A640.9.2.RB_BorutyAlan_Final Project Reflection

Final Project Reflection

When I learned of the service-learning project (SLP) requirement in this course, I was not thrilled.  I could not see how volunteering my time and observing a workplace could possibly benefit me in this course.  At least that was my rationale.  Truth be known, I was bothered by it; I did not want to do it.

I seriously considered dropping the class, but quickly realized that I had no options.  This course was the only one available in my catalog; I have taken all of the others.  And, I still need the hours to meet program requirements.  Then, I realized how ridiculous I was behaving.  So, I committed myself to this course.  I committed to giving my best, doing the work, and earning the grade, to include the SLP. 

Today, I am very glad that I did.  If I had been given the opportunity, I would not have taken this course and I would have missed out on one of the best learning experiences of my career. 

At first, it felt like I was just going through the motions.  I worked my first shift, journaled what I observed, and I waited for my next workday to come around.  I could not afford for my next shifts to be the same.  I had not even identified my leader’s dominant leadership style.  So, I asked a few questions.  Following other people’s advice, I started looking for things I had studied during the other weekly activities instead of just waiting for something to happen. This is when everything came to life with the project.

I chose Dollar General as the company I would study and my small-town local Dollar General Store to do my volunteer work.  I was surprised to find out that Dollar General is a Fortune 200 Company finding its place on the annual list at number 123, a five-place improvement over the 2017 list (Fortune 500, 2018).

The company may post Fortune 200 revenue, but its stores are quite simple and conservative.  They are small in size at 3500 square feet, the floors are bare concrete and merchandise rests on simple, metal shelving.  However, the stores are clean and inviting.  They truly do create the small-town-general-store feel.  And, of course, the stores are located in small towns all over the country, specifically 15,277 small towns.

The manager of my store is Glen.  Glen does not look like a typical store manager.  He is unkempt.  His hair is long and unbrushed, his wears worn out jeans and t-shirts, and his appearance made it easy, I am sorry to say, for me to underestimate him, which I did.  The problem with judgement and early assessments without all the information is that they are usually wrong or incomplete.  That was the case with me and Glen.  I had almost written him off before I learned he is an educated man, he had been in the job for many years, and his leadership skills are very well developed.  I am fortunate that I got to watch him work a couple of small issues before we parted ways. 

One of those issues almost turned into something much bigger and would have if Glen had not instinctively neutralized the situation.  An employee was late for work for the second time in two days.  When Glen asked the young man about it, it startled him and he became defensive.  Glen recognized that if he continued talking, the situation would become confrontational.  So, Glen took the conversation private.  It was Glen’s choice to make.  By choosing not to further embarrass the employee, Glen showed respect for the employee and everyone watching as well.  Instantly everyone knew that if it had been them they would have wanted the same treatment.

It sounds simple, but it extremely easy to go overboard in a situation like that.  The majority of Glen’s employees are local high school students.  If he had handled the situation any differently, he would have been seen as a tyrant with whom no one would want to work.  His workforce is young and already highly transient.  He could not afford to make the situation any worse. 

I finally determined that Glen’s dominant leadership style is participative.  I had a hard time accepting the assessment because of the age of his workforce and their transitional nature.  What I saw as a complication, Glen saw as an opportunity.  He felt that this was the perfect place for the leadership style.  He told me that everyone that works here has an idea how to do things better.  Since the decisions made in the store are not typically time sensitive, participation was the best style for them.  They would learn what works and what will not and through the consensus process, they understand why.  In this way, Glen claimed that employees that stayed for one year would be capable of store management.  They would not be ready for it based on experience, but they could do it.  I was impressed.  He does not have to do what he does; no one expects it.  And, it almost certainly adds time to every decision.  He does it because he believes every experience should be one we learn from and first job in high school is no different.  Glen started this practice almost 12 years ago and has only experienced two or three exceptions to his claim.  This is servant leadership in practice.  According to Rowe and Guerrero (2018), “servant leadership focuses on the behaviors leaders should exhibit to put followers first and to support follower’s personal development….servant leadership begins when leaders commit themselves to putting their subordinates first, being honest with them, and treating them fairly” (p. 175). Glen wanted his employees to know what he knows for no other reason than he felt like it was the right thing to do.  In this way, Glen is a servant leader.

