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Leadership Interview

Decent Essays

1. What is the most common type of change in the workplace?
2. How do you go about discussing change with employees?
3. How do you initiate change?
4. How do you use change to motivate employees?
5. How do acknowledge and reward people who succeed with dealing with change?
6. How do you personalize change?
7. Would you consider yourself a manager or a leader of change?

The first person I discussed the concept of change with in the workplace is Michaela, our new apparel lead. I was excited to interview Michaela because she has experienced many changes during her time at Dicks Sporting Goods. Michaela was hired about two years ago as a cashier. After about three months as a cashier she was promoted to a Customer Service Specialist. …show more content…

This position change was a slight promotion but was lateral when it comes to power and responsibility when compared to a “CSS.” After about a year working as the Nike Rep, Michaela was promoted to Apparel Lead. This was a significant jump in responsibility and stature. As apparel lead she sits right below the department managers an is in an important leadership position. Therefore, I believe she was a great person to discuss change with in the workplace. My overall impression from her was that change should be embraced and not feared. Michaela clearly works hard and has quickly risen through the ranks. Change is a good thing and brings about new, better opportunities. Obviously, she has benefitted greatly from working hard and embracing change. Since she is a leadership position I also discussed with her how she handles change with personnel throughout her department. She acknowledged there is a great deal of turnover within her department, but she doesn’t feel that is a negative. She talked about how with every new hire she tries to understand them on a personal level and create a relationship with them. This relationship allows her to better communicate with them and understand them. She can then put them in the best spot to succeed and help them deal with any …show more content…

MaryAnn is somebody who has been employed at Dicks Sporting Goods for just under twenty years and is one the longest tenured workers in the store. For reference, MaryAnn said she was hired in February of 1998…I was born in August of 1997. Therefore, MaryAnn has been at Dicks nearly as long as I’ve been alive. There are many associates in the store that were born after MaryAnn got hired at Dicks Sporting Goods. I asked MaryAnn what some of the greatest changes she has seen during her extensive tenure. She said technological changes, and increased expectations that come along with them, have been the greatest changes she has seen. I asked her how she has been able to adapt to these changes. MaryAnn acknowledged that she isn’t the biggest fan of change. She said she has had no choice but to adapt to change throughout her tenure, believing she would not be able to succeed had she stuck to her “old ways.” MaryAnn said that not all change she has seen seems to be beneficial. As the company has grown, MaryAnn said corporate and upper management doesn’t seem to care about employees needs and desires as well as they used to. She said corporate has lost touch with the employees working in the retail locations. She said the focuses has shifted from simply generating sales and worrying about customer satisfaction, to worrying about generating credit card applications from customers and worrying about the

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