Q&A Hero

Question

The Nut House, a local retail store in a suburban mall, sold fresh roasted nuts, homemade potato chips, candies from all over the world and donuts. Elinor Smith, the owner, hired Lee, a new high school graduate, as summer help. Monday morning, the first day on the job, Lee said, "Oh Mrs. Smith, thank you so much for giving me a chance to work! And I love this store! My mom has used your chips and nuts for her women's group parties for years! I love those green ones. What are they called?" Mrs. Smith smiled, "Pistachios, Lee. Welcome to The Nut House. I am glad you are here. There is plenty of work to keep you busy. Let's start with cleaning the glass cases." The day went quickly as Mrs. Smith showed Lee how to clean glass display cases, how to sweep and mop the floors, how to care for the fryers and warming trays. Lee followed Mrs. Smith around and did what Mrs. Smith showed her to do, repeating her actions. If Lee did not do a task correctly, Mrs. Smith repeated the action until Lee got it right. They worked side by side, doing the same cleaning tasks, all day. When a customer came in, Mrs. Smith took care of the customer. Then Mrs. Smith and Lee resumed their cleaning. Tuesday, Mrs. Smith watched Lee clean the store. She commented as needed about a missed detail. She reminded Lee of the procedures, twice demonstrating part of the art of glass cleaning. She frequently complimented Lee for doing a task correctly, especially when Lee seemed bored and said, "This is way easy." Wednesday, Mrs. Smith announced, "Would you like to learn the cash register?" Lee gave her a grateful grin, and Mrs. Smith said, "Wash your hands, and stand right here next to me." Lee was much quicker at learning this task than she had been at glass cleaning. Mrs. Smith commented, "You certainly are good with numbers!" Lee grinned, "I am going to major in math in college." The day went easily. At closing time, Mrs. Smith asked, "Do you still have that nice big brown dog?" Lee nodded, "Danny! My finest friend." Mrs. Smith said, "Right. Danny. Stop next door at the butcher shop and pick up some good meat scraps for him. I already called Mr. Peralta to set some aside for you." On Friday, Mrs. Smith said to Lee, "I have seen you watching while I waited on customers. Are you ready to take care of a customer? Do you have any questions?" Lee had a few, and then Mrs. Smith said, "Good. Remember that each customer is THE most important customer. They deserve our respect, our attention, our service. We want them to come back because we took great care of them. So, do what you have seen me doing, and you will be fine. OK, the next person through the door is your first customer." Lee smiled in anticipation and fidgeted nervously. Soon the door jingled, and in walked Lee's customer. "Hi, Elinor, how are you today?" Mrs. Smith replied, "Just fine, Edna. Here is my new assistant, Lee, all ready to serve you." She nudged Lee toward the center of the display area. Lee looked at her shoes and mumbled, "Hi, Mom. What are you doing here?" Mrs. Winters, Lee's mom, replied in a friendly but business-like manner, "Buying nuts for the card party tonight. I ordered chips ahead. Are they ready? I'd also like a pound of cashews and a pound of mixed nuts." Lee scowled, "Huh? No pistachios?" Mrs. Smith elbowed Lee toward the shelf of ready orders, "Find the tin for Mrs. Winters." The two women chatted as Lee sullenly got her mother's order together. Lee rang up the sale, letting out a big annoyed sigh. Mrs. Winters said, "Thank you," and left the store. Mrs. Smith locked the front door and turned the sign to "BE BACK IN 15 MINUTES" before she gestured Lee to follow her to the back room. She handed Lee a soda, gestured to a seat, and said, "So, how did that go, your first customer?" Lee sulked, "That was MOM, not a customer." Mrs. Smith responded, "That was Mrs. Winters, one of my best customers. Lee, you will know a lot of people who come in this store. What if it's Mr. Legget, the neighbor you don't like? Or a friend of yours from school, Susan, or someone else you do like? Each customer deserves your respect, your attention, and your service. Answer my question, please. How did you do with your first customer?" Lee crumpled into a little pile and whined, "I did just awful. I wasn't glad to see her and she knew it. I forgot to ask her if she wanted anything else, or if she had noticed your new display, or, oh, I just treated her like Mom, I didn't even see a customer. I am just awful. Are you firing me? Maybe I should just quit. I didn't do anything right except ring up the sale. I am just hopeless." Lee buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Please refer to this scenario for the following question.
What should Mrs. Smith do next? Use situational leadership, transactional behaviors, and transformational answers in your discussion. Be specific and provide examples.