Being a Balanced Leader: A Leadership Fable

By Jason Phoenix

In Being a Balanced Leader, Jason Phoenix offers a leadership fable aimed at captivating the audience through relatable characters and a realistic story, while teaching a valuable lesson on how to be leader.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9781543961249

Book preview

The Backstory

SPPSD

Stow-Pick-Pack-Ship Distribution (SPPSD) wasn’t the most creative group when it came to naming their company, but they were very efficient at running the business. From the onset, SPPSD knew they needed a simple process, so they invested a lot in the development of operations. The goal was to create a process easy to train, use, manage and grow. SPPSD brought in experts on Lean, Six Sigma, Operations and Management to hone the process which has made them one of the largest competitors, in the industry, today. This efficient methodology, from start to finish, is standard across each one of SPPSD’s 18 Fulfillment Centers. The only physical difference, between each Fulfillment Center (FC), is the inventory contained within the building. SPPSD had a system specifically tailored to achieve success. With such a controlled process in place, the only variable affecting performance, at each FC, is labor.

Every FC was primarily broken into two groups, Engineering and Operations. Engineering is staffed 24x7 and is responsible for preventative and reactive maintenance on all equipment. Operations runs 24x6 through four 12 hour shifts. Each shift runs from 6:00 to 6:00 on a schedule of Sunday through Tuesday or Wednesday through Friday.

Each Operational shift can have as many as 900 active hourly employees. The hourly employees are managed by hourly Leads who report directly to the Department Supervisor. The Department Supervisors, in turn, report to the Operations Manager, who is responsible for ensuring the building is performing at or above expectations.

SPPSD’s largest Pick and Pack FC was located in Las Vegas, NV. Situated just twenty minutes south of the famous Las Vegas strip was a 1.2 million square foot warehouse with thirty four dock doors. Full trailers were positioned into one of sixteen dock doors, where the Receiving Department would get to work on unloading the inventory. Receiving was responsible for opening, separating and organizing the inventory before passing it to the Stow Department, where each item was placed on a pallet, drawer or shelf in the warehouse. As orders come through the computer systems, the Pick Department begins grabbing various items, as they pop up on their screens. The items are then placed in a plastic bin until the order is fulfilled and then swiftly conveyed to the Pack Department. The Pack Department is responsible for ensuring each order’s items are undamaged before placing the items in a box, with the appropriate amount of packing materials, and confirming each box is sealed shut. Each box is then fastened with a shipping label before following the conveyors to the Shipping Department. The box will then be placed in a trailer, docked in one of the sixteen available shipping doors, before heading to its final destination.

SPPSD’s Las Vegas FC had been performing well since it opened 2 years ago. As a result of the FC’s success, a lot of the management team had been positively reviewed, leading to promotions for some managers and hourly employees. As was customary at any SPPSD FC, the new management team was provided time for training before stepping up to become more familiar with their roles and each other. Three months after the old management team left, efficiency numbers for Las Vegas dropped. SPPSD had a phenomenal employee retention rate and most promotions came from within the company, so a lot of the senior leadership team was wondering what changed to cause the decline in efficiency. The truth behind the deterioration and the steps taken to achieve success, once again, were so simple, it took everyone by surprise.

Tony

Despite how hard he worked and how great his school’s reputation, Tony knew his Bachelors in Business Administration would not be enough to achieve his dreams. After a great internship and two years as a Supervisor at a large distribution center, Tony decided to go back to school. Upon completing his MBA, Tony hit the job search hard. He applied to dozens of positions each day and followed up on every application religiously. Although he had little experience, he felt confident his passion would be recognized and rewarded. After four tireless months of phone calls, interviews, call backs and rejections, Tony’s persistence finally paid off as he was presented with a job offer by SPPSD. Tony accepted a position, Wednesday to Friday Nights, as the Outgoing Operations Manager, in their brand new Las Vegas FC. Tony wasn’t thrilled with the hours, but he knew this was the opportunity he had been looking for.

Each of the four shifts had two Operations Managers. The Incoming Operations Manager was responsible for the Receive and Stow Departments. The Outgoing Operations Manager was responsible for the Pick, Pack and Ship Departments. Many of the new Supervisors and Managers came from other FC’s, but a large portion of the Management team were outside hires, like Tony. Tony met his boss, his peers and the Senior Management team during orientation. He was impressed with the amount of talent around the room and could immediately tell he picked the right job and the right company. Beginning to feel at ease with his peers and managers, Tony was looking forward to getting started with his new team.

