Leadership Honors Experiential Learning Proposal Form
Basic Information
Full Name: Katy Feldman
UC Email: feldmake@mail.uc.edu
College: CECH
Major: Early Childhood Education
Title of Project:
Thematic Area: Leadership
Expected Project Start Date: June 3, 2014
Expected Project End Date: July 8, 2014
Project Information
1. Provide a detailed abstract of your proposed honors experiential learning project.
I have been employed with Chick-fil-A for the past three years and through hard work and excellent
guidance from my team members and the operator of my store, I was promoted to become a member
of the Leadership Team two years ago. When I was first approached for the position I had no idea I
was even being discussed as an upcoming leader by the leaders that I already looked up to, and I
certainly did not see myself in that position. They saw something in me that I did not yet see myself,
and I am so grateful that they offered me the position and that I had the courage to take it. These years
working with Chick-fil-A have easily been the time of my life where I have experienced the most
personal growth and better understanding of myself as a person, as a member of a team, and as a
leader. For these reasons I am excited to apply my knowledge and extend myself to gain new
knowledge through this project. I will be using Chick-fil-A’s model of Servant Leadership to explore
what it means to be a leader while also being part of the team and how this relates to our meeting our
daily goals.
I will be examining the difference between simply managing my team versus using the Servant
Leadership model through my work leading eight, eight-hour evening shifts (totaling 64 hours of
leadership for the project) over the period of approximately 6-7 weeks. I will begin by managing four
shifts where I will be in a position of making all of the decisions and maintaining my team members.
I will then lead four shifts where my primary focus will be not to maintain my team, but to develop
their abilities and allow them opportunities to demonstrate their leadership skills. For the first four
shifts I will be the only leader on my team, but for the last four weeks I will be working to serve my
team and allow them to develop as leaders. At the beginning of each of these shifts I will be
discussing two goals for the shift with my team. I will be deciding upon these goals based upon the
customer satisfaction and feedback received from the previous week’s shift. When the shift is
complete I will be giving my team members an anonymous survey (attached) to complete wherein
they will evaluate my leadership style and our ability to meet our goals as well as how these two are
related. The rest of my data will be derived from the actual results of our goals from each shift.
The remainder of the time requirement will be consumed with reflections after each of my shifts and
collection and analysis of data from these shifts.
Clearly and thoroughly address how each of the following elements will be exhibited in your work:
2. Connection to Learning Outcomes within the Leadership Theme
Has the ability to relate, communicate and work effectively with peers.
At its core, this project is designed to help me examine and evaluate my team member’s
responsiveness to my use of these two leadership styles. I have been working with Chick-fil-A for
three years and I have experienced and read about the Servant Leadership model and I have tried to
implement this on a daily basis when I go to work. This project will help me examine my peer’s
response to this style of leadership. I will evaluate their response based upon our ability to meet our
goals for each shift and the information that they present to me within each survey. One of the main
goals behind this project is to develop myself as a leader who relates, communicates and works
effectively with my team by serving and developing the members of my team.
Possesses knowledge of various leadership theories and identifies with the characteristics of
leadership.
This project is also an examination of two different leadership theories: managing my team and using
Servant Leadership. I have done research about these two theories and will be conducting further
research by implementing and experiencing them for myself. I will be trying to embody the
characteristics of these two styles as I conduct four shifts using each one which will help me to
develop my own leadership style based on my learning experiences.
3. Connection to Goals and Academic Theories (include reference list, as appropriate)
A. There is room for leadership in absolutely every aspect of the professional world.
Currently my work is with Chick-fil-A and my development as a leader through this
project with absolutely help me grow as a leader within this corporation as I will be
exploring their leadership model. However, I will not be an employee of Chick-fil-A for
the rest of my life. Learning how to be a leader by serving those around me will always
be applied in my professional life. In a little over one year I will be graduating from the
College of Education as an Early Childhood Educator. Being a teacher is dedicating
yourself to a lifetime of both leadership and service. I will be leading the students that I
will be teaching every second of every day of the school year. They will never not be
looking up to me as a role model and a leader in their life. However, because teaching is
passing on the knowledge that I have, I will also be serving my students. I will be
working with them to help them gain the understanding and knowledge that they need to
make it through school and to develop on a personal level. Exploring the model of
serving as a leader using Chick-fil-A as a guide and a resource for my development, this
project will allow me to develop a leadership model that I will be applying for the rest of
my life.
