Can someone give me advice on applying for leadership at my job?

Exceed expectations, always be professional, dress appropriately, be on time to work, let upper management know you are interested in a promotion when the timing is good if they are unaware.

Customer service in stores is lacking in many places in recent years. Remember that every time someone complains there were ten other people who were unhappy with the service and didn’t bother to tell you. They might never shop in your store again or tell ten friends their discontent with your store it worse post online. A complaint told to an employee gives the store an opportunity to improve; it’s valuable information. Let the customer know you’re glad they told you and see what you can do to resolve the issue.

@JLeslie Thank you. I have already told them I am interested and they are training me.

Different companies view things differently. But good companies want good leaders. So what does a good leader look like? Intelligent, energetic, attentive to details, good people skills, and someone that takes initiative. You sound like you have at least a good start: you make a list of what needs to get done and then work with others to accomplish the goals. But go beyond that. It sounds like you are in a retail setting. So what do customers want? What are they not getting now? When you are at the register, don’t just ask the customer “Did you find everything okay?”. That is generic and when someone is at the cash register, it’s a little late to be asking if they need help finding stuff. Ask them instead, “How did we do today? Where could we improve?” That is actually asking for feedback on the store. Maybe you don’t pulse every customer…maybe it’s only every 5th or 10th customer. And have a piece of paper handy to write down their comments. At the end of the day, present the comments to the manager. Tell him what you did and give him the results. He can do what he likes with them…claim them as his own, throw them away, or take them to heart. What he does with the information is not your concern. It will, however, let him look at you a little differently. Someone that takes a little initiative, that wants the store to succeed, didn’t need the guidance to tell them to do it…someone that is a step above everyone else.

Another thought it to ask the person in the food chain above you how to do jobs they do. Show interest. Learn their job as best as you can. Then when they go on vacation or are sick, you can fill in and show your leadership abilities.

Never forget…...lead by example. If you end up hiring people, hire the best for the job, or the person who is the best at accepting training.

^Good answer. If you get to the place you are doing the hiring and firing, always try to hire people that would be willing to work to take your job.

We don’t ask if they found everything ok. But maybe I could start.

I personally hate the question did you find everything ok. I had never heard that until I moved to Memphis, TN, and interestingly it was a Missouri based supermarket called Schnuck’s that I first was asked. The reason I say it’s interesting is because @seawulf575 lives in MO or a neighboring state. Eventually, I noticed other stores are doing it.

Here’s why I didn’t like it. In Memphis I left the supermarkets ALWAYS not finding everything. One time I wrote up a list of 20 items to see if they could get any of it, and they couldn’t get anything. Not one item.

We also had Kroger in the area. The buying in that store was so frustrating to me having been a buyer myself. I also left that store never finding everything. NEVER. They had three brands of evaporated milk and in all three skim or whole. Not one 2%. They had three brands of maple syrup all dark amber, no medium amber. Over and over again no variety in products, but I think they thought they had plenty of choice because they carried more than one brand? It made no sense. I did “complain” a few times, and actually three years of living there they started to carry the 2% evaporated milk, and I saw it was selling. Maybe they got a new buyer in that department.

In Memphis I either had to lie and say, “yes, thank you I found everything.” Or, say, “no, but I never do.”

In a busy store what are you going to do if the person says no at the cash register? Can you act to help them?

Can your store get an employee to take the time to go and find the item in an aisle (are you staffed for that) or try to see if your store can order the item. FOLLOW THROUGH is extremely important in customer service.

In Publix supermarkets they typically will special order for customers and are extremely efficient at it. I’ve had 4 different Publix in various parts of the state carry items just for me or start ordering items that became regular on the shelf because I requested it. The city I live in now, for the first time, the Public in this area suck at follow through. They don’t call back to say they couldn’t get something. I’ve been trying to get one item for a year and finally called Publix headquarters and the manufacturer of the item. I know they can get it, and it’s taking over a month now and nothing. It should take about two weeks.

The manufacturer already told me it’s ready to ship no problems. HQ did have a store call me to say they would order it. I called the store at three weeks and they told me these things can take a long time and told me some mumbo jumbo that did not ring true. Oh yeah, you never know who you are talking to so don’t lie. I was a buyer I’ve talked to the manufacturer! I think the store never did the order. If they did, they are not FOLLOWING UP with the distributor for lack of fulfillment, and not following up with me on the status.

Another tip, if a manager is focused on something, get that done ASAP or if you can’t, ask when they need it done by. You should prioritize tasks by what they are dwelling on. If a manager is obsessed with cleaning the counter after several customers, clean it.

It is somewhat a weird question to ask where I work, we are a gas station and 90% of the people who come in know what they want, and ask if they don’t see it. Also a lot of regulars as well.

I try to watch what my managers do and ask, sometimes they explain sometimes it’s a job only they can do.

@JLeslie I live in NC and they always ask if we found everything ok. I heard it when I lived in OH too. But after you have shopped, after you have waited in line at the cash register, and after half your stuff has been scanned, to get asked if you found everything is idiotic. But asking how they could improve would be much more applicable.

@SergeantQueen If you work in a gas station/mini mart, there are lots of things you can do to show you are ready for more responsibilities. Making sure things are clean and in good working order, greeting every customer that comes in with a pleasant attitude, etc are all ways to show you are engaged. As for asking your boss what they do, if they try telling you it is only things they can do, they might be 100% correct. It might be the job of a manager that the company doesn’t trust to lower level employees. But you can still ask and if you get that answer tell them you understand, but would still like to see it so you can get a better understanding of the business as a whole. Tell them eventually you’d like to move up and you think it would help.

@seawulf575 It sounds like they may be opening the job position next week or sometime soon. So I am already doing a lot of communication, they know my goal is to run my own store :)

@seawulf575 I assume your part of NC has Kroger. What else? Harris Teeter? Lowe’s supermarket? Living in NC I had a pretty terrible experience with supermarkets. There was so much expired and moldy food on shelves it was astonishing. TN was problematic also. I’ve never experienced anything nearly as bad in other states.

@JLeslie Harris Teeter is now part of Kroger. We don’t have actual Krogers, though. Lowe’s Foods, Harris Teeter, Food Lion, IGAs, Piggly Wiggly. The Pig is the one that you have to look at expiration dates closely….but they have the absolute best meats.