I think there is a lot to say about a huge company that still takes the time to really consider the ideas and concerns of all of their employees, from the corporate leaders to the hourly new-hires. The company I work for is certainly one that does it’s very best to really listen and encourage the leaders of the company to reach out and not be just the name at the bottom of an e-mail. I started this job at the same time as this semester began, and I have found so many wonderful parallels, it has really been very interesting.
From the first week I was there, we had Directors, CEO’s, and other notable people in the company stop in, just to say hi. That honestly impressed me enough, I am not too hard to please, but a week later, I was walking around our atrium on my break and one of the Directors who was walking out of a meeting started walking with me and inquiring about the new hire process. He spent the entirety of my break just asking my opinion, and what I thought could be improved, or added to the program. Not only did I go back to training feeling like I wasn’t just a lowly trainee, but a few days later, my instructor asked me to attend a meeting and expand upon the ideas I shared with the Director. He had not only remembered what I said but he had brought it up to other people who can really make things happen.
This is not the first time in the short six weeks that I have worked here that myself or others in my training class have been approached by leaders in our organization. Sometimes its to ask our opinion, and other times, they just sit and have lunch with us, or play ping-pong (for some reason everyone is obsessed with ping-pong). While it seemed odd to me at first, the sociability that the leaders show really helps create a welcoming and comfortable environment. Northouse (2016) speaks about the importance of sociability in his chapter about the trait approach, “Social leaders have good interpersonal skills and create cooperative relationships with their followers” (p.26). The idea comes up again in the skills approach, mentioning the value in really understanding your followers and what motivates them (Nothouse, 2016, p.50). No matter which theory you subscribe to, it seems to me that being social and approachable is a very good skill to have as a leader. I know it has really shaped my perception of the company I work for and has positively impacted my experience and satisfaction working for the company.
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice. Seventh Edition. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications