Impersonator

The other day I was thinking about what was next on the horizon for me and it got me thinking about what I don’t ever want to be…an impersonator. I have witnessed many of these disappointments in my career. What do I mean by impersonator? I’m talking about co-workers or bosses with highly regarded reputations, but upon getting to actually know them…they resemble a sad display of humanity. You better sit down. This is about getting something off my chest. Something that needed to be said a long time ago. 

I always wonder how these types of people get to their current level? Why are organizational leaders not seeing through the masks they wear? Is it me? Do I not see the qualities that have made them who they are? Am I just not that open-minded or accepting? Do I hold myself to a different standard? Are my expectations of positive leadership on a different level? Maybe?

I once knew a manager who was a peer of mine. I was envious of her. She was the beacon of company culture and everyone thought she was the greatest thing since sliced bread, myself included…until she was my boss. The intrigue slowly fizzled the more I got to know her and this vision I had had of who she was left little to be desired.

She wasn’t a walk-the-talk type of manager. She may have been when she was trying to prove herself; when she first started out, but things change. Oftentimes she spoke highly of people to their face, but behind closed doors was nothing but a junior high school girl gossiping and putting people down. As a subordinate listening to her speak so horribly of people, I often left disgusted and wondering what the hell she was saying about me when I wasn’t around. This also left me wondering who else was engaging her in these discussions peppering her ego to protect themselves. I never agreed with what she said. Probably why we stopped getting along.

Maybe I was a bit jealous of her success. (I will admit that), but she never came across as a person I would want as a mentor or a leader I wanted to follow. Why did everyone else? I became frustrated and defeated in my position. I wanted to change things for the better and be allowed to think outside the box. Manage my business the way it needed to be not how people hundreds of miles away wanted it to be. It was a success and my people were successful, yet she made me feel like a bottom dweller. She constantly put me down, made me feel inferior and never had a positive thing to say. She loved putting me in my place and embarrassing me in front of others. Of course she would never admit that. After fighting too long for my sanity, I quit. I got out as fast as I could and never looked back.

Reflecting back on what transpired, I probably would have done things differently, but at the time I felt I had nowhere to go and no one to trust with how I was feeling. Those that witnessed this frustration, never would have supported me out in the open. It was a sad state of affairs and a true testament to the world of retail. It just goes to show you can never fully trust the people you have lifted up. Those you have surrounded yourself with. Those you thought had your back. It’s all about politics. The what’s in it for me mentality? The what image should I have to impress not the what strengths do I have that impress and empower mentality? Right from wrong.

Imposters are people we don’t speak about in normal conversations. People are always trying to protect themselves. Don’t you think it's time for a change? Retail needs all the help it can get right now. Wouldn’t you agree? I write this now because enough time has passed, and I have come to grips with the person I am and the person I want to be. I have no patience for games. I will not stand by and allow politics to play a more significant role than growth of my people or the belief in said people. I only wish I would have had the courage back then to say these things to the people who mattered. Would they have listened? Perhaps I never would have left a job I loved or perhaps I would have been slowly coached out of a job for having an opinion about someone so loved. Whatever the case, the past is the past. I know my truth. I hope you do.

A Dying Breed?

“Retail stores in malls are a thing of the past.”

 “Online shopping is the only way I shop.”

“Customer service is dead.”

Have you heard those statements before? I have. All the time. The truth of the matter is, in my opinion, all these statements are completely not true. Now you can read articles and listen to podcasts about all these statements. Pundits out there analyzing businesses by looking at quarterly reports, company stocks and reading consumer polls and reviews, but what about those of us still working in stores? Don’t we have a say?

Sure, physical stores are not doing the business they used to, but malls are not ghost towns like many would have you believe. So how do we change the dynamic? How do we get the consumer to see that shopping in brick and mortar is still a great option? It’s not a dying breed?

People. Yep, it’s time to invest back in people. 

Retail isn’t dead it’s just…changing.  it’s time for companies to re-embrace what’s needed. One-on-one customer attention. I feel like companies have forgotten what that entails. People NEED people. A real person greeting you when you walk in (with a sincerity). Someone available to answer any questions you may have (with a smile). A person to give truthful advice on a product you may want to try (without a hidden agenda). 

I know…we live in a society of get-it-now-when-you-want-it-by-reading-a-review-at-a-time-that-is-convenient-to-you-mentality. Shop from a couch. Shop from work. Shop out walking the dog from your phone. It is so easy to add product to your virtual shopping cart, hit buy and wait for the magical box to be waiting for you at your door. Shouldn’t there be more? 

