I’m a Dedicated, Driven Leader who is passionate about inspiring others to do their best work. I lead projects from initial conception to launch and beyond, with direct responsibility for identifying and developing future visions of the projects.

Expression of Interest

 

In my 8 years with Delta, I have had the pleasure of supporting the Delta operation by: tutoring new hires, floor support, mentoring, as well as being a Brand Advisor. I have experience and knowledge of 3 different lines of business: SkyMiles Sales & Service, Premium Sales & Service, and as a Customer Experience Supervisor, along with being trained in the Messaging platform. In these roles I have gained knowledge of Axis, Delta Term, as well as becoming a Complaint Resolution Official. I recently had the opportunity to support the operation in an Acting Customer Experience Manager position. This position gave me the insight into the CEM role as I experienced the fast-paced environment, need for flexibility in a constantly changing environment, and the importance of maintaining highly confidential information.   

In January 2016, I had the honor of being chosen to represent the spirit of Delta as a Velveteer. As a Velveteer I learned the business from a broader perspective by observing our leaders speak about things to come or the business from a financial perspective. I was able to truly embody the Delta Brand by being warm and inviting with our guests. In addition, I was given the opportunity to be a brand ambassador at other Delta meetings such as Lead X and the DBC meetings. I am dedicated and passionate about Delta, our people and our customers. I have a desire to lift people and help them develop themselves, both personally and professionally, as well as develop a love for what they do each day. The personal goals that I set in 2015 were to become a leader for the company, and to become more involved on my way to pursuing leadership positions as a Brand Advisor and eventually a CEM. In October 2017, I achieved my first goal of becoming a Brand Advisor and am now looking forward to continuous growth in my leadership role.  

I am outgoing, approachable flexible in my thinking and motivated to always keep climbing. My positive “Can Do” attitude along with my ability to work well under pressure and multi-task effectively makes me a great addition to your leadership team. I am thoughtful and innovative in my interactions with others, both internal and external. I possess the ability to create an uplifting energy and positive attitude in those around me which encourages them to strive to new thresholds. I take pride in my ability to be a reliable leader for my peers to reach out to, gaining trust by being honest in my communication with them, following through with what I say. As a leader, it is my responsibility to uplift and recognize those around me for their hard work and dedication to our customers and the company. I maintain the high standards that Delta has in place by living the Rules of the Road each day both inside of the office and out.  

I am passionately involved with many of our volunteer opportunities sponsored by Delta. Those opportunities include: Habitat for Humanity, the United Way Buddy Backpacks program, No Shave November, Feed my Starving Children, United Way’s Serving Those Who Served as well as the Coats for Kids drive. In my Acting Customer Experience Manager position I was the point of contact for our local Diversity, Equity and Inclusion council. One of my focus’ is to support Delta’s presence in our local community to the best of my ability.  

I look forward to the opportunity to be a part of your leadership team. If you have any additional questions outside of the information I provided, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

Thank you for your time and consideration, 

Rachel Sanders  

  • Work Experience 

 Delta Air Lines, Acting Customer Experience Manager, April 2020 - May 2021 

  • Promote an inclusive and diverse work group by leading our local Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee (DE&I) 

    • Coordinate the IRC Black Lives Matter flag raising event 

    • Create a CEC Privilege Walk to bring awareness to social and economic inequalities  

    • Utilize different avenues the DE&I committee communicates information, and events to promote all aspects of the diversity wheel  

    • Generate interest and onboard new members into local DE&I committee 

  • Lead team of four Brand Advisors, and sixty front-line specialists to meet and exceed overall job performance by reinforcing positive engagement and behaviors 

    • Made powerful, meaningful connections by having open, honest, authentic conversations. Listen, inspire, and care for each individual meeting them where and how they need to be lifted.

  • Own and deliver change initiatives by explaining the business purpose and how it will benefit Delta 

    • Communicate to SMAS team about upcoming LOB simplification changes 

    • Coordinate SMAS SSS training 

    • Implement a SMAS phone and Kana time schedule along with incorporating an interruptible aux  

  • Take ownership of providing a safe work environment by ensuring corporate safety protocols are followed by all employees 

    • Create and manage the IRC dedicated seating map for all specialists  

    • Engage with team on the Minnesota and Delta policies regarding the importance of mask wearing and frequent testing from a safety standpoint 

    • Develop a weekly communication around Covid aimed at driving vaccination and testing rates 

  • Partner with leadership to coordinate and communicate recognition and incentive programs  

  • Oversight and partnership with GO and departmental and corporate initiatives ensuring timely communication, awareness and understanding to the CEC  

Delta Air Lines, Brand Advisor, October 2017-Present 

  • Partner to develop coaching strategy to deliver a consistent, meaningful experience for our specialists 

  • Utilize tools to assist with coaching sessions like dashboard, AQM, and the DELTA coaching model 

  • Conduct and evaluate observations of customer interactions and find positive ways to drive customer satisfaction 

  • Elevate teams’ performance through continuous feedback, recognition and celebrating achievements 

  • Foster first specialist’s resolution by providing real time support, skill transfer and building confidence in decision making 

  • Complete required phone time and meet/exceed key metrics 

  • Deliver and create effective huddles/team meetings  

  • Assist specialists in developing and achieving goals 

Delta Air Lines, Customer Experience Supervisor, August 2016-October 2017 

  • Offer service recovery solutions to inconvenienced passengers  

  • Provide support to both internal and external customers as needed  

  • Accept and handle customer escalation calls regarding Delta’s service, policy and/or employees 

  • Able to assist and prevent escalated disability complaints with Complaint Resolution Official training 

Delta Air Lines, Customer Experience Specialist, April 2013-August 2016 

  • Maintain exceptional customer service while finding travel solutions that meet the needs of our customers 