B. Theories of management vs. leadership will be central to this project. Some articles/
readings I will be using to research and prepare for this project include:
What is the Difference between Management and Leadership? Published by the Wall
Street Journal
Three Differences Between Managers and Leaders by Vineet Nayer, published by
Harvard Business Review
I will also be doing extensive research into theories of Servant Leadership using articles
and readings including:
Servant Leadership: A Phenomenological Study of Practices, Experiences,
Organizational Effectiveness, and Barriers by Amy R. Savage-Austin and
Andrew Honeycutt
The Understanding and Practice of Servant-Leadership by Larry C. Spears of The
Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership
What is Servant Leadership? Published by the Center for Servant Leadership
Eat More Chicken and Lead More People: Perceived Measures of Servant Leadership at
Chick-fil-A by Michael S. Mishler
I have decided to use these readings and articles for my research for many varied reasons.
Some of them have been published by quality companies with extensive opportunities for
research and many resources. One of these documents was a study completed using the
servant leadership model and specifically examining Chick-fil-A, making it a unique
point of view. Other articles include specific advice or information. I believe that all of
these resources will help me gain better understanding and feel confident going into my
project.
4. Initiative, Independence, and/or Creativity
All of the leaders who work with Chick-fil-A are encouraged to use the Servant Leadership model and
it is discussed regularly within my store. However, though we do try to use this theory and model it
daily, none of my team members on the leadership team have examined this theory in comparison to
any others, and we have never specifically assessed this model by determining how ti related to
meeting our goals. I am the only person on my leadership team who is doing any research into this
topic. In fact, while completing my research so far I have not seen very much information specifically
comparing and contrasting the implementation of these two methods by one person. Though the
theories are discussed and debated, I have not encountered any articles by someone who has actually
modeled them and written about what they found in comparing the two. I have demonstrated initiative
in the workplace as I am the only member of my team to perform any type of research or experiments
using different leadership theories or models.
5. Reflection
After each of the shifts that I work I will also fill out one of the surveys that I will be providing
for my team. After filling out the survey I will extend my reflection in the form of a typed
journal. Each day I will be using the questions from the survey [What went well, what was
frustrating, did we meet the goals – why or why not, did I help others meet their goals?] to extend
my thoughts and I will expand upon my answers in a journal. After I record my own reflection of
the shift I will then review the surveys returned by my team members. I will then sit down with
my journal again and reflect upon what I have read and understood from my team member’s
feedback. After this section of journaling I will then access the reports regarding customer
feedback or the data from my shifts to determine if we met the goals that I set for our shift. After
finding out this information I will again create a journal entry to record my thoughts and
reflections.
6. Dissemination
I will be compiling the data from the customer feedback, data retrieved from our store systems, and
the data compiled from my team member’s survey responses in order to create a brochure or flier of
information to pass on to the other members of the leadership team at my store. I will explain to them
what I have been exploring and help them understand the actions that I have taken and the research
that I have done. I will include the results from my collection of data and my reflective thoughts
about my personal development as a leader after experimenting with these two leadership theories. I
will finish the information by supplying them with any tips or ideas that I have that I believe may help
them on their shifts or with their own development as leaders.
I will also be posting information to my Honors Portfolio in order to share what I have learned. I will
upload samples from my reflective journal, of my team members’ survey responses and of any data
that I have retrieved. I will also post the information brochure or flier that I create for my team
members at work.
7. Project Advisor (list the person’s name, title, and contact information)
Michael Calloway
Owner/Operator Chick-fil-A @ Western Hills
513.598.9400
02550@chick-fil-a.com
8. Budget
No additional funding will be necessary for this proposed project.