Leadership Studies Interview I recently had the honor of interviewing someone in our community who has had over thirty years of leadership experience in our community. In the end the interview lasted much longer than I expected because I was so influenced by what he had to say that I didn't want to miss anything. Mr Kevin Henderson began his career as a chef in the 1960s for the Jolly Ox (Steak & Ale) restaurant. His leadership skills were quickly realized and he was promoted to Store Manager. From there he moved to Shoney's Restaurant Corporation where he remained for twenty-five years serving as a regional supervisor, eventually rising to become President of the Steak House Division of Shoney's. This consisted of the Fifth Quarter chain, the Pargo's Restaurant chain, and the Barbwires Steakhouse chain. Kevin was in charge of more than 5,000 employees in his division and led the company in profit and efficiency ratings. He is now the director of comprehensive food services for the state of Tennessee and directs food services for hundreds of locations such as schools, prisons and state facilities throughout Tennessee. My conversation with Kevin took a direction I didn't expect. He attributes his success to the leadership traits he has learned over the years and has quoted many of the ideas and theories from our class lesson almost verbatim. It was an incredible experience to witness firsthand how these traits become behaviors and practices. During our interview, Kevin shared the story of his leadership experience and highlighted how he learned many of his characteristics by observing other people. Kevin Heavily has noted how leadership and management styles have made a dramatic change over the past 40 years, moving from the “my way, or the highway” approach (Henderson) to a servant leadership approach. Mr. Henderson recalled a plaque hanging in his boss's office in the 1960s that read "The beatings and hangings will continue until morale improves!" This was the strategy used then, but it did not take into account the lingering “why” question in the eyes of employees. Kevin gave me a great analogy that explains the concept of driving a screw into a board with a hammer. "You can drive a screw into a board with a hammer and it will go in; however, both the screw and the board will end up damaged forever and the board will eventually come loose.