Rowitz On Leadership

One of the functions of a leader is to create a vision for the organization which he or she runs.  Not only must a vision be created, Kouzes and Posner argued that the leader needs to inspire a shared vision within the organization.  With this short background, I wish to tell a story about an international beverage company with shops all around the world.    Each shop has a manager with responsibility for living the vision of the organization, inspiring the staff of the shop to believe in the vision, and to provide high quality service.   At the top of the organization is a leader who believes that the organization needs to provide  high quality products, great customer service, and a respect for its employees.    Leader X created a vision for the overall organization built on these three dimensions.   He and his executive team has made sure that the beverages sold by the shop are varied and of high quality.    The cost of these products were reasonable and responsive to customer concerns.   Staff were encouraged to provide excellent customer service in an optimistic way.   For employees, health insurance is provided without cost after three months. All staff are trained and given training on a regular basis.  In addition tuition is provided to employees who wish to continue their education.   A young woman was hired by an assistant store manager on a part time basis in 2013.  She worked in the store for several months.   The store manager and the assistant manager had a falling out and the assistant transferred to another store.  The store manager criticized store employees on a regular basis.  She punished staff by cutting their hours.  She complained about employees to other employees and to her District manager.   She complained specifically about employees hired by her ex-assistant manager.  The young woman hired in 2013 decided she wished to return to school.   The manager started to criticize the woman on a daily basis.   She first cut the woman’s hours and then stop scheduling her completely.   The young woman quit.

Although the organization had a mechanism to reward the work of employees, the store manager did not live the vision of Leader X.   Vision need to permeate an organization and be supported at all levels of the organization.    I checked other stores and found store managers who also did not live the vision of Leader X.   Articles have appeared in local newspapers where employees have complained to the central office.. Resolution of these complaints have been invisible.  This story provides a scenario that needs to be a concern to the leadership of an organization.   Mechanisms need to be created to address these issues and provide meaningful  resolution.  Vision needs to be a part of the mind-set of each and every employee.