I am so tired of people asking, “why should I shop in stores?” or “why would you shop in a store?” Like it’s disgusting or appalling to even think about doing so. Personally, there is nothing I love more than walking into a store and walking through a shopping center. Physical stores are more than just a store, to me, they are an atmosphere. They emit a feeling when you walk in. An emotion you can’t get scrolling through countless pages on a website. Each brand resonates its own identity because each brand has its own personality. You can’t perceive that looking at a computer screen. Sure, there is beautiful imagery and tons of product knowledge, but wouldn’t you like to experience it in person to see if that image is reality?

Of course, retail has its hurdles. I am not naïve. Your vision of a positive experience quickly fizzles because there is no one working when you walk in. Payroll has been cut so badly, that stores are literally void of people. Payroll is expensive. A huge percentage of operating costs. It is easy to save money if you have less people working on the sales floor. However, hiring less people equals longer hours for employees. They end up doing twice as much and burning out twice as fast causing turnover. This reality equates to companies starting from scratch by recruiting, onboarding and training new replacements. This raises a company’s cost per hire. So, are they really saving money if managers are constantly hiring new people to fill the void? The answer is no. 

Retailers need to embrace this part of their successful past. It makes sense. Especially to managers working the sales floor who love their jobs and the brand they work for. Stores are still relevant in this new world of technology. Physical stores with amazing customer service is something online giants like Amazon can’t compete with. Managers who have more time doing what they are supposed to be doing (developing people and sales generation) instead of starting over with new teams all the time will bring stronger sales results. A stores reputation can only be respectable if its people are there to reflect it. 

Sense of Self

To be a strong leader or role model you need to check your ego at the door. A strong sense of self in order to celebrate the successes of those you work with. It seems like a no brainer, but in reality, think of all the people that you have worked for that didn’t have that mentality engrained in their leadership style. It probably became a toxic work place and lacked any one person who stood out as a mentor. Am I right?

Mentors are needed in today’s environment. Recently I have been communicating with an incredible woman that I met on LinkedIn Julie Stonehouse-Daradics. She made the comment:

“Gone are the days when we are impressed with people who are impressed with themselves.”

I bring this topic up in regard to the continued conversation of making your stores or businesses a positive environment where people want to work for you. As a manager it should be a daily goal to make an impact on those around you. I am not saying you have to be a beacon of influence with every word or action, but you should want to set an example of one. Good lord people! Wake up! The society of “me” needs to change. The selfish mentality of “my success”, as opposed to “our success” should be the cornerstone of any successful business and tenured team. The two go hand-in-hand.

If you haven’t yet observed an employee, you trained…train another with their own twist from your coaching, then you have yet to feel a strong sense of self. This epiphany will bring such a sense of accomplishment and confidence to your leadership that you will be driven to see it again and again forcing others to embrace this frame of mind as well. A long-term goal would be to see a pattern within your stores hierarchy.

To get the wheels turning, let’s go back to managing the schedule. I know it seems like a jump from a philosophy to a task, but in reality, you have the power to transform your team into a positive force for overall success. Changing the MY to OUR with something as simple as how they are scheduled. Great leaders see strengths in people before people see it in themselves. This in turn manifests a certain skillset that only a tenured team can understand if tested consistently.

The prior blog post “Building Blocks” was about testing out your teams through scheduling to achieve business success based on the right partnerships. This post continues that example by using those partnerships into a typical week routine to achieve success of tenure and accountability. Sit down with your management team and go over all the tasks that need to be achieved on a weekly basis. Divide them into operations and merchandising. You cannot have a strong business without a routine scheduled around these two responsibilities.

Depending on the size of your business and management team, you should know your employee’s strengths and opportunities. The goal is always how to get the most done in the least amount of time, so the primary focus can be on your customers. Here is where the building blocks fall into place. Schedule to peoples’ passions. This includes support from a sales team. When you have specific people doing things they love, they want to share with others, therefore beginning a mentor program that adds efficiency, bench strength and employees open to more responsibility.

When you have the right people working together at the same times every week to accomplish specific goals, a well-oiled machine ensues. Your store will begin to run by itself so, you as the business leader, can focus on other obligations…EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT! Your primary responsibility! This will not happen overnight. Remember, you have to test it out over a period of time to see what works and what doesn’t. Believe me, it is worth it in the end.

No Exit

Have you ever dreamed of an exit, but haven't been able to find one nor had the courage to want to? Why are you staying in a position that is causing you to fantasize of somewhere else? Don't we owe it to ourselves to love what we do? Don't we owe it to ourselves to be surrounded by people who support us, believe in us and most of all challenge us?

