportunities.
8. What team development programs do you have in place at your
organization?
This is an area in which Grifols needs to improve. While we do have a
corporate learning and development department, there is not a robust
program.
9. Have you ever taken a self-assessment test? Tell me about how the results
impacted your leadership.
Yes. However, self-assessments do not have the same impact on change as
peer-assessment. While it is important to assess yourself, it only reports on
how one sees himself. To be a truly effective leader one must know how
others perceive him. I am more motivated to change knowing how others
perceive me.
10. How do you encourage teamwork in your facility?

I do my best to create an environment that is team-focused and competitive

while promoting individual success. Often I share articles, videos, posts on
social media regarding teamwork. I also consistently encourage
communication between team members. In addition, several times each year
my team gets together for a teambuilding event. All of this is secondary to
the example I set.
Scott Roth
Associate Director
Commercial Learning and Development
Grifols USA, LLC
Interview with a Healthcare Leader Reflection Essay
I interviewed someone from Grifols, where I did my internship over the
summer, because I aspire to continue working there once I graduate. I
interviewed Scott Roth, who is the Associate Director for the Commercial
Learning and Development department at Grifols USA. I worked down the
hall from Scott over the summer and helped him with a few minor
assignments, however I did not interact with him on a daily basis so I figured
he would be a good person to interview. I initially sent the questions to Scott
via email and allowed him time to look over the questions; but I also went to
Grifols and got an opportunity to speak with him about the questions and see
him and other familiar faces as well. Digging deeper into this company and
their core leadership concepts, will allow me to grow into the kind of leader
that would thrive in their environment.
I asked Scott the most important leadership model that is used at
Grifols. He said he felt situational leadership was the most common
leadership theory that is used, however he was not sure if it was the most
important or not. Situational leadership theory allows the leader to adapt
how they lead based on the situation at hand, proposing there is no single
best practice. This theory allows leaders to adapt based on the ability and
maturity of the group of people they are leading. Scott stated that within the
situational leadership theory, he felt most comfortable at the supporting
stage. Supporting is when a leader employs low directive and highly
supportive behavior. This style can be used when an employee has
moderate to high competence on the task at hand, yet their commitment to
the task varies, therefore they need support. I agree with Scott in the sense
that I feel situational leadership theory is a very important theory. In my
leadership essay for this course, I wrote about the importance of being a
situational leader and having the ability to adapt to different situations.
There are leaders and there are those who lead. This is was Scott
said to answer what skills he believes create the best leader in his field.
Leaders lead given the authority they possess, while others are natural
leaders who inspire through communicating why they believe what they
believe. People will often follow leaders who inspire them and share similar

beliefs. Scott suggested I read a book by Simon Sinek that is titled, Start
With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. This is a
good resource to learn how to inspire and motivate employees to take action.
I appreciate this recommendation, because it is a book that motivated Scott
to become an effective leader at the organization I hope to work at.
Resources like this book could be very beneficial for me.
I also asked Scott about emotional intelligence. Scott says he
personally follows the mixed model of EI, which includes: self-awareness,
self-regulation, social skills, empathy and motivation. He believes the
absence of any aspects of the mixed model leads to a breakdown of EI and
can harm the employee/employer relationship. He feels self-awareness is
very important when leading though so that you know your own emotions,
strengths, weaknesses, drives, values and goals.
Scott works with sales representatives at Grifols and he requires them
to take a self-assessment to determine their respective selling style. Grifols
subscribes to the Challenger commercial strategy that, through research,
identified 5 different selling profiles: the relationship builder, the lone wolf,
the challenger, the problem solver and the hard worker. The relationship
builders are people who focus on developing strong personal and
professional relationships and try to prevent and resolve any tension among
the commercial relationship. Hard workers are people who make a lot of
calls and visits and put in a lot of effort in order to make sells. The Lone
Wolves are the people who are very self-confident and who tend to do things
their own way. Problem solvers look at sales after they occur and ensure the
implementation and execution is effective. Lastly, Challengers are assertive
people who push their thinking and take control of the conversation when
trying to make sales. The Challenger tends to be the most effective selling
approach. As someone who takes interest in possibly being a director of
sales or being a sales representative myself, I found this information very
useful and would like to read the book The Challenger Sale. Scott also made
a good point though, that he thinks self-assessments are important in order
to assess yourself; however, peer-assessments allow employees to see how
others perceive them. In order to be effective as a leader it is essential to
know how you are perceived. Personally, Scott says he is more motivated to
change knowing how other people perceive him. Self-assessments would be
important to know how to use your strengths to grow into a leader that
others want to follow.
I think when searching for a job it is also important to interview the
organization while they interview you. I like to know how the organization
encourages growth from their employees and what resources are available
for them to grow. I asked Scott what types of internal resources are offered
to leaders and managers in order to improve their leadership skills. He said
Grifols offers multiple leadership development opportunities. He specifically
works in the commercial business, which has a formal leadership
development program for emerging leaders. Leaders who are already
established attend an annual leadership week where they have the chance