Education 

Brooklyn Center High School, Brooklyn Center, MN  

  • High School Diploma, Jun 1996 

Viterbo University, La Crosse, WI  

  • August 1996-June 19

Privilege Walk

 

During my time in the ACEM role, I had the pleasure of being the point of contact for our local Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion council. We were always looking for ways to connect with our office and make a difference, through different types of engagement and activities.
One of the most meaningful and powerful activities we did was a Privilege Walk. What is a Privilege Walk and what is the purpose of it? The purpose is to help educate, advocate and celebrate diversity. The activity was designed to provide individuals with an opportunity to understand the intricacies of privilege and to explore the ways that we all enjoy privilege based on being members of different social identity groups in the United States. It is not meant to make anyone feel guilty or ashamed of her or his privilege or lack of privilege related to any social identity category. Rather, the exercise seeks to highlight the fact that everyone has SOME privilege, even as some people have more privilege than others. By illuminating our various privileges as individuals, we can recognize ways that we can use our privileges individually and collectively to work for social justice. The purpose is not to blame anyone for having more power or privilege or for receiving more help in achieving goals, but to have an opportunity to identify both obstacle and benefits experienced in our life.  

 My task was to find a way to host Privilege Walk sessions keeping in mind that we were observing social distancing .

Steps

  • Created an online Privilege Walk using a JotForm

  • Sent out an office communication to gather interest and the opportunity to sign up

  • Shared a video of what an in person Privilege Walk looks like

  • Sent follow up questioner to learn if the exercise had impact

Who first

  • CEM - Is this right? Do I have their support, leveraging their influence

  • Brand Advisors - give them the experience and allow them to talk to their teams about it

  • DE&I council - Do they see the impact, do they support the vision

  • Office

What People Are Saying

 

“I was surprised, that I learned about privilege in this way, it made me look at myself and realize how privilege can impact one’s opinions and experiences so drastically. But the thing I understood best was why equity is so important, and how this exercise would open my eyes to importance of equity, which grew my capacity for compassion and to better understand and connect to others.”

— Anonymous Specialist

 

“I found this exercise extremely positive. I ended up feeling more relatable to my peers. I saw that others worked just as hard if not harder to be where they are today and that no one is perfect. So happy that this is being offered to the whole office. It puts everything into perspective of where we came from and how it affects us.”

— Anonymous Specialist

“This was a great experience to share with my coworkers. So grateful to see the willingness to get transparent and share our differences and similarities. What I did learn is that who we are and how we think is a direct result of where those things we have experienced in our past beyond our control. I shared being black with kids and living in Minnesota vs living in Atlanta having kids and not feeling like they would be safe going outside alone until I came to the Iron Range, it was a teachable moment because one of my coworkers responded with “I thought that only happened on TV”. I’m sure there are some things that I would feel like only happened on TV also, but hopefully this opens a dialog for us to take back and discuss with our families and communities to really make an impact as a company.”

— Anonymous BA

This was a great exercise for our leadership team. Thank you for putting it together!

— Anonymous CEM

 

Coaching Strategy

  • Dream it.

    We were asked to explore how we were currently coaching and determine if any changes should be made to better align with the Field Engagement model. Asking ourselves, are we currently driving engagement the way we are currently coaching or lifting?

  • Build it.

    As I pondered that question, I realized there were definitely missed opportunities to build relationships, consistency, and get our specialists commitment to achieve goals.

  • Grow it.

    I sought to discover a meaningful way to connect with our people on every interaction that was had, from CEM to BA. In these interactions identifying how we can make each personalized and authentic to each individual while driving their passion for what they do each day.

  • Sell it.

    I partnered with a CEM to put a presentation together and present it to our ECD, as well as the Director of Field Operations, West. This presentation was to get their interest and ensure that we were on the correct path.

  • Style it.

    I put together a workbook using Excel that allows us to have visibility into where each of our specialists are at. It houses questions that the CEM and BA’s ask, and gives us insight into when and how we are recognizing accomplishments. In addition, I have also created a long term view which will allow us to identify patterns or if we are missing anything.

  • Share it.

    The Coaching Strategy has been used for the last 6 months in our CEC. We have gathered feedback and are working on perfecting the process. This project recently has been shared with Steve Almeida, who has oversight of the FE project. When this process was shared, he mentioned that he would like to see it piloted in another CEC, his. This project doesn’t just have the ability to bring consistency to the IRC with how we lift and coach, but the division.

30- 60- 90 Day

  • Unlock Potential

    In my first 30 days, I plan on focusing on building relationship with my team of Brand Advisors, specialists.as well as the CEM team. My emphasis will be on having open, honest, and authentic communication that drives and inspires loyalty.

  • Go Beyond

    In the next 30 days, I plan on putting my Coaching Strategy to work by introducing it to my team of Brand Advisors as well as my CEM peers. This will allow me to meet my specialists where they are at in their journey and have an individualized plan that meets their needs.

  • Connect

    In the next 30 days, I plan on continuing to meet and exceed the expectations of my team members by having consistent, meaningful interactions that help to inspire loyalty and dedication. This approach will not only create dedication but also drive performance. In addition, I plan on gathering feedback for the Coaching Strategy and ensuring the teams find value in the process and understand the vision.

  • Chart the Course

    In this role, I plan to continuously find strategic, meaningful ways to connect and drive performance. I will seek to inspire those who want to take the next step in their career with Delta and help to bring it to life. For those that are content I will be leaning into their strengths and acknowledging and celebrating what they bring each day.

My Leadership Style

 

Great Leaders Don’t Set Out To Be A Leader…
They Set Out To Make A Difference.
It’s Never About The Role, It’s Always About The Goal.