Leadership Paper: Sears Services, Inc. (SLS)

Sears plays a major role in making sure the company's managers are well-informed in leadership skills and management techniques, but also in concepts that help to drive overall culture. They are taught techniques that make them key players in the game of change, and that make them sensitive to employee needs along the way. To encourage behaviors that drive results, meet goals and focus what is right in the most effective way, there are six leadership principals for all Sear associates. These principals reflect Sear's direction while they focus on value and qualities of leadership.

Whether an associate works for Sears, a subsidiary such as Sears Services, Inc. (SLS), or a Sears's business like the great indoors leadership principals apply to every associate and individual person within the company. Sears leadership principals are customer focus, change management, drive for results, teamwork, performance management, and diversity inclusiveness.

Integrity is important to each of the leadership principals and necessary part of doing business everyday.

English: An example of an automated online assista...

Sears & Roebuck founder Richard W. Sears spent his...

English: Ventura Customer Service Centre

Although integrity stands on its own as a separate leadership principal, ethical business practices are essential. Some of Sear's corporate priorities are to maintain focus on four approaches such as drive profitable revenue growth, be truly customer centric, be a diverse, high performance team, and relentlessly pursue improvement in productivity. In achieving these results Sear's associates must take ownership for their behaviors and performance in order for Sears to be successful in achieving its overall goals. "Leading covers topics like motivation, groups, conflict, and change, leaders fill many roles" (Gary Dressler, 2003, p.168)

In 1992 Wal-Mart surpassed Sears as the nation's top retailer. That's the year sears named Arthur Martinez, as Chief Executive Officer of the merchandise group. His job was to change Sears' organizational thinking, he had to gradually change employee thinking away from an old...