Leadership 101 Freshman Class Meets with COO of Wakefern, Joe Sheridan
On Wednesday, November 5th, the Leadership class of 2018 met with Joe Sheridan, COO of Wakefern. The group was presented two useful books, “Not Quite What I was Planning: a 6 word memoir” and “The Five Temptations of a CEO”. The freshman team was asked to encapsulate their motto on life or how they perceive themselves in 6 words. Some examples of the 6 word memoirs that students came up with were “All that matters is being yourself”, “Do I remember everything I did” while another student stated,”If goodbye’s hard, don’t say it” and “Already did that, what is next?”. Mr. Sheridan also shared his 6 word memoir which was “I love Joan, had three more”.
In the second half of the presentation, the team was able to ask Mr. Sheridan questions about Wakefern, his career choices, etc. Some thoughtful questions included whether or not Wegmans, Walmart, Costco and other grocery stores coming into the market will start to worry ShopRite. Mr. Sheridan discussed how ShopRite is able to stay one step ahead of its competitors and he delved into how they manage their stores and employees. The team found out that Mr.Sheridan started working for Wakefern in their warehouse department and soon climbed up the ladder to become the Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Sheridan also touched on his 30 years of working at Wakefern, the impact it had on his life and the family message that the owners of Wakefern and ShopRite cultivate. At the end of the meeting, the Leadership students felt inspired and now have new resources to facilitate learning along their leadership journey.