to learn from experts and their peers. Employees are also able to attend
other classes through private institutions if they wish. In order to prevent
employees from becoming stagnant, allowing growth opportunities through
leadership programs, or weekends, will ensure employees continue to grow
and develop. As well as providing resources for employees usage, it is also
important that leaders motivate others to grow and are a resource
themselves. Scott firmly believes that leaders must help others to reach
their goals in order to maintain employee engagement. I like how Scott
stated, I separate coaching conversations from performance management
conversations. Our coaching conversations focus on skill development while
performance management focuses on specific tasks or opportunities. He
knows when to talk about tasks and jobs and when he can coach his
followers and help them to grow personally.
Lastly, I discussed teamwork with Scott. I first asked him what kind of
team development programs are in place at Grifols. He responded honestly
and stated that he believes this is an area where Grifols needs to improve.
He says there is a corporate learning and development department but it is
not a very vigorous. Personally, Scott tries to create an environment that is
team-focused and competitive while also promoting individual success.
Scott often shares articles, videos, and posts on social media regarding
teamwork with his followers. Scott is a firm believer in open communication
as well among team members. His team gets together multiple times each
year for teambuilding events. He says all of these things are secondary to
the example he sets daily; again he tries to lead through inspiring others and
setting a positive example.
I think Scotts answers will help guide my leadership model by
reiterating the importance of peer-assessments and self-assessments. Scott
stated how important peer-assessments are, which made me go back and
look at my talents inquiry and glance at how others perceive me. Ultimately
an effective leader will be successful when others perceive them in a positive
light. If you think highly of yourself, but others do not, you will not be an
effective leader. It is essential to listen to input from others and continually
strive to be better and work on your weaknesses. Again, like Scott I want to
be a transformational leader that produces positive change in an
organization and inspires others. I want to help my employees to reach their
goals and help my followers to become leaders themselves. It is also
important to note that one leadership theory may not always be the most
successful for every situation. It is imperative to be a situational leader and
evaluate the situation at hand before choosing a leadership theory to follow.
As I approach the end of college and search for a job, I endeavor to find
a company who promotes individual growth; a company who encourages
teamwork, assesses individuals and helps them to use their strengths and
improve their weaknesses. Scott touched on a lot of different resources that
both Grifols promotes and he promotes. I think in my future career I need to
remember to use the resources that are presented to me in order to grow. I
learned from my internship that sometimes any kind of learning modules or

growth opportunities that are mandatory may have a negative stigma around
them. I saw employees who thought, I am doing just fine in my job, why do I
need to take time to do additional learning modules. These modules are
given for a reason, to promote growth, and though they may seem like a pain
I believe they truly are beneficial. I think it is important to set goals and do
everything you can to reach them and allow others to help you reach them.
Seek input from people and take advice. In my future career I will also try to
promote teamwork and open communication as Scott talked about. As a
leader I want to set an example to my followers. I want to set a positive
example to my employees and promote growth resources through the
example I set. For example, if I am a sales representative and The
Challenger Sale helped to shape my approach to how I sell our product, I
want to reflect that by adapting the Challenger model and portraying that to
my followers. By requesting input from my followers, going to team building
events, being transparent, kind, hard working, and compassionate in the
work place I think I can be successful in my future career.
Scotts answers and the advice he presented can also benefit me in the
long run and guide my life-long learning. In life you will always have to deal
with people, whether at work or at home with your family, so I think
emotional intelligence is essential. Scott focuses on the EI mixed model that
highlights self-awareness, self-regulation, social skills, empathy, and
motivation. All of these concepts will be beneficial in life. Learning how to
understand yourself better and understanding others will help you to work
well with others and deal with any controversy that may arise. He also
helped me to remember you should never cease learning and growing.
There is always more you can learn and always an area that needs
development.
Scotts thoughts on leadership and leadership styles help me to
recognize that leaders need to be diverse and use a variety of styles to be
effective. It is also important to assess yourself, as well as see how others
perceive you. In order to prevent becoming stagnant, this reminds me that
in life you have to work hard and use the resources given to you in order to
be the best that you can be. I value Scotts input and I know it will help me
to become an effective leader one day, whether that is at Grifols or another
organization.