{"id":3936,"date":"2016-11-12T23:35:02","date_gmt":"2016-11-13T04:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/?p=3936"},"modified":"2016-11-12T23:35:02","modified_gmt":"2016-11-13T04:35:02","slug":"meeting-sharon-price-john-build-a-bear-workshop-inc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/2016\/11\/meeting-sharon-price-john-build-a-bear-workshop-inc\/","title":{"rendered":"Meeting Sharon Price John, Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"screen-shot-2016-11-12-at-6-15-43-pm\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The 2017 Frontiers in Service Conference <\/a>June 22-25 in New York City opens with an Executive Roundtable of Presidents & CEOs<\/strong> internationally recognized as service leaders. In this session, we will hear the challenges and insights these leaders faced in building organizations with a reputation for service excellence and financial success. In this article, we briefly introduce one of the roundtable participants, Sharon Price John<\/strong> has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc.<\/a><\/p>\n

John has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. since mid-2013. Prior to her current role, Ms. John has held several positions within similar industries, including executive-level positions at Hasbro, Mattel<\/strong>, and Stride Rite<\/strong>.1 <\/sup>Her extensive industry experience includes 20+ years of focusing on positioning brands for development, with particular expertise on brands associated with children\u2019s products. In addition to specializing in children\u2019s markets, Ms. John is known for turning around unprofitable businesses. When interviewed regarding her management philosophy, John observed:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe long-term success of the company and well-being of our employees was dependent on our ability to change \u2026 Change is necessary to compete in today\u2019s rapidly changing business environment, however, only changing when times are tough is not enough. Leaders need to know when to instigate change, as well as how to navigate the journey. But leading a transition isn\u2019t easy. Most people are change averse, and the workplace is no exception. [This is because] change is almost always uncomfortable and exhausting. You are asking your organization to do something in a new way \u2013 every day \u2013 until it\u2019s a habit. The \u2018old\u2019 habits may have taken years to form and were likely linked to rewards, so it\u2019s normal for individuals and teams to revert to what\u2019s comfortable when difficulties or confusions arise. I\u2019ve identified a few techniques that can keep the need for change top-of-mind for your employees: the use of an internal marketing campaign about the vision or goal, the overt permission for people to hold each other accountable, and the orchestration of disruptive moments to re-ignite energy when the organization inevitably begins to falter.\u201d<\/em>2<\/sup><\/p>\n

When Ms. John joined Build-A-Bear, the company was at pivotal moment. The firm had been seriously underperforming expectations, even posting a $49 million loss in 2012.3 <\/sup>Under Ms. John\u2019s leadership, the firm returned to profitability within 6 months. Build-A-Bear has remained profitable ever since.<\/p>\n

Ms. John believes that both the willingness and ability to change are paramount to long-term success. Perhaps not surprisingly, Ms. John\u2019s advice for coping with an ever-changing competitive environment relates back to a beloved children\u2019s character. \u201cWe need to be more like Gumby: become more flexible, learn to stretch and focus on delivering the green.\u201d4<\/sup><\/p>\n

Get to meet\u00a0Sharon Price John at the 2017 Frontiers in Service Conference <\/a><\/p>\n

——————-<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/research\/stocks\/private\/person.asp?personId=83840480&privcapId=122203<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. http:\/\/fortune.com\/2015\/07\/14\/sharon-price-john-dealing-with-change\/<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. https:\/\/www.apqc.org\/blog\/build-bear-ceo-shares-her-secret-turnaround-success<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. http:\/\/fortune.com\/2015\/07\/14\/sharon-price-john-dealing-with-change\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The 2017 Frontiers in Service Conference June 22-25 in New York City opens with an Executive Roundtable of Presidents & CEOs internationally recognized as service leaders. In this session, we will hear the challenges and insights these leaders faced in building organizations with a reputation for service excellence and financial success. In this article, we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,10,12,8],"tags":[197,198,199,196,124],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3936"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3936"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3977,"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3936\/revisions\/3977"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}