Home Depot Management And Leadership

Home Depot Management and Leadership

Management is defined as the act or manner of managing, handling, direction, or control (dictionary.com). Leadership is defined as an act or instance of leading; guidance; direction (dictionary.com). They do not mean the same thing; however, it is thought that a manager should have leadership skills to be able to manage an organization. Not all managers have great leadership skills and just because a manager does not have these skills does not mean he or she is a bad manager.

The organization that I chose is Home Depot. There are many management and leadership roles within the organization. At Home Depot, dedication to serve their customers and providing the ultimate shopping experience is the highest priority. Helping to maintain this focus and commitment is a leadership team that believes in the company's values. The team also believes that a commitment to great customer service will create value for all stakeholders.

Home Depot is built on the principle of creating value for our stockholders while never forgetting our values. We seek to be profitable, responsible and balance the needs of our communities. Throughout our company, our associates are challenged with finding ways in which we can provide the best products for our customers, provide the best possible work environment for our associates, have a positive impact on the communities in which we operate, and provide excellent returns for our stockholders.

Working in a Store Support Center, rather than a corporate headquarters, their leadership team knows that the most important people in the fabric of the company are the store associates and store leadership teams. Frank Blake was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Home Depot in January 2007 (Sellers, P.). He joined Home Depot in 2002 as executive vice president of Business Development and Corporate Operations and was responsible for real estate, store construction, credit services, strategic business development, growth initiatives, call centers and the Home Services business.

Mr. Blake took over the position, which was held by Bob Nardelli who was forced to resign his post over the controversy surrounding his lucrative pay package. However, the underlying reason had just as much to do with his handling of the transformation of the company after he took the reins in December 2000 (Azzato, M.). With no previous retail experience, Nardelli's gruff management style is said to have alienated several key top-level managers.