“I wish I could just leave.” Said many.

If you can’t do anything to make your job life better then you have the power to leave it behind. 

But first… Ask yourselves these questions:

1. Am I doing everything in my power to be a better employee? Am I empowering those around me to be stronger? Am I invested in the well-being of those I manage?
2. What is making me feel this way? Have I spoken to anyone about my feelings? Are my feelings shared by others around me?
3. What have I done lately to contribute to the environment? Have I developed anyone? Have I exceeded a customer’s expectations? Have I exceeded an employee’s expectations?

I bring this up because it takes a lot to start over somewhere else. It is a job itself to find something new. I have found that many are just not putting forth an effort to make their jobs meaningful. They have grandiose expectations of what they should be doing without the mindset to actually achieve those expectations.

Everyday should be a learning experience, if you aren’t learning something about yourself or those around you, then by all means…find an exit. You aren’t doing anyone any favors by sabotaging their success and you sure aren’t doing yourself any good by not being the best you can be.

I have been there. It is a hard decision to make. You have a million different thought processes going on in your head. To actually come to the conclusion that there is nothing more you can do to mentally be happy in your job environment takes a lot of guts to admit to oneself. I am not talking about living on the offered salary or tired of the work load. I am talking about exhausting EVERY avenue and weighing its consequences on you, your team and the business itself. It is not easy. What you do in the end affects the entire business and YOU have to be ok with that. That is a huge burden to take on and one that you will live with. I think for this reason alone is why people stay in their jobs for so long. If you are feeling the desire to move on go back the questions I posed earlier. It will determine whether or not this decision is right for you.

Only As Strong

One thing I know to be true…you are only as strong as those around you.  Your people compliment you, challenge you and more importantly build the stepping stones to your management and leadership style. When managing stores, this is the only constant I have ever wanted to achieve.

Managing can be chaotic and challenging. 

• Why has it been so hard to attract the talent needed to achieve this team dynamic?
• Why is it so hard to fathom the training justifications behind this concept?
• Are managers afraid to find candidates that challenge them? 
• Are managers under too much pressure to fill roles? 
• Are managers putting too much time constraints on training opportunities?

Just a few questions I wish I could answer, but honestly, it isn’t up to me to determine the why’s, only how I did it. It wasn’t an overnight thing. It took a long time for me to trust myself and my ego. Will they turn out better than me? Get promoted faster? Get recognized by people you only dream of noticing you? Ego. Time to get it over it if you want a successful store.

Know what you are missing on your team. I wrote before of the trifecta. The perfect balance of skillset and the beginning of bench strength. You need these things in your stores to be productive. When you realize what’s missing, you need to go out there and find the missing pieces, train them and develop them. Find your you. Find the ones that may have more experience, but lacked a mentor. Find someone who is the opposite of you and learn from their mindset. The point is to not be afraid. Don’t feel rushed. Upper level management may pressure you to find a candidate, but remember, it’s your store. Only you know what works and what doesn’t work.

I have made that mistake before. I relied on upper level management to dictate my needs and the result was a disaster. Never again. I was playing politics and it nearly destroyed my management style and my management team. You also have to remember training takes time. Everyone is different. Sometimes people’s learning abilities are harder to develop. You need to learn patience and self-control. You can’t force people to master what you already know in a short period of time. It is up to you as a manager to determine how to best manage this important time. Remember to look around you. Who is best at ABC? An operations specialist shouldn’t train a new hire on merchandising. A short-tempered key holder should not train anyone on how to use the registers. Someone who processes shipment probably isn’t the best person to train on fitting room selling. I know that this all seems straight forward, but store managers work with what they have. Who is working when. The schedule says… so they do.

This is a failure in utilizing your people’s skills and abilities. It gets you nowhere and takes a toll on your teams’ character and most of all your reputation as a leader. Remember, you are only as strong as those around you. If they aren’t being empowered to grow, you might as well find something else to do. You will experience a turn style of lack luster employees and spend most of your time interviewing prospects instead of developing your teams. You will be fighting a never-ending battle of personalities and time wasters. Don’t fall into that hole. Take the time to find the missing pieces of your vision. 

Choose Your Own Adventure

One of my favorite book series I loved to read growing up was the "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories by Edward Packard. It opened my mind to variety of scenarios and gave me the ability to explore adventures with different outcomes.

The memory of these books brings to mind, don't laugh, our current state of retail. An interesting observation, right? As managers, we have the ability to choose many different paths each day. Although there are only 24 hours in a day, those 24 hours can have immediate impact on a single course of action. Albeit, employee development, store appearance, customer interactions, operational systems…you get the picture. It is up to you to determine what kind of impact you are going to make.

