The president and CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop is Sharon Price John. She took over as leader of the business in 2013 and was tasked with turning the ship around (returning the business to profitability). She has been successful. In 2015, John shared with Fortune five actions that helped her lead Build-A-Bear through a tough transition. Her first rule is: “Be visibly passionate about the vision; keep frustrations private.” John will “be visibly passionate” but she won’t be able to keep all “frustrations private” when she appears on Undercover Boss (December 21).
In a scene at a distribution center, John is being trained how to stack boxes that are shooting down a conveyor belt. Like Lucille Ball in the famous chocolate factory episode, the boxes just keep coming. “This is a mess!” John says to the young man training her. He says he doesn’t know how to fix the system, but she does. She may let her frustrations show, but they don’t get in her way. Undercover Boss airs Wednesdays at 8pm and 9pm on CBS.
The @buildabear CEO learns that building bears isn’t all child’s play in this #UndercoverBoss sneak peek. pic.twitter.com/Oa2kcgfFjQ
— Undercover Boss (@undercover_cbs) December 16, 2016
