Shadowing a Leader
In the context of Ms. Iordanoglou’s Leadership and Emotional Intelligence workshop, we were assigned the job shadowing task in order to observe the behavior and the way a leader functions in his workplace.
The leader we chose was Ms. Christianna Evagelou, manager of Dixon South East (Kotsovolos) in Neo Iraklio. The main reason why we chose a retail store is because we are more familiar with this area, as most of us work in similar stores, but also the fact that the manager apart from her interaction with the employees is more in direct contact with the customers, which gave us the opportunity to observe how she responds to all areas of her work.
The Information Gathering Process was Carried out in 4 Stages.
First Stage-Interview
The interview took place in the employee break room and was aimed at getting to know our leader better. During the discussion, the difficulty of the leadership role was pointed out as it has many responsibilities, for example trying to coordinate the different employees with each other to work as a team to achieve the weekly goals of the store. In these difficulties, the balance comes through the achievement of goals, the rewards that follow, and the moral satisfaction when the whole team is happy with its performance. On this point, she emphasized her special characteristics of persuasion, efficiency, and dynamism. At the same time, regarding emotional intelligence and more specifically empathy, although she considers it a key characteristic, she stresses that a limit is necessary to not distance herself from the professional level and reach the point of it negatively affecting her work. However, she is also understanding toward dissatisfied customers. According to Ms. Evagelou, understanding combined with honesty is the secret to a satisfied customer. Finally, regarding the covid pandemic, one of the differences she noticed was negatively charged customers, which created tension during their service. However, the positive aspect it offered was new possibilities in the workplace, such as online work.
Body Language
Our observation during the interview is that while at the beginning she had a more closed posture with crossed arms, the interviewee became more relaxed and exuded further confidence as time went on. Her confidence and drive were also evident from the constant eye contact throughout the interview.
Second Stage-Comments
Looking closely at the interview, we observed that leadership is vital to directing, inspiring, and guiding a team toward achieving its goals. However, there are trials that a leader like Ms. Evangelou faces daily. More specifically, making important decisions that affect the team and achieving effective communication through which the leader encourages collaboration and communicates the expectations of the organization. A particular impression during the process of observation made us that Ms. Evagelou apart from the constant supervision and assistance to anyone who needed it, many times would move to different positions to reduce the pressure and assist in the team’s overall well-being. Thus, she was not merely encouraging, but actively helping where it was needed. Finally, we understood that the ideal leader is called upon to manage potential conflicts, aiming to resolve them by focusing on the team’s unity.
Third Stage-Meeting
Thinking about the term meeting, we consider that it refers to a process of a rigorous and intense style in which responsibilities are often assigned. In reality, it is a constructive discussion between the leader and team, in which various opinions and ideas are varied to better understand the common goals of the team. In particular, a presentation was held regarding positive and less positive results, the team was rewarded for its efforts and successful outcomes, while afterward, through discussion, various concerns and difficulties in the workplace were expressed.
Fourth Stage-Employees’ Views
After communicating with employees, we understood three dominant aspects of the leader-team relationship. First, the leader seems to motivate team members to continuously develop and expand their skills, which yields better results in the smooth functioning of the organization. Subsequently, the team considers the presence of a leader to be necessary to find a common code of communication to avoid strong disagreements that may damage the company’s image in the eyes of consumers. On the contrary, the employees expressed their desire to gain further intimacy with the leader to express their thoughts without hesitation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, leadership presence shapes the spirit and culture of the team. The leader’s contribution to an organization is vital as it ensures the creation of a work environment that promotes collaboration, growth, and the achievement of common goals. Based on the interview, the main characteristic that awakened us is the ability of the leader Ms. Evagelou to separate the emotional part from the work part, without losing her awareness. Furthermore, her ability to inspire the team to constantly strive, her immediate change of roles/positions to help practically, and the collective feeling of security she offered to the team with her presence cannot be overlooked.
We would like to sincerely express our gratitude to Ms. Evagelou and to our professor Ms. Iordanoglou (Dimitra Iordanoglou).
Our team EQvision: Karavlidi Angeliki, Karavolia Maria, Katsinou Konstantina, Kkamari Ilias, Xanthopoulou Elvira, Tsitourtzi Lyda, Chatzipantelidi Lilika