I know there are many critics out there saying retail is struggling to survive, but I see it prospering everywhere I go, the problem isn’t stores in general, new stores and small businesses open every day, its people. People are the problem. Managers, YOU are choosing the wrong adventure.

I find that there are two types of managers. Those that can and don’t vs. those that do and choose. All managers have the ability to be successful, but something happens along the way that takes a mindset from a passion to lead to a safe mentality. That something, is usually a wrong decision made either by a superior that affected them poorly or a decision made internally that brought on a negative result. The can and don’ts come from this error in judgement. These managers go with a popular decision process. One that will be accepted to maintain a level of consistency. I am not saying that this is wrong or unsuccessful, but it can become comfortable and underwhelming.

The do and choose are the managers that do whatever it takes and choose not to give up on making a difference. We need more of this type in the business world. Managers that choose to stand out in a crowd and go against the grain in terms of process and people are ones that are always looking for that next adventure. They make unpopular decisions, mistakes and end up being put in an outcast category. Oftentimes their paths are rocky, stressful and a battleground of what if’s. What makes this type of manager interesting is that their decisions and mistakes often bring prosperous results, tenured teams and desired organizational strategies.

Unfortunately, these managers never seem to last long in organizations. WHY?? Wouldn’t it be wise to choose the adventure of rocky paths and individuality over the path of knowing the outcome? Wouldn’t it be wise to choose the manager that isn’t afraid of making a mistake? Wouldn’t it make better sense to choose an adventure that changes the mindset and opens the door to new possibilities? Something needs to change. The store environments we walk into today are filled with disgruntled employees, comfortable employees, lost employees and more importantly, employees ignoring customers because YOU choose the wrong approaches in your leadership style every day. Retail isn’t dying. The successful businesses have grown from their mistakes and prospered. The do and choose managers have opened their own stores and are leading the way in making a difference in communities because the can and don'ts have given them no other choice. It's up to you to choose your next adventure. Choose wisely. Your businesses are depending on you to make the right decision.

Longevity

I had the privilege of planning my parents 60th wedding anniversary party with my sister last week. The party planning itself took a few months, but the result was more than I could have ever imagined. Forty-two people came to celebrate my parents and one person had known my father for 75 years. He was the best man in their wedding. WOW! The party itself also made me think about spending 60 years with one person and the kind of dedication, openness and appreciation that requires. The give and take. The adjustments. The trust. Being the person I am and doing what I do, the monumental achievement had me also thinking about my career and what longevity has done for me.

Tenure is a crazy thing today. I never thought I would see people with one year at one company as longevity. I used to call that “job hopping” when looking at resumes and applications, now it is the new norm. I don’t understand why that is and it has forced me to ask some tough internal questions about those companies and most of all the management responsible for those employees. I am not perfect. I had people come and go throughout my career, but I also had some strong employees that stuck with me and the company through thick and thin. Years, in fact.

How? We learned each other’s strengths and opportunities, could finish each other’s sentences and most of all we learned through trial and error how to make our stores successful. This is not something you develop in less than one year. Sure, you can make dramatic changes that increase sales, but maintaining strong momentum over time and creating a positive reputation in the community takes longevity. That my friends is where managing with purpose comes in.

If you are a store manager, district manager or small business owner that has a lot of turn over, you need to ask yourself some hard questions. You can never control pay or payroll for that matter. You can only control your actions. Sure, money can make the world go around and life a little easier, but lack luster environments can make the higher pay scheme a terrible decision to an employee. More importantly, the question you need to ask yourself is: “Why are they looking in the first place?” From there, you need have an honest conversation with that employee. Put pride on the back burner and listen to what he/she has to say. It could be you. Maybe you aren’t the manager you thought you were. Maybe you aren’t providing a challenging environment for them. Maybe your processes need improvement. The point is…learn from them so that the next employee stays and grows with you.

My management philosophy has always been to be a manager that I always wanted. Sounds simple enough, but I took my own complaints and needs and put them to work developing my own style. I took the idea that I didn’t need to be loved, but I needed to be respected. I have high expectations and demand people to do their best at all times. I lead by example and am tough on those that don’t recognize their true potential. Delegation is key and being a chameleon to each employee has never ending possibilities for tenure. Your actions as a leader are the future of your store’s success. The saying, I am paraphrasing here, that people don’t leave companies, they leave people is so true whether you like to think that or not. It is up to you and only you to provide a nurturing environment where your employees can feel empowered and compelled to stay. It is up to you to hire the right people that fit your mind set and the right people who will challenge your mind set. It is up to you to develop a core staff and build a support system that allows everyone to grow and learn something new every day. Find a mantra and stick with it, grow from it and encourage it. Don't rely on a company's culture to keep employees, be a manager that people want to work for.

