M4 What Makes an Effective Leader?

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Leadership Interview

Schaterika Matthews

Baker College

Professor Rebecca Herman

February 6, 2022

I was fortunate enough to have the chance to speak with Deborah McDonnell, the general manager of a Kroger store in Dayton, Ohio, during a recent interview. For the last five years, Mrs. MacDonnell has served as general manager at this location, and she has done for The Kroger Corporation for the previous nine years. In addition to a bachelor's degree in communications, Mrs. MacDonnell has a master's degree in business administration. She has had enough opportunities to hone her leadership abilities during her tenure as general manager.

Mrs. MacDonnell has seen both highs and lows throughout her time with The Kroger Corporation, but she has persevered through it all. Now that she is the general manager, she is being considered for advancements to the district manager position. Her leadership talents and the support of her colleagues have enabled her to become the successful businesswoman she is today.

Mrs. MacDonnell was chosen due to his significant expertise and well-known dedication to high standards of performance. As a result of our regular interactions, I was confident that his responses and opinions would be honest and forthright, and he did not disappoint. Mrs. MacDonnell had showed actions and how her leadership has matured through time were essential to me to comprehend and talk about her leadership philosophy.

I asked a few questions about successful leadership to Mrs. MacDonnell, and she answered very generously and flawlessly about leadership. Since all leaders must show no one set of characteristics for leadership to be effective, it isn't easy to define. On the other hand, it does need that one to be capable of everyday life and deaths listening, create connections to make sure that the appropriate people do the right thing at just the right moment, and constantly make business choices that benefit firm workers and customers. Even though some individuals seem to be born leaders, it takes a great deal of time and effort to get the ability to deal with a variety of people and personalities that you can't anticipate. Many leaders lack the qualities of humility, empathy, and compassion essential for them to have the kind of impact they want to have on their organizations and the communities in which they live. The leadership she gained with time came from being successful. I needed to be charming, good in front of an audience, and fast. This experience taught me to be excited, improve my speaking abilities, and not feel rushed in the future. So long as a decision must be made quickly, I am confident that my team can supply me with the facts I need. How successful she is in a certain situation comes from her habit to think about the day's events and consider what may have been done better. The ability to examine how emotions influenced my judgments is vital to me. With my interests as a weakness, it's critical to act on knowledge, others' insights, and what is best for everyone, not just people.

She recognizes prospective leaders by monitoring how they explain their stance, studying their thinking process for sophisticated decision-making abilities, evaluating their capacity to think outside the box, and witnessing how their peers react to them as leaders. Some people seek leadership positions even when they lack the necessary abilities or are unwilling to take responsibility for their actions. Leadership is a process that might take some time and be fraught with danger. I have to agree with Simon Sinek, the most important trait of an effective leader is courage. (Sinek, 2020). So great advice I would give is to please do your best to surround yourself with positive influences, such as friends and family members who will serve as mentors and cheerleaders. Take care of yourself, keep learning about your field, and ensure that your primary aim is to have enthusiastic staff and devoted fan consumers.

One thing became very evident when working with Mrs. MacDonnell. She is expected to take the reins in a workplace that is both vibrant and fast-paced. Mrs. McDonnell’s personality is characterized by a high level of energy and speed; thus, this is a good match for her. When I talked with Mrs. Deborah MacDonnell, she was ecstatic to tell me about her leadership philosophy, which I found extremely interesting. Because of this, she has worked under a range of supervisors with various leadership styles since she started her first employment in 2007. To construct her leadership philosophy, she drew on the actions she had seen. Her work ethic involves motivating people to work hard, listening to all workers and getting to know each of them, and raising the next era of Kroger managers through the ranks. Mrs. MacDonnell wishes that all of her employees look up to her. She expects them to challenge themselves to accomplish more numerous and diverse things, whether for the business or their personal lives. As part of her commitment to building relationships with her staff, Mrs. MacDonnell listens to their tales and relates them to her own. Finally, as is the case with most managers, she aspires to train the next generation of Kroger executives.

