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Leadership Opportunities

Transparency in the workplace is important because it promotes honesty about mistakes, the current state of a situation, etc. and creates an environment free of the fear to speak your mind or own up to something. 

I am the type of person who would want people to be honest with me, so I practice it as a credo of mine. Although this was not something that recently occurred, it did happen during my employment at McDonald’s. Approximately two years ago, I was essentially told to press a “$1 coupon” button on the ordering screen, at my discretion, if there were any unhappy customers - as a method to ease their tempers, regardless of the situation. My managers trusted me because I had proven to be reliable and a hardworking individual; the only problem was that we had recently changed head management just after I was told about that situational-protocol, and throughout a single shift, I had entered the button 20 times, resulting in $20 in losses. The reason I had entered it so much was because it was a helpless shift, where we were understaffed, wait times were painfully over the expected time of arrival and every other customer was acting belligerent; so to calm certain customers, I had gave them the $1 coupon off of their bill. When I had my next shift the following Saturday, I walked in and was immediately told to go see the stores general manager after being ‘found out’ about what I had done. I walked in and felt like I was close to a mental breakdown - I am never the one to break rules in the workplace. I was lucky that my general manager at the time was an understanding person, and listened to me as I walked him through my explanation. I probably could have been fired, but because I was seen as reliable by management and was transparent about the situation, I did not receive any flack; my general manager was just making sure that I was not giving discounts to friends, family, etc. It was frightening because corporate office got involved, but it simply boiled down to being misinformed of when to use the method.

Being transparent with your superiors is something that can help you build trust with them. When I owned up to my error, my manager had told me that he appreciated my honesty; and although it does not change the fact of the matter, it demonstrates that he could trust me since we had an understanding of one another and expectations. If I had denied the entire situation, it would have been easy to document or fire me, because all management would have to do is review camera footage within the store confirm the order receipts within the shift’s time frame. It would have been a situation that spiraled out of control, when all that could have ended it was honesty. 

Honesty is a habit that everyone should follow, as it allows others to see and witness our example; that being said, I feel I have learned a valuable lesson for the future. I would apply this knowledge to those that I work with, by encouraging everyone to be transparent with their ideas, troubles, queries, etc.

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The Talking Stick

The Indian Talking Stick is a very powerful method in improving communication between two individuals, or even in a group setting, as it demands respect for the ‘talker’ and for the other person to listen with intent. More often than people are aware, twins have quarrels over the most trivial things; and being a twin myself, I can relate to wanting to feel heard, while trying to get my point of view across. 

The disagreement that had us both riled up was deciding on who would get to use the car the following night, as we both had separate plans to tend to. We begun in the common fashion of talking over each other, trying to prove the other person’s reasoning is less valid than our own for wanting the vehicle. Things were getting nowhere fast, but then we both remembered the talking stick method and decided why not see for ourselves if it really does help with communication and stubbornness. I had then grabbed the closest thing to me, which happened to be a straw; and to our surprise, as much as we both wanted to interrupt the other, we stayed composed and silent when it was our turn to listen. 

It was very interesting to witness how something as useless as a straw is outside of drinking something, can demonstrate these symbolic roles of being the speaker and listener, by simply holding said object. We both went from it being virtually impossible to understand one another, to respecting each other’s input to the conversation and giving each other ample time to be heard. 

When we agreed to give the straw the  power to enforce these conditions, it virtually showed us what to abide by, by acting as a law. The trust was built as the conversation progressed, that the other person would not interrupt or share their thoughts on the matter, until they had received the straw. It got to the point where we had forgotten about the straw and programmed ourselves to respect who is currently speaking, even without holding it. 

I believe that this is a method that can be used in the future. For example, if I were leading a group in a brainstorming session, even if there were no disagreements at hand, I would still utilize the talking stick method; the talking stick demands respect, and for those without it, it makes them become entranced in what the individual is saying, and enables them to thoroughly respond and evaluate the situation when it comes time for them to share. 

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A High Performing Team

After working at McDonald’s for about 5 years now, I have seen many individuals come and go. There are a handful of employees besides myself that are current crew members that have worked there for 3 years or more, and we are all scheduled to be on the weekend morning shift (7 am - 3 pm) because it is the most hectic service period. 