Growth

What does this word mean to you? To me, there is growth in position and growth in mental abilities. Both are needed in order to have a successful team and business. I am not just referring to your people, but also to you as a leader. Over the years I have watched peers and employees grow into incredible leaders, business owners and vibrant members of the community. I myself have grown tremendously from what I would say was a strange and crazy trip from the years 18-the present. Who I WAS definitely has shaped who I AM. The struggles I went through have helped define who I have become as a manager, a boss and now a business owner.

When I was 23 I was promoted to store manager of my first store. YES…23! I find that to be an unusual fact about my management career (although now that doesn’t seem so weird to others).  I was fresh out of college and my boss left to have a baby. I think back to that person I was at the time. A 90’s club kid. If you don’t know what that means believe me…I shouldn’t have been running a multi-million dollar business, but I did so with determination to be the best store manager I could be. I soaked up all the knowledge and advice I could get.

“Someone believed in me and gave me the opportunity. They knew I could be molded into what they needed me to be and grow into the position they saw for me.”

–Me, at 23, becoming a SM for the first time.

Think about that for a second and ask yourselves, when was the last time you hired someone or promoted someone with this idea in mind? The idea that there was a spark in someone and YOU wanted to develop it so that person could meet their true potential and grow into a manager that you knew they could become. This has now become one of my favorite management style traits. It leads me to the best part of being a manager…developing 

My favorite position on a management team will always be… manager–in-training or key holder or sales/team lead or department manager.  Whatever you want to call it, they all mean the same thing, a developmental managerial role with keys. You have the chance to mold someone into a position that they themselves didn’t know they had in them. It is a position that reflects a spark you, as their leader and mentor, saw in them. It is a position that allows them to explore what type of manager they want to become. It is often the first time they have ever had a lot of responsibility and definitely the first time they have ever managed people. I like to observe how they handle the first day of responsibility and go from there by asking a series of questions in my mind. Will they become power hungry? Will they become an associates’ confidant? Will they embrace a way of thinking and become a leader? How will they handle a tough situation? What type of direction will they give? When will they realize that they are in charge and have to make decisions? It is at that time that spark happens in them. They either love it or hate it. When I see it, I start the development process and steer them in the direction that makes sense to them. There is no forced training plan or process, just an open mind to learn.

The same goes for any person new to a role. Everyone handles their new responsibility differently. It is important not to hinder their growth through trying to get them to learn the way you did. I have talked about being a chameleon before and now it is more important than ever. Your management training abilities have to be on point or you may lose that spark that originally got them there in the first place. No one wants that. No one wants to start over. No one wants to feel like they failed someone. This is how you grow as a manager and into a leader that can respected. An accomplishment that means something. 

Experience Does Matter

Through the years I have heard these words from upper level management or hiring managers “your experience doesn’t necessarily matter, how you adapt to the culture and earn our respect does.” Really? I always struggled with holding my emotions in check when that phrase was uttered. I found it fascinating to hear. Maybe I was too old or not the right look or over qualified or too opinionated or overzealous in decision making. Excuses. That is what they are. Whatever it was, it dampened my passion to be the best I could be and I don’t want it to happen to you. At the end of the day I never had an unsuccessful store or team. That must mean something…right?

I find that people are afraid of experience. They are afraid of people who may know more about topics then they do. I always found the opposite true. Experience is the cornerstone of any successful business.  Why? Because you have experienced several different scenarios at several different levels while trying new approaches through trial and error. Why wouldn’t that be considered a plus or at least a determination to want to know more?

While perusing through applications/resumes for the hiring of certain positions, I always looked to those applicants that had layers to their careers. I never was afraid to talk to them nor intimidated by their level of expertise. I always knew that they may not be affordable, but I would try my hardest to sell them on the company and the culture. Lord knows I have taken some pay cuts to acquire a position I felt passionately about. But not everyone is willing to do the same. It has to make sense and people need to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. After all you are not only interviewing the candidate, they are interviewing you and the company as well.