Many objectives are set for Mrs. MacDonnell's store by the company's founder. Initially, she hopes to establish herself as the leading retailer in her area. For Mrs. MacDonnell to do this, she does not confine herself to her office for most of the day. She is out on the selling floor, mingling with her coworkers and assisting in each category, whether it is meat and seafood, flower, bakery, or Click List, to name a few. Another of her objectives is to increase the size of each of the divisions. Because of a shortage of available space, the Click List department at her shop, for instance, has one of the best groups of associates in the whole district. Still, its statistics suffer due to the lack of available space. With her aim to grow Click List in terms of length and the number of personnel working there, she will be able to create a more frictionless procedure for customers, translating into more sales income for the company. She participates in conference calls weekly to talk about shop growth. Mrs. MacDonnell is tenacious, even in the face of opposition from business.

Mrs. MacDonnell, the store's general manager, has to deal with all kinds of issues. As luck would have it, she had taken many dispute resolution classes throughout her bachelor's degree program in communications. She has used a wide range of conflict management techniques depending on her role. When she became general manager, she tended to favor compromise and cooperation. In her opinion, all parties to a quarrel, including those with little clout, should have a say. When it comes to issues or actions that directly impact employees on the "bottom tier," she firmly thinks they must have a role in how such issues or actions are resolved (Rosenbaum et al., 2018).

Debora MacDonnell must create trust as a leader if she is to be taken seriously. Otherwise, no one will pay attention to her. One way she does this, which I believe is uncommon in a person in her leadership position, is by acknowledging when she is wrong. She discovered via several training sessions that authoritative managers are not as trustworthy as those willing to confess when they are wrong (Sousa & Rocha, 2019). Because trust is the foundation upon which she has built her reputation, MacDonnell understands that she must be upfront and honest with her employees and business partners. She is continuing to establish trust by maintaining an open-door policy, both figuratively and practically. Mrs. MacDonnell always leaves the door to her office unlocked. This enables anybody to come in with whatever issues they may have, and it helps to create confidence.

Empowerment is one of the most important roles of leaders, so they are referred to as "lead"-ers (Iordanoglou, 2018). One cannot rise the next era of Kroger store managers unless one empowers others around them. The techniques she uses to empower her colleagues to include some of the abovementioned elements, such as being honest and open with her staff. She also gives kids the freedom to make their own choices. "When individuals make their own judgments, they have a greater sense of control over their job," she explains.

The most important thing I took away from my interaction and observations with Mrs. MacDonnell is that a leader must choose the leadership style and approach that is most appropriate for them and the circumstances in which they find themselves. She is a high-energy guy who exhibits a forward-thinking attitude while working with a group of highly skilled and driven colleagues (Sousa & Rocha, 2019). She has been very successful in effecting good change and demonstrating his advocates' traits. I cannot claim to be the same kind of leader as Mrs. MacDonnell since our lives have been fashioned by very different experiences, personalities, and motivations. My method would be more successful than Mrs. MacDonnell's, even though I would strive to achieve many of the same objectives as she did and would agree with his observations expressed during the interview. This interview has presented me with a fantastic chance to better understand the issues vital to the leadership management role; nevertheless, it is just one step in the more extensive process of developing my own leadership skill set and effectiveness.

Reference:

Iordanoglou, D. (2018). Future Trends in Leadership Development Practices and the Crucial Leadership Skills. Journal of Leadership, Accountability & Ethics, 15(2). http://www.digitalcommons.www.na-businesspress.com/JLAE/JLAE15-2/IordanoglouD_15_2.pdf

Rosenbaum, D., More, E., & Steane, P. (2018). Planned organisational change management: Forward to the past? An exploratory literature review. Journal of Organizational Change Management. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JOCM-06-2015-0089/full/html

Sinek, S. (2020). The Most Important Trait of a Leader [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swa34BiA_Xg

Sousa, M. J., & Rocha, Á. (2019). Leadership styles and skills developed through game-based learning. Journal of Business Research, 94, 360-366. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0148296318300572