Ultimately, Tony was responsible for all of the hourly Pickers, Packers, Shippers and Leads on his shift, but Tony’s three direct reports consisted of a Pack Supervisor, Pick Supervisor and Shipping Supervisor. Tony figured the key to his success rested with his three direct reports. Luckily, Tony and his new team hit it off from day one. From the moment the building opened and throughout the next two years, Tony’s team was running full throttle. He knew he could depend on each one of his supervisors to exceed expectations which allowed him to take on and complete every project thrown his way. Between his team’s success and his own project work Tony looked like a great Operations Manager, but Tony took his team’s performance for granted and never dove into what made each member of his team successful.

As his two year anniversary approached, Tony thought it was finally time to step up to the next role. Tony sat down with the Senior Management Team to discuss his annual review. While the Senior Team was impressed with his performance over the last two years, they insisted Tony show he could do it again, with a different team, before moving to the next level. Tony was then informed that he would be moved to the Wednesday through Friday, Day Shift, Outgoing Operations Manager. Tony would start on his new B-Shift after his planned, week long, vacation.

At first, Tony was thrilled to get on a shift with better hours. As he continued to reflect on the events through his vacation, Tony began to become anxious. Tony was worried about how he would perform with a different team. Then Tony worried about getting a bad team. Finally, Tony pushed through his reservations and decided he would work hard and find a way to succeed so he could achieve the next step in his career.

Matthew

Matthew methodically walked to each packing station; spending a few minutes reviewing each member of his team. He was diligent in verifying every packer wore gloves and followed the appropriate procedures. He checked in on his lowest performers, offering them additional guidance and tips to help improve their packing rates. His strongest performers were profusely thanked and questioned on their secrets to beast mode. Where Matthew spent most of his time, though, was with his average performers. Matthew knew his greatest potential lied in the majority of his team, the average performers.

Matthew smiled as he thought back to 6 years ago, when he started with SPPSD as a packer. 18 years old, fresh out of high school, with no real dreams and happy enough to get his first job, Matthew was the most average packer on the line. After his first 90 days, his supervisor pulled him aside for a review. Matthew was unprepared for what happened next.

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself? asked his Supervisor.

What does that have to do with my review? Matthew inquired.

Nothing. I just want to gain a better understanding of why you come to work.

I come to work for a paycheck, just like everyone else. Matthew was starting to get irritated and felt like he was being judged.

We all need the paycheck to survive, but you have the option to work in a lot of different places for about the same paycheck, so what makes you stay here? Or, to put this in a different way, how can I incentivize you to stay here?

Matthew was confused. Why was it suddenly important, 90 days into his first job, for this supervisor to have him stay here? Matthew wasn’t sure what to say, which made him default to his sarcastic mode.

More money is always helpful.

Sure, more money helps all of us, but we can’t just give it out. After all, we are trying to run a profitable business. Let’s say, for just a moment, you make the same amount of money at every place you accepted an offer. What could we offer you to make you a loyal employee willing to stick with us for the long haul?

How about a promotion? Matthew meant it as a pointed joke.

I would love to give you a promotion, but we’d have to work together and prove you earned it, for the leadership team to buy in. Are you prepared to work with me on this?

Matthew was beside himself. Why did this supervisor, who only knew him for 90 days, have the faith to work with him toward advancement? Why is he even thinking about this right now? Matthew was perfectly happy doing average work and collecting a weekly paycheck. Suddenly he found himself at a crossroads and he wasn’t sure what to say next. Matthew was trying to formulate something to say, when the supervisor spoke again.

"Before you answer, let me give you some time to think about it. I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m talking to you about all of this. Today is your 90th day with SPPSD. Your packing rates have been the exact average since you started. During the slow season we have about 30 packers on the line and during busy season, we have over 100 packers on the line. Let me give you some insight on how I see our pack team. Twenty percent of our team are top performers. It’s important for me to thank them for their work and find ways to show my appreciation for how much they contribute. This is why you see our best packers doing the support labor, such as refilling boxes at the pack station, applying shipping labels and acting as mentors for new hires. They have earned the right to change things up and rotate. Twenty percent of our team are bottom performers. I do my best to check in with each person and provide them with the support and guidance to improve, but reality is that most of them will not maintain good enough rates to keep the job for very long. This leaves us with the remaining 60% of our team. The average performers. You for example, pack 83 boxes per hour. The expected