I am hoping that through writing about this that somehow, somewhere someone will figure out that experience does matter. Think about it…You are bringing a candidate on board that’s only focus for you would be sales generation and people development. Why wouldn’t you want that? Of course, they would have to learn the ins and outs of the company, but in reality, everything you dream of for an employee is already there. You need to let them run with it and watch them take the lead, grow the business and build a positive reputation with your customer base. Managers need to put their pride on the back burner and focus on the gifts of the people that sit in front of them. I get it… in this day and age, a person needs to fit the culture of the business, but isn’t that something that can be adapted as the employee works day-by-day and side-by-side other employees and customers? Wouldn’t you much rather have a person in place that already gets it? Wouldn’t you then want that person to build you up and make you look good? The next time you are interviewing or writing a performance appraisal, think about the word experience in relation to that person. If you can’t think of scenarios that match their abilities, you aren’t doing your job.

Be the Position You Want To Be

The biggest issue we have as managers is having the people in place who are ready for the next level, but they have no place to go. Am I right? At least in my experience, I have had incredible employees ready for the next step with no promotion in the near future. I guess I was lucky. Lucky, to have tenured teams, but it was always hard to watch them sit in the same position over time with nowhere to go.  I always told them to “be the position you want to have and adopt it as a daily state of mind.” It is never easy to have that kind of strength without push back from the employee saying that if “I am doing the position, why can’t I get paid for that position?” Good question…BUT the answer is always because the position doesn’t exist. “Stay with me here. Be patient. It WILL happen.”

Sometimes you have people in position that think they are ready for the next step, but in reality, they are not quite there yet. You have to ask yourself the following questions when reacting to their request:

1. Are they a respected leader in the store? Do employees come to them with questions? Are   they answering these questions correctly?
2. Are they leading by example in regard to policy, operations, and process efficiencies?
3. Can they answer questions that a higher-level manager usually answers without a higher-level manager interfering?
4. Are they self-sufficient or do they need to be given daily direction?
5. Have they instilled a work ethic among employees that others what to mirror?
6. Has the store incorporated processes that this person has envisioned in regard to their division of responsibility
7. How is their customer service? How do they react under pressure? Do customers love to see them in the store when they shop?
8. Lastly, are they getting noticed by district or regional level managers? Are your superiors asking about them in touch bases.

If you are able to answer any of these questions with undeniable evidence and your store has been generating positive sales with their help, then they are ready. Now the advanced training and development begins. It is now up to you to keep them challenged. You don’t want to lose them to another retailer. I recommend sitting down with them and the person who has the position they want and having a conversation about needs and wants. Then as a team develop a training plan to get them to the next level. The best part about this philosophy is that the person in the current position, with your guidance, does the training. It pushes both employees to be better and encourages a teamwork and empowering environment.

This is what keeps people. People don’t necessarily leave stores because they are unhappy, they leave because they aren’t challenged by their leaders. They become bored and stagnant and want to move on to bigger and better things. You don’t want that. Your store needs a core staff to continue to be successful. Customers want to see familiar faces. My advice to all of you out there with a person(s) up to the challenge…Do whatever it takes to keep them. Money is never an option. Especially in this retail environment. You have to make them see that and still want to be a part of your team. You need to be creative and push yourself to be better. You need to be a leader everyone wants to work for. This fact takes patience, accountability, strong communication and delegation. It also takes a mentality that your people may be more capable than you ever imagined and reach a level that inspires you. The end result is to watch people grow and to be proud of what you have accomplished in regard to your stores’ business. After all, isn’t that why we do this?

The Trifecta

In a horse race, the trifecta is a bet made on the top three finishers. In business, trifecta is a term I use for the perfect management team. Don’t get me wrong…it’s still a bet.  Only in this case, you are betting on the fact people will accomplish, as your partners, what is needed based on their strengths and abilities. If you find the right two assistants (ops and visual) to race with you, a store can accomplish just about anything and everything. It really is beautiful.

It isn’t easy to come by. It takes a strong skillset and time to develop that skillset. It is rare to find someone of strong abilities right from the start. These two managers must embrace your management philosophy, use it to develop others and finally follow through with it when you are away from the store. A seamless transition. This is the hardest part about forming this team because each person has their own ideas and agendas. If one of your assistant managers doesn’t believe in what you are doing, a struggle will happen and its negativity will spread like wild fire down to the part timers that work only one shift a week. A power struggle. I am sure you have all experienced this in some shape, way or form. You must prove to the store that as its leader, your method works. Then you must make them want to learn from you. The only way that is done is by showing your team consistent positive results and proving to them that there is a method to your madness. Leading by example is only the tip of the iceberg.