This project has had a profound effect on me.  I learned a lot about an incredible company and I learned some about retail operations, but I attribute most of my learning to a leader that I had written off far too early based on his appearance.  I consider myself to be a good leader.  During this project, I witnessed better and I am glad that I did.  I know now that I will never prejudge another person's leadership abilities again.

My degree would not have been complete without this experience.  This experience that I was so motivated to forgo.  Some lessons are far more difficult to learn than others, but they must be learned nonetheless.

~Pete

References

Fortune 500 (2018). Dollar General [Web page]. Fortune.com. Accessed on , December 6, 2018 from http://fortune.com/fortune500/dollar-general/

Rowe W. G., & Guerrero, L. (2018). Cases in leadership (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishing.

A640.8.2.RB_BorutyAlan_Women in Leadership

Women in Leadership

It is true, fewer than 6 percent of the Fortune 500 CEOs are women (Rowe & Guerrero, 2018).  This number has barely changed since 2002 and the change has been in the wrong direction (Sandberg, 2010).  Similar numbers apply to all the top leadership jobs regardless of profession.  Sheryl Sandberg (2010) asserted that “women are not making it to the top of any profession anywhere in the world” (0:36). She calls this a “real problem” (0:35).  I have to agree with her.

Sandberg (2010) explained that women have more difficult decisions to make than men when it comes to professional success versus personal fulfillment.  Because of this, women may be dropping out or choosing to stay home since upward mobility seems out of their reach at work.  Sandberg’s question at issue is, how do we fix this and change the numbers at the top? 

In her TED Talk, Sheryl Sandberg (2010) looks at this problem not from the point of what business can do to correct the problem, but from the point of what women can do as individuals to help correct the problem.  To that end, Sandberg offers three messages to women to help them achieve greater success in climbing the corporate ladder: 1) Sit at the table, 2) Make your partner a real partner, and 3) Don’t leave before you leave.

Sit at the table addresses the fact that women tend to underestimate their abilities.  As such, they rarely negotiate for themselves and any success they achieve, they attribute to other people.  Sandberg (2010) suggests that women need to believe in themselves and their abilities, negotiate their own worth, and own their success.  Women need to have enough confidence in themselves to sit at the table and be heard.

Make your partner a real partner addresses the hard choice women have between staying at home and returning to pursue their career.  The workload in homes where both partners work is unbalanced and weighs heavily on the shoulders of the woman.  Balancing that workload will make it easier for the woman choose to continue their career.  In homes where the workload is balanced, the divorce rate is lower and intimacy between partners is greater (Sandberg, 2010).  

Don’t leave before you leave addresses the tendency for women to throttle back on their career the minute they begin to think about starting a family.  They stop looking for promotions, turn down important projects, and begin to lean back in order to make room in their life for a baby.  Many do this much too early.  Sandberg (2010) asserts they should stay fully engaged and moving forward up to the day they have to leave to care for a child or whatever reason they have for leaving.

Sheryl Sandberg (2010) addressed this issue and presented her message with passion.  I have no doubt that her concern is genuine and she wants to be part of the solution.  Unfortunately, I do not believe her message takes the correct approach especially ‘sit at the table’.  There other two messages are actually pretty good advice.

I spent the majority of my career in the military.  Most people would consider this a male dominated environment. In some ways, they would be correct.  However,  in terms of leadership, this was not my experience.  During my 24-year career, I had the privilege of working with numerous women leaders.  I would estimate at least half of the leaders I worked for were women.  Men and women are different.  And, men and women are different leaders.  According to Rowe and Guerrero (2018) research shows that women are more effective than men in business and educational settings.  “Women are more likely to use transformational leadership, which is positively linked to performance (p. 334).  This was my experience. 

I offer a few observations of my own.  Women leaders do not bring their ego to the table; men do.  Women leaders listen to really understand the problem, then offer suggestions that may help.  Male leaders have solved the problem before it has been fully explained.  One works with a woman leader, but works for a male leader.  I was blessed with great leadership throughout my career, male and female.  Women approach situations differently.  They are more compassionate and empathic.  Men lead from the brain and women lead from the heart.  Neither is wrong and organizations need both styles of leadership.

This is why I believe Sandberg is wrong.  Her sit at the table message is encouraging women to be more like their male counterparts.  We need women leaders because of their ways, not despite their ways. 

