M9 Gautam

1) It was a tough decision to choose one supervisor who motivated me because I had two leaders who inspired me too improve, as a workers and person. The most current of the two is a former store manager at Walmart here in Fairbanks, now the GM at Cold Spot, “Timbo.” Timbo was a guest speaker in my International Business class last semester so I thought too write about some of the traits he demonstrated as my former boss. Timbo was very people first oriented, the customers and associates come before the bottom line, which is why he doesn’t work at Walmart anymore. As a manager, Timbo lead by example. The former store manager came from the humbling bottom of the store position ranks, dedication to hard work and adaptability allowed his ascension. He recognized it took a team to get him where he is and where the store needs to be so we were treated like a team. Working for Timbo felt like working with him, as Hawthorne improved productivity by giving a voice to the employees, Timbo listened to feedback and genuinely cared. Empathy and understanding are two of the many ingredient in elevating moral. Bosses are everywhere, but leaders like Timbo are hard to find. I took a couple traits from him and I even improved a couple others with him influence. It was a pleasure, if I owned a dog I’d visit him more.

2) This was also a tough decision because there are so many. Sometimes I learn from other peoples mistakes, even if they don’t think it is a mistake. I can stick with Walmart for this part too. Some bosses rule by fear and demands instead of respect and teamwork, using their position to demonstrate the negativity of egoism. This particular former Co-manager and I butted heads a lot, most because his demands involved self-interest and lack of knowledge. As the front end manager my style focused on the customer and front end employees, while he focused on himself. A know it all of all trades, he wouldn’t except input and made changes to plans that we constantly corrected later. He was unapproachable and many avoided prolong interactions with him. I learned from him the results of not treating others with respect, unaware narcissist isn’t ideal for moral building. He ones overestimated his perceived retail power, approving something only state law power can do, and after he fired me for me calling out his mistake. After he approved an expired state license he was let go because it wasn’t a store policy he broke, it was a law. I became a lead at Lowes where I continued to practice customer service and he moved to Florida. That full story taught me to never give up my ethics, it did cost me a job but stuck to my job instead of compromising. I learn from the ghost of supervisors past, even the bad ones.