You think it would be easier to find the perfect team, but nowadays teams change more frequently. People seem to be more interested in the next best thing or are motivated by money and move on to a better paying job. You should always be asking yourself these questions:  How do I keep them from leaving? How do I keep them motivated long enough to see my vision? How do I sell the trifecta to my people if they have never experienced what it’s like? A trifecta in a store is a company’s dream come true. Why? Because no one needs to worry about that store. All the pieces are in place for a stores’ success. With the perfect team comes strong and well-rounded employees ready to take on anything. You’ll experience a tenure that is unheard of in the industry and your store will become a talent pool for open positions. A retail managers dream

I have had the privilege of this experience 3 times in my career. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but when you think about all the parts you need, you understand just how hard it is to find the right fit. My advice to all of you out there…. embrace the people you have. Develop them to feel empowered in decision making. Groom your people to want to be a part of something bigger than comps. It is truly an experience you will never forget and it will help catapult you in a direction you may have never seen yourself because your team believes anything is possible and they want to ensure that the ANYTHING happens.

Bench

Bench is an interesting word used in management. Its definitions from the Dictionary are: a long seat for several persons; the quality and number of the players of a team who are usually used as substitutes…and so on. In any type of retail, it’s your back up to a manager. Any manager. Plain and simple. I recently read a quote that stated, “You are not a leader until you have produced another leader who can produce another leader.” These words should be EVERY manager’s mantra. Especially if you want to call yourself a “successful manager”.

Sure, having a strong business with positive comps is successful. Having a repeat customer is considered successful. Having beautiful window displays that draw in new customers is successful. Having over 10K followers, as a business, on social media is considered successful, but how are your teams?

Over the years, I have been incredibly lucky to work with some amazing and talented individuals. Many have gone on to be pretty special themselves. Nothing has made me prouder than to watch a new hire move up the ladder (this you have heard before). I have prided myself in the ability to observe a passion in someone and exploit it. I value the ability to recognize people’s strengths and push them to be the best version of themselves. This has never come easy. People need to have the desire to become a better, stronger version of themselves and YOU as their manager need to be able to assess these characteristics and develop them. Your sales team may not even know that you are doing this and that makes it even more special when they wake up and determine their own strengths and abilities. You need to be tough, direct and expectant of confrontation. To challenge is to not make friends, but to make leaders.

Asking questions of your team needs to be an ongoing theme in your life as a manager or owner of a small business for that matter. Getting to know your staff through conversation and observation are the key to their development. You need to look for another you. Someone to take your place someday. How are they with customers? Make sure they are scheduled peak hours on the sales floor. How are they with new hires? Schedule them to train on the first day of hire. How are they with store standards? Schedule them to do visual sets. How are they with organizing? Maybe they have a love of shipment processing. What do they want to do with their lives? Why did they take the job? These are just some questions you should be asking. Questions you should know the answers to and schedule accordingly.

In my opnion, managers today are getting lazy. Managers today are selfish. Managers today are missing the point in regards to what leadership is. Managers today are not being trained to make themselves a better leader. Managers today are lost without direction. Managers today are the future of business. So why aren’t they being invested in? Why aren’t your teams a priority? Remember why you were hired in the first place?

Something to think about. During your next TB or store meeting ask the questions. Ask your teams what THEY need. You’ll be surprised to know…it’s just you.

Beauty From Chaos

I have used this phrase for as long as I can remember. Those of you that have worked with me over the years have heard it a million times. These three words mean a lot to me and they can signify many different things.

When you hear the word chaos what comes to mind? Disaster? Confusion? Disorganization? I am sure you are imagining so many things and guess what? You’re right. Just the word itself screams at you. Beauty on the other hand paints a distinctly different picture. Maybe it’s a mountain view or a painting where just the colors themselves stand out. Maybe it’s fashion and everything that it represents or a poem you just read where the words leave you feeling better inside. To me, you can’t have beauty without chaos. Think about it. Think about how that relates to everything you have done, seen or experienced.

Now how does this relate to business? I started using the phrase when I was a visual merchandise manager years ago. My team and I would strip the walls of our store clean, putting clothes and product on tables, racks other fixtures and sometimes the floor (sorry it happens) just to see a blank space and wall. It would be just insane in the store during that time. Stuff everywhere…chaotic. We would then start fresh by merchandising new product first then add the old. When the wall and fixtures were where we wanted them to be, we would stand back in awe appreciating our work…Beauty. So, I started saying it. Even though there was a HUGE mess, we would make it beautiful. Meaning…don’t stress about the process. Know that in the end it will be amazing. I have taken that with me and have used it for many situations.

Now that I am out of stores and focusing on the “why” I started Managing With Purpose and the “how” I will make it successful, I find it even more meaningful. I‘ve observed it in all of you out there working your butts off to make your stores and businesses successful. I especially notice chaos in new boutiques opening all over the city. The walls are adorned with incredible merchandise and layout and design are inspiring. Customers are loving the location and the product you are offering, but something seems to always be missing. It always seems a bit off kilter.