There are many things that contribute to women being underrepresented at the top.  Things like the glass ceiling, having to choose between raising a family or pursuing a career, gender differences, prejudice, lack of leadership and mentoring are all alive and well and play a part in keeping the numbers at the top skewed (Rowe and Guerrero, 2018).  Addressing these issues will help.  However, instead of getting women to behave more like their male counterparts, organizations should make the attempt to understand and appreciate what women bring to the table just by being themselves.  There is a long way to go before this issue is solved.  We need to make certain that we change the right things. 

~Pete

References

Rowe, W. G. & Guerrero, L. (2018). Cases in leadership (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishing.

Sandberg, S. (2010, December). Why we have too few women leaders [Video file]. TEDWomen 2010. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders

A640.7.3.RB_BorutyAlan_How to Answer Case Study Questions

How to Answer Case Study Questions

I have had the opportunity to analyze dozens if not hundreds of case studies over the years.  It is always the same.  I read the case study twice.  The second time through, I analyze what I have read based on what I know and what I have learned to get a good understanding of the case.  Then, I read the first question and immediately forget everything I just read.  My issue is not limited to case studies, but it does include them.

The steps I follow when I am answering case study questions would likely be described as spastic, disorganized, random, and/or illogical if someone evaluated my process.  And, they would be right.  It causes me more than a little frustration.  I know there must be better ways to approach the issue.  I have read numerous ‘how to’ articles and they have helped, but the initial panic that causes my thinking to abandon me is still alive and well.  Fortunately I have found that if I take a deep breath and re-read the question as an extension of the case, it helps me get back on track.

I have a tendency to try to solve the entire case with the answer to one specific question.  I eventually sort through everything and provide reasonable answers to all of the questions, but that is only after many re-writes and some level of frustration.  I know there is a solution; I just have not found it yet.

Juanita King’s (2017) article, How to Answer Case Study Questions, takes a very simple and common sense approach to answering case study questions.  Her purpose is to help people to succeed during written or oral examinations that verify subject matter mastery in a given field of study.  It also provided me with ideas that will improve my answers to case study questions in the future.

King’s (2017) first suggestion is to practice.  “The more acquainted you are with the word arrangement of this type of test, the more comfortable you will be during either a written or oral case study assessment” (para. 2).  I have never done case studies for fun, but it is true that case study questions are uniquely worded.  If I become more familiar with how the questions are worded instead of being surprised each time, I might be able to remember the details of the study and relate the question appropriately.  It is a simple concept that makes sense.  It is obvious and I know it will work.  But even if I am wrong, all I have lost is a little time reading case studies.

The next thing King (2017) recommends is to relax on the day of the test and rely on what you know to answer the questions.  I interpret this to mean ‘reflect’ and I think it is great advice.  Reflecting on the things I have learned helps me apply that learning in different ways, see them from different viewpoints, and remain objective in my thinking (Nosich, 2012).  I wish this was something I did automatically and constantly, but it is still something I occasionally have to remind myself to do.  When I do, I always gain a better understanding.  It certainly will not hurt.

Most of King’s (2017) remaining suggestions have to do with identifying and understanding the problem and are things I already do.  However, there are two more suggestions that I wish I had been doing all along.  First, she suggests that one should “visualize the scenario or situation posed by the question.  See it in your mind's eye as you review it.  Consider the question as if it were an actual problem that will affect the lives of others” (para. 6).  For me, this will serve to make the study real versus purely academic.  In real situations, my actions are based on facts, experience, compassion, empathy, and knowledge.  In academic situations, I generally look for the right answer based on knowledge only.  It is correct, but it is not always right.

Finally, King (2017) recommends something with which I have always struggled.  “Slow down if you start to get confused. You may be moving too fast, trying to beat the clock” (para. 7).  My tendency in this situation is to do the exact opposite.  I panic and try to push myself harder which only exacerbates the problem.  Trying to go faster only serves to waste more time, slowing me down even further.  Instinctively, I am programmed to do the wrong thing.  Slow down and resolve the point of confusion before moving forward is the right answer and it makes perfect sense.  Why is it such a hard suggestion to follow? 

~Pete

References

King, J. (2017, July 5). How to answer case study questions. CareerTrend.com. Accessed 2018, November 30 from https://careertrend.com/how-8342765-answer-case-study-questions.html

Nosich, G. M. (2012). Learning to think things through: A guide to critical thinking across the curriculum (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.