Respond to at least two of your classmates' postings. Responses should be at least 100 words or more

Week one #2 discussion replies

Cherelle Johnson (students name)

Two points discussed in the video stood out to me.  The first is "being a leader is like being a parent." I could not agree more with that statement, a real leader is supposed to be a mentor and offer guidance.  Parenting is the same way, parents are supposed to educate, guide, and care for their children.  Simon discussed that the best way for groups of people to cooperate and show trust, is by creating the proper environment.  He discussed the "circle of trust" which is when there is an environment that protects one from the dangers of life that may cause a decrease in success.  The circle of trust is a great model to follow because every place of work should be somewhere where an employee is protected from any negative force that may cause a decrease in productivity or success.  Another key point that I took from the video was when Simon said "as a parent, would you lay off your child? so why do we lay off people?"  Obviously some employees do need to be let go if they are not reaching goals, but that should only be after all other options have been tried.  A good leader never gives up on their employees and should try their best to provide resources needed to help improve job performance.

I can see myself implementing these methods mentioned in the video.  I've been in leadership positions before and I always made sure to mentor and guide my peers.  I never gave up on them and made sure to exercise every resource available to help them improve.  I think that the workforce is constantly changing and certain methods in HR need to evolve as well.  I believe any manager or anyone is a leadership position will have a hard time building relationships with their team if they "cling to old-fashioned and inappropriately narrow views of management," (McConnell).  According to McConnel, the old-fashioned way of looking at employee related concerns will rely to heavily on HR to solve the problem, when it is actually the responsibility of the manager to be in charge of day-to-day employee concerns and always be proactively involved with employee issues.  HR should be used for advice and assistance, but NOT take on the full responsibility of daily employee concerns.

McConnell, C. R. (2021). Chapter 5 . In Human Resource Management in health care: Principles and practice (pp. 85–85). essay, Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Why good leaders make you feel safe | Simon Sinek – YouTube. (n.d.). Retrieved April 6, 2022, from 

Laura Ponce De Leon (students name)

Simon Sinek makes spot on observations and points in this Ted Talk. One major takeaway he stated was his question, "Would you lay off your own family member?" Then he followed this question with an example of a company that guarantees that employees will not be let go due to performance issues. This concept is so important because the company removes the pressure of constantly fearing being let go. This removes stress and allows employees to actually perform better. In the case where an employee needs extra training, the company provides the training. By running a business with this concept, an employee is considered an asset. This remove the hassle of constantly rehiring people, when there are good employees already present within a company. If the workplace culture is to remove an employee that is struggling, then what tone does that give off to all the other employees? I did a search of companies with high retention, and all of companies that appeared are highly active in employee appreciation. One example is Carmax, "The recession in 2008 made for tough times for companies and their employees across the globe. But instead of saving money for the company by cutting employee benefits, perks, and recognition programs — and frankly, employees themselves with layoffs — CarMax decided to go in the exact opposite direction. During the 2008 recession, CarMax and its president and CEO Tom Folliard decided to invest more heavily in employee programs. CarMax boosted its employee training and development programs, helping existing employees earn raises and jump through the ranks of the company." (Li, 2020) Sephora is another company that didn't drop the ball during one of the most intensive lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. They provided paid benefits to employees, instead of doing a large layoff. 

As a future leader, I want to maximize employee moral. I know for a fact that happy employees who trust a company will promote a positive workplace. This will in return allow for a more productive environment. I want employees to be able to trust me, and to come to me with any workplace issues as I would be an advocate for them. I want employees to want to grow within a company, and feel that the workplace is not a place that is undesirable. 

Li, L. (2020). 10 companies with strong employee retention strategies you can learn from. TINYpulse. Retrieved April 6, 2022, from  

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