Working at McDonald’s for so long truly separates the experienced workers from those who have been there for about six months or less; which is about 50% of workers. I noticed a major difference is that most workers don’t have the ability to multitask and often get overwhelmed when attempting to take an order and package food simultaneously; it became second nature for the rest of us. This particular morning crew that I am apart of, consistently exceeds the sales quota for the breakfast and lunch periods; this is achieved because we first of all have a very high volume of customers visiting the establishment, and we also serve each order considerably below the time threshold (the max expected time to serve an order). Our synergy is the deciding factor in why we are so successful together; we often do not have to communicate with each other because we are all single-handedly managing our stations and aware of what tasks are prioritized at the time being. Generally, everyone is well organized, able to multitask and goal-oriented (achieving fast times). 

My contribution to the team would be my leadership role; because I am one of the more senior employees, people often come to me when they are experiencing difficulty, or have become preoccupied with another task. Although I am not a certified “Team Leader���, or manager, it is widely recognized by my fellow employees and superiors that I am capable of coordinating primary tasks at hand, as well as if I am scheduled to work with less experienced workers, then I am able to delegate what needs to be completed. If I were to narrow it down to one word, I would say the most important skill I currently bring is my organization. 

One aspect I would change about the team is that we should schedule one or two of the less-experienced employees, so that they can adapt to the craziness that is a weekend morning shift; this would give them the opportunity to polish their skills in a fast paced environment. Also, when I eventually depart from McDonald’s, it will be those workers filling my void; so I would also like to see them take on more of a leadership role in the workplace (ie: delegating tasks), as I begin to step away from the job. 

When there is a quarrel between two team members (which is a rare occurrence), I would follow the technique that my managers use, which is having the two members separated. If two quarreling members are on the same station, it will severely effect the productivity of the restaurant. Being apart will give team members enough time to reset and cool their minds, where they can then assess the situation afterwards.                                                                                                                       

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Followership Commitment

Being an effective follower can be just as important as taking on a leadership role, as long as you are proactive with what you are practicing. As a critical thinking follower, I want to strive towards becoming a more ‘effective’ critical thinker, rather than an ‘alienated’ critical thinker. If I tend to focus on setbacks rather than learning from my shortcomings, I will not develop my critical thinking skills in a positive manner; sometimes it is our strengths and what we did well that we forget to focus on, because the bad tends to bring us down more than the good raises our spirits. I will practice initiating opportunities, allowing for myself to display and grow my capabilities as an individual and as a team member. If I am given the opportunity to display what I can do, in return, what I have to offer can also help those around me grow – everyone can learn a thing or two from one another.

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My Top 5 Leadership Strengths

Upon completing the Clifton Strengths, “Strength Finder Test”, I was told what leadership strengths were most suitable for myself:  

1. Empathy - Relationship Building: I am gifted in sensing the feelings of others, and find it easy to put myself in their situation. This is a skill that I could see myself utilizing while in the workplace environment, where new hires are common in my current establishment. I.e.: An employee struggling with a task, so I decide to help them out.

2. Consistency - Executing: I treat every individual as an equal, and essentially crave structure in my life; ie: a set of rules and routines that I follow on a daily basis. I have used this role in the past; and it was because nobody in my house liked to do the dishes. So, because I got annoyed of having to pick up the slack of others, I took lead and made a calendar that would delegate who does the dishes on what day; and made it so that it was the same person for the same day each week - making it easy to remember.

3. Harmony - Relationship Building: Conflict is something I do not experience a thrill from; I much prefer a calm, relaxed environment where others cooperate and act cordially. I.e.: I have never been one to gossip about others; I would not like it if someone spoke ill about me, so I tend to stay clear from people trying to shed negative light into my life; even when I do not know the other individual in most scenarios.

4. Arranger - Executing: I prefer organization, but I can also be a flexible individual depending on the circumstance. Being an ‘arranger’ also means that I enjoy determining how to maximize productivity. I.e.: I will almost always have a separate binder for each of my subjects, because it tends to make me anxious with all of the clutter and feeling like I could lose something.

5. Developer - Relationship Building: I take notice of other individuals’ strengths and help them harness their potential, eventually having them make a break through, which gives me satisfaction from watching them blossom. I.e.: Tutoring an individual in a subject that I am particularly strong in and helping them understand the key concepts of the subject matter; eventually helping them fully grasp the content and achieving a good grade.

In relation to my empathetic leadership skill, the following is a story about displaying that trait of mine:

I work part time at a McDonald’s, and I find that during the night shifts (11pm-7am) that I often work, there is at least one new employee on every other shift because of the company’s extreme turnover rate. The night shift is the worst when it comes to how few employees are scheduled due to the amount of sick calls, combined with the number of customers that turnout for the overnight shift, it just makes for a horrible experience.

