There are many levels of employees than make a business go round. Each person is a separate gear that coincides with another. This philosophy is well known and needs no further explanation. But there is a section of those gears that is not well known and is equally unappreciated.

During my previous semester in college I was taking a class on the sociology of leadership. Many guests spoke in this class, but the one most prominent was a gentleman from England who’s job it was to improve business relations between managers and workers (by the way, did you know that Americans perceive people with a British accent to have about 10 higher IQ points than someone without?).

Anyway, one of this gentleman’s main topics was the importance of supervisors, or team leaders. His case was this:

Team leaders are effectively the connection between management and the workers.

Not a difficult topic to understand at all. But it’s bland and uninteresting without the appreciation of what activities team leaders partake in.

Team leaders train and work with improving skill, mentality, and anything else necessary for a positive working environment in those who work below them. In my case, team leaders are in charge of cashiers or generally anyone else other than managers.

Team leaders provide incredibly important information between management and workers. Management is rarely available for workers and thus rarely know the true environment on the floor, like the workers do. Similarly, workers rarely get opportunity to ask a manager to exemplify on a question of theirs for a particular rule or new promotion. Team leaders are there for the communication gap.

Many team leaders do everything the workers do. And many do similar tasks as the managers. The difference is the position title and the frequency of these actions. The point is that team leaders do them, however frequently it may be. I’m often astounded by the integrity and mentality of my team leaders and that they can handle all the tasks they are expected to.

Of course, not all team leaders act this way. Some are asses and some go the extra mile. I’ve been blessed with the latter and this is just a note of appreciation for them.

And also because I’d be fired already if they hadn’t saved my ass so many times.