When the Leeds depot flooded in March, Sam was the calmest person in the room. Within an hour there was a plan on the whiteboard and everyone knew their part.
Feedback & report
Sam Rivera's summary
7 responses · Sam hasn't seen anything yet
How this works: 1 Review the themes · 2 Shape the content · 3 Hone the report · Share
The feedback, grouped by theme
Underlined words are the words behind the theme: they show why a comment sits under it. A comment that speaks to two themes appears under both. Tags show which part of the circle a comment came from: only you can see them.
Greyed out: fewer than 3 people answered, so their comments can't be shown on their own.
Showing all comments (33), theme by theme.
Strength
Calm in a crisis
Q1 · What they do well
Never panics. Even when trucks are stuck and the client is shouting down the phone, Sam keeps their voice level and that steadies everyone else.
Sam is the person I'd want next to me in any crisis. Steady, quick to see what matters, and never makes it about themselves.
Sam stays calm on the hardest days, and that gives the whole team confidence that we'll get through the problem.
Good under pressure.
Q3 · Anything else
Keep being the steady one. Just remember you're allowed to ask for help too.
Strength
Clarity & structure
Q1 · What they do well
Turns a messy situation into a clear plan quickly. The weekly ops review is the most useful meeting I go to because Sam keeps it to decisions and owners.
Very structured thinker. Writes things down, follows up, closes loops. I always know where a request stands.
Sam explains the why behind changes to rotas and processes, which makes them much easier to sell to the floor.
Strength
Care for people
Q1 · What they do well
Genuinely cares about the people on the night shift. Sam knows names, asks about families, and came in at 3am during peak to see how we were doing.
Made time for me when I was struggling last year and never made me feel like a burden. I still think about that.
Notices when someone has gone quiet in a meeting and checks in privately afterwards.
Great team player.
Strength
Fairness & straight dealing
Q1 · What they do well
Straight with us as a supplier, even when the news is bad. We always know where we stand, which is rarer than it should be.
Fair. Doesn't play favourites and gives credit to whoever actually did the work.
To develop
Sharing the load
Q2 · Advice
Sam takes too much on personally. When things get busy they step in and do it themselves rather than letting the team learn, and then they become the bottleneck.
I'd like more ownership of the client reporting. At the moment Sam re-checks everything I send, which slows us down and makes me second-guess myself.
Delegate more. You don't have to be in every meeting.
Sometimes it feels like Sam doesn't trust anyone else to get it right, though I know that isn't the intention. Letting go of the detail would free them up for the bigger picture.
Q3 · Anything else
Pick one or two people and properly hand them a whole area, including the decisions. It will feel slower for a month and then much faster.
Build a deputy. If Sam was off for two weeks I'm not sure who would run the weekly review.
Keep being the steady one. Just remember you're allowed to ask for help too.
To develop
Speaking up in senior forums
Q2 · Advice
In the leadership meeting Sam often stays quiet until the end, and by then the decision has mostly been made. Ops has a strong case that doesn't always get heard.
Could push back more with the commercial team. Sam tends to accept unrealistic deadlines and then the team absorbs the pain.
Q3 · Anything else
In senior meetings, say your view early, before the discussion settles. You usually turn out to be right.
To develop
Sharing context early
Q2 · Advice
Changes sometimes land on us at the last minute. If we heard what was coming a week earlier we could plan around it.
Share the thinking sooner, even if it's not finished. We'd rather see a rough plan than a polished surprise.
To develop
Time for your team
Q2 · Advice
Since the warehouse move it's been hard to get time with Sam. Our 1:1s keep getting cancelled.
Less visible on the floor than a year ago. I understand the role has grown but the team notice.
Harder to reach lately. Messages can sit for days.
Q3 · Anything else
Protect your 1:1s like you protect client calls. Even 20 minutes every fortnight would make a difference.
Spend one shift a month back on the floor with us. People really value seeing you there.
Other comments
Q2 · Advice
Honestly Sam's dress sense in client meetings is embarrassing. They look like they've come straight off a night shift.
The new rota spreadsheet is a nightmare to use.