The new employee was already working their second overnight, after only being hired for less than a week, and the amount of stress they were undergoing was clear from their facial expression and body language - they had forgotten to stock up their station. There was then a floodgate of orders, and the expected time to serve them off was approximately 15 minutes; and I know just how impatient McDonald’s customers are. There would often be a customer shouting at us with obscenities, making the environment extremely toxic. Even though this is something that all of us workers had to learn from the hard way, I took it upon myself to help my new colleague, even though I was already jam-packed with my role as it was; and we ended up clearing the lineup in no time because I was delegating to the rest of the crew as to what we needed. I knew how it felt to feel like you are only a burden to your team and I did not want them to feel as if they are useless. I knew how destructive the mindset of believing you are useless could be in the workplace; you would dread going in for every shift; in my case, when I was new, I resorted to repeatedly calling in and faking sick because of the trauma. And even though learning from those hard situations gave me the skills to deal with such tense situations and made me who I am today, I do not believe that everyone should suffer the same, harsh fate.

Although I already hold these core values of mine dear to me, I learned that compassion goes a far way. When someone is down, sometimes the only thing that can help them is another person. I related to my colleague by asking myself if I liked it when my co-workers let me struggle, because “It was apart of the job”; once I knew the answer was “no”, I knew I had to act swiftly.

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Taking Leadership

It was my third year at Sheridan College in the Fall semester of last year and I was taking a class called Marketing Management 1; it was a class that was a year long, so I had to take the following class, Marketing Management 2 in the Winter semester as well. It was not a very difficult class, pretty standard for the most part; but what made it difficult for me personally was the 28 week project we had to complete. The project was set up so that we had to approach potential clients and ask if they would like to receive a free company analysis by my fellow student colleagues; the major selling point would be that we were conducting a review for free, that would otherwise cost thousands of dollars.  

We eventually decided on a restaurant close in vicinity to Sheridan’s Hazel McCallion Campus, called Union Burger. Everyone was excited for this new challenge because it was so unique compared to every other project we have been assigned in previous classes. However, upon deciding what company we would select, we had all forgotten the fact that we were to personally visit the establishment and meet with the owner to see if they would like to have a review conducted. Everyone had cold feet. Our professor had told us that within 2 weeks time, he wants to have a confirmation of who we are working alongside. 

Fast forward 13 days, it’s the day before our class and the confirmation of what business we are conducting the review on is due in less than 24 hours and everyone in my group had cold feet, all five of us - including me. We were all shy people, so putting ourselves out there was difficult for us; especially because we were only students and were afraid to be told “No”. So, even going against my instincts telling me to wait just a little longer until somebody else had cracked and decided to take one for the team, I decided it would be a good experience to learn and grow from and took charge. 

I arrived at the establishment and with a stroke of luck, caught the owner in the shop right before he was supposed to leave for a meeting elsewhere; luck was on my side. We spoke for about 15 minutes and to my surprise, he had took a liking to the idea - mostly he said because he would be saving money; but he also appreciated the fact that students took interest in his business and gave us the go ahead. It sounds cliché, but from that point on, I had definitely learned that I can do whatever I put my mind to; and to be put forth your best effort, even when it feels like the odds are stacked against you. It was something that I was proud to have decided to do, and it was a valuable, real life business experience that I could not have done unless I found that ounce of courage I needed to do it. 

As of now, my top leadership strengths would include: the ability to create emotional connections because I have always been good at making friends and having people open up to me, persistence because no matter how hard I find something, I’ll seek help and try to get the job finished properly and to the best of my ability, having an open mind, by welcoming the ideas of others and not prioritizing my own, as if I have a superiority complex, and lastly, having awareness and insight into myself, by always knowing that there is room for improvement for every individual. One example in regards to having an open mind would be working in a group setting at school. Often, people become set on one way of looking at things and decide that, that action is better than any other possibility, almost like tunnel vision, even before hearing another opinion because they just want to get it done.      

Out of all the characteristics from great leaders that I could possibly desire, it would be their self-confidence. A leader is someone who is supposed to act deliberately and make decisions appropriately, in which their confidence is the force driving their actions. When you are taking lead on a project and display a certain level of enthusiasm and confidence, the people working alongside you will more than likely feed off the energy that you are putting out; and it would give a morale boost to those you are working with, while creating a healthy working environment - one with synergy.