My cousin Randall wrote an essay for his Leadership class about Baskin Robbins

My cousin Randall had an assignment in his leadership class where he had to write an essay about initiative. He decided to use his experience working at Baskin Robbins for this. Here it is:

quote:

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Randall M********
Leadership I
October 10, 2015

Using A New Set of Wheels for Initiative

Motivation is the best way to take initiative. In order to take meaningful action, you have to have the proper reason to do so to generate the drive to reach the goal. For me, it was easy. I’ve got the drive inside of me. And that word “drive” has double meaning. I have the drive, to drive. It’s in my soul. And I know my place is behind that wheel, rolling down the street, while jamming to my favorite tunes. I am going to make it to the top and turn that drive into an initiative, to make it a reality.

Ever since I was a kid, I have dreamed of the day I could finally drive. Cars are my passion. And now that I have turned 16, I have finally reached the age in which I can make my dream come true. The problem? I don’t have a car. Unfortunately, cars are not free. They are a major purchase in which money has to be saved up for, especially for a 16 year old like me. The only way I am getting a car is to save up money to buy one. Money doesn’t grow on trees. I have to work. I have to get a job.

For a 16 year old, a job can be intimidating. When one thinks of work, they think of a grown adult in a suit and tie carrying a briefcase to a downtown highrise and sitting at a desk crunching numbers for their boss. For a 16 year old, it’s not so cookie cutter. The type of jobs available for a 16 year old are much more blue collar. Flipping burgers, taking out the trash, sweeping and mopping floors, and other tasks that are not glamorous. But for me, the desire to get my own set of wheels was enough to give me the peace of mind to settle for such unglamorous tasks. I will do anything for my own ride.

One day my cousin ****** and I set out and went to all kinds of places where a 16 year old’s labor would be utilized. Hardware stores, grocery stores, and fast food joints. We dropped off applications, and even had on the spot interviews at some places. There was one place I had an on the spot interview at which stood out. That place was Baskin Robbins. They offered me the job. After a day of deliberation, I accepted the position at Baskin Robbins.

Working at Baskin Robbins is not glamorous. It’s not exciting. It’s not difficult. But it’s a job, and each hour I work at 31 flavors, I get that much closer to realizing my dream of rolling in my own set of wheels with my homies jamming out to my favorite tunes. Whenever I am not complacent at work, get bored, or get frustrated, I stop, breathe, and count to 3. It's a good technique to use if someone ever steps on your pizza, or in this case, something at Baskin-Robbins causes you to stress out. I imagine a car in my mind, and that relaxes me. It calms me down.

Some of my co-workers and managers show initiative. Others do not. My main manager Ryan shows initiative by running the place in a responsible manner. He makes sure everything is set in place to operate at peak capacity. My other manager, Trini, does not show the same initiative. The restaurant does not operate as efficiently when she is on duty because she gets complacent and lazy. Her boyfriend named "Sweet Tart" (I hope that is a nickname) comes in all the time and argues with her about money and yells at her to where customers can hear it even though it is in the office behind the scenes. I think Trini needs to show initiative and break up with him so she can perform her job as a manager better.

Then you have my co-worker Char’Kethia. Char’Kethia shows initiative in a negative manner. Not all initiative is positive. Her initiative is going to get her fired, as all she does is text in front of customers, give out free ice cream to her friends, and treat customers with little respect. If anything, her initiative needs to be to go back to grade school and take English classes because the brand of English she speaks is a travesty to the language. A customer asked for a certain flavor of Ice Cream that we ran out of and her response was “We ain’t got no mo’ of dat flava”. Another customer asked if we had any products that were lactose-intolerant friendly and Char’Kethia responded “I ain’t know wut j00 be talkin ‘bout”.

My co-worker J’Wallus is the opposite of Char’Kethia. He is showing initiative that will help him in the long run. He is taking classes at Northlake while working at the store. He is responsible, polite, and respectful. He grew up in a bad situation and says he works hard and goes to school so he can live a life separate than what he grew up in. J'Wallus lost a brother and two cousins to a drive by shooting 13 years ago. He is using a rough upbringing as his initiative to better himself. Char’Kethia could learn a lesson or to from J’Wallus.

Lastly you have my co-worker Austin. While Char’Kethia has negative initiative and J’Wallus has positive initiative, Austin shows what a lack of initiative will do for you. He is 25 and is still living at home. He says he only works so he can buy video games, anime and marijuana. Austin tries to learn Japanese watching anime, and uses broken Japanese to try and converse with customers which is always awkward. He always talks about moving to Japan to be a video game designer, but has never taken any classes for this to my knowledge. One day he will have to find some kind of initiative, because no way can you simply live at home, working at Baskin Robbins and playing video games/smoking marijuana all day. It is not a sustainable lifestyle for the long run.

Initiative is important in leadership because it is the first step to accomplishing whatever goal you want to accomplish. Without initiative, you can not be who you want to be or do what you want to do. My initiative is to work to save money to buy a car. J’Wallus’s initiative is to work hard and go to school to live a better life than he was raised in. Char’Kethia’s initiative is a negative. Austin’s initiative doesn’t exist. Initiative exists in many forms and its what you do with it that will determine success.

All I know is this – when I am sitting behind the wheel of my own ride, wheels spinning, foot on the pedal, music blasting, windows down and wind blowing through my hair, and the road infront of me, I will smile and remember it all started with the first step – showing an initiative to make it a reality.

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