Sean Clancy
(former Barnes and Noble Georgia Tech Tradebook Dept. Employee)
Reference
From:
To: Charlie Mote <charlie.mote@gmail.com>
Date: 02/01/2007 7:22 PM
Subject: Reference for Charlie Mote
To whom it may concern,
Charlie Mote was my supervisor at Barnes and Noble at Georgia Tech for approximately two years from the time he started until I graduated and moved. In that time, Charlie and I got to know each other and I can safely say he was the most professional, conscientious, and motivating supervisor I've ever worked with.
To better explain Charlie's impact on working conditions at Barnes and Noble from my four years of total experience there, it's best to describe the store in terms of "before Charlie" and "after Charlie."
After Charlie, working at Barnes and Noble felt more like being part of a team. Before, there were lots of times I felt like most of the employees in the store didn't know each other very well and felt like their own little area was all they had to think about. Charlie knew every employee's name and he helped people get to know each other better. He encouraged those of us in his department to help out other departments, to take initiative and consider the entire store as every one's responsibility.
In the Technical Reference section, Charlie's direct responsibility, the change was dramatic. Before, the sections were a mix of different organizational ideas - in some sections the books were by author's last name, some, by title and others, books were grouped by publisher. Needless to say, it was very difficult to find books or even to know where to begin! Charlie personally reorganized the entire floor (about 90 bookshelves) by the same standards as the rest of the books in the"non-technical" first-floor of the store making it easy, even for someone with no technical background, to understand how the sections were organized and to find books where one would expect them to be.
Overall, Charlie led by example, treated people in the store, both employees and customers, like they were the most important component of the enterprise and made sure to always try to make life more enjoyable for everyone in the situation.
If you would like to hear more about what it was like to work with Charlie, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Sean Clancy
529 Blazedwood Drive
Ballwin, MO 63021
Home (636)256-0343
Cell (678)617-8997
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