SUNYOW Absence of Structure Strikes Similarity Discussion Response

QUESTIONS:

In your response posts to at least two of your peers, address the following:

• Explain how the examples your peers described are similar to your own example. Discuss why you think those elements of leadership and management might be effective for the organization.
• Explain one to two similarities or differences between your leadership experience and your peers’ experiences.

PEER POST:

My name is Sarah, and I am a 37-year-old mother of 4. I have currently worked with the same retail company for 8 years. For many of those years, I was able to raise my children on my own. The pay and benefits were great and the first two stores that I worked for had excellent leadership and they allowed me to become part of the management team within the first year and I have held those positions since. This last year I transferred to a new store that was closer to home as the cost of living had increased and fuel prices were sky high. This new store also had a new Store Manager and a new Assistant who would be directly over me and my team. Unfortunately, these new people in management were not leaders and rarely came out of the office to manage. There was a conversation that I and other associates heard where our store manager had mentioned that they did not want their new position and they only took it because they had to ‘move up or move out’ from the position they were in before this one. This lack of leadership killed the morale in the store. So much so, that 6 out of 15 of us department leads chose to step down within the last year. In this situation, I learned that I could be a leader and a manager as they were both roles that I took on for most of the last year. I chose to walk away when I realized that the caseload did not match the pay and that I was working alone to improve our area. However, I was able to teach, train, and motivate my associates to step up and take on my role so that I could step down. The reading for this module helped me better understand the roles of leaders, managers, and followers, while also showing me where our store is struggling with a lack of structure in the leadership (Soomo, 2023 p.1.6). The Big 5 assessment we took did seem a little off in one area for me. It had me more agreeable than I anticipated. I do believe that I can be firm in my expectations while also being motivating and encouraging.