I find it hard to fathom “out to lunch” signs on a busy Saturday during peak times or sales people acting like they own the place, but can’t answer any questions or a lack of customer service while the stores’ Instagram is incredible. Why did you open a boutique? In-this-day-and-age where stores are closing left and right, shouldn’t your business be the best it can be? Wouldn’t you like to stay open for a while and gain a positive reputation? Or if you work for a major retailer don’t you want a positive review on Glassdoor or Yelp for a change? The answer is, I hope, yes. You just need to learn process. Let me help you get to beautiful.

The Domino Effect

Tenure. It’s an amazing thing. There is nothing in the world like having a team that sticks around. As a manager or business owner, watching your people grow into roles is probably the most rewarding trait of being a successful manager. At least it was for me. Nothing made me prouder than to watch someone grow from a part timer into high level. How this happens is what I like to call the domino effect.

Your store is a breeding ground for amazingness…if you allow it. Some leaders don’t like seeing others succeed. I always found this odd, but I understood it. People fear strength. It’s true. Some managers like to keep people at a certain level to control them. This is a hard fact to consider, but it is something those managers need to recognize with in themselves. This can most certainly lead to losing good people and spread negativity like a cancer through the store. Your business’s environment is what YOU make it.

It all starts out with hiring. Are you hiring the right people? You should be looking for certain traits when interviewing candidates. Traits like motivation and belief in abilities. Starting at the part time level (we will get into interviewing later). When they’re hired, you are constantly observing and recognizing strengths and opportunities. As you adapt your training to match their abilities, you start to see potential. It is when you start noticing that same individual share your training and philosophies with others that the domino effect begins. When people feel empowered, supported and challenged they stick around. It makes the 4-walls more fun to work in. After all, when we spend most of our time in our businesses shouldn’t we WANT to be there? Shouldn’t there be a purpose to why we work long hours? Shouldn’t there be a positive reason to show up to work every day?

Not every person you hire will stick around. It is usually because it wasn’t just for them. Retail is hard. Some will have opportunities doing something else. It’s a free world. There are many choices for everyone, but always ask yourself…did you do everything in your power to make an impact on that person? Maybe you turned a shy seller into a top seller. Maybe you taught someone to become more organized. Maybe you impacted his or her thinking which in turn allowed them to open-up and become a better person. Believe it or not, you have the power to make these things happen. Just don’t ignore the one’s that got away. Look inside yourself and determine the whys.

Do you have any stories, experiences or comments? I would love to hear your thoughts.

O Mentor, My Mentor

Over the years, I have experienced a cornucopia of managerial philosophies, store cultures and corporate communication styles. Some of these experiences far exceeded expectations and others…well…forced me to second guess what I was doing in retail. Like many of you, I decided to stick with it. I persevered by challenging myself and watching people around me feel empowered to become leaders themselves.

As the years went by and I worked for several different companies, I always wanted to write a book or teach about real life in a store. I have developed some crazy approaches to managing people and situations through a lot of trial and error. I wanted to be the best and lead by example. I wanted those less experienced than myself to be better and more talented. I wanted them to be more aware and develop a strong work ethic.

There weren’t any blogs or the internet to go to for help when I was starting out. I only had the reference of people, trade magazines and books. I can count on one hand how many mentors I have had over the last 27 years. Some were leaders of industry like Kathy Bronstein. I idolized her. She was one of the few female CEO’s in retail during the nineties. Mr. Lamb, my college advisor. He pushed me to be better and challenged my approach to learning. My boss throughout my career with Gap. We called her JDL. She was the strongest woman other than my mother I knew at the time. Her approach to managing was incredibly refreshing. She got to know those who worked for her and valued everyone’s opinions.

Lastly, there is Leann. I don’t think I would be the woman I am today without her. I had the pleasure of working for her on two different occasions and in two different roles. She taught me a lot of things. Many of which, you will learn if we continue-on this adventure together. Just know everyone needs a Leann in their life. She truly believed in me. A powerful statement when you think about what it means. Leann let me be me and pushed me to have faith in my abilities and not second guess myself. Sometimes she would make me so mad, but it all had a purpose. She knew what I could do when I didn’t. That, my friends, is a mentor.

I think that managers and business owners today have forgotten how to communicate. I’ve seen huge divides in approach and accountability. I want to bring that back. In-this-day-and-age leadership is even more valuable. If you don’t have a strong one to look up to…you wing it. Let’s find out what you can do together.