A Simple Theory

How many management decisions have you made all on your own? Do you seek the advice of others? Are you a trial-by-error type of manager? If you were able to answer any of these questions quickly in your mind, then you probably have a management philosophy. If you struggled to answer one and over thought the questions, then hopefully you are on your way to discovery. Don’t worry, it takes time. A lot of time.

 I am sure you were able to think of a name, past or present, to compare yourself to. I know I do. These answers helped shape how I have lead teams over the years. Many trial-and-error examples of leadership have shaped my development, some were awful and others mentor quality. All have encouraged me to find my own path to leadership and business success. 

There are the my-way-or-the-highway types. In the moment, you might believe they suck to work for, but after thinking about their strategy, you must realize they get it done. Their approach, well not admirable, it does have its advantages; to give teams a sense of urgency. This manager tells you exactly how it needs to be done without opening it up for discussion. They micro-manage you all the way through a project and will almost always take the credit for its successes (not the failure). This is called authoritarian theory. It is usually pushed as a hard deadline and it normally takes no prisoners in its efforts. 

Get it done. Do it their way. Move on. NEXT!!!! Many new managers take on this position because they don’t know any other way to define themselves as a manager. It is also used in managing those with time management struggles. It is tough, but it works. It may kill morale and it may make people not want to work for you. It will, however, help you with conflict resolution and insubordination. Two qualities needed in a strong manager.

Moving on.

In my experience, a democratic or laissez-faire style of leadership works best. At least it did for me. After spending most of my life running stores and maintaining strong tenure in teams, I found that those with strong knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA’s) in their roles are often the best. A no brainer, right? They are highly productive and share a willingness to make the overall success of a store a priority. They can be employees you mentored from part time or hired up externally. When this type of management team is at its best, the business runs itself. It’s magic and allows you the opportunity to work on things that really matter…your people. Which in turn builds on their KSA’s. See how this works?

It never happens overnight. It really takes time to discover the right people that will define the business. It takes initiative and a strong work ethic to build on relationships and build trust. It takes conviction and foresight to know what their end results will be. They must believe in your purpose, understand the why’s of difficult conversations and be willing to mold into the employee you encourage them to be. When this happens, it gives you the opportunity to involve them in the overall decision-making process. You encourage their feedback, you value their opinions and seek it out. This becomes part of your leadership style. It not only encourages growth in your people, but helps you define the type of leader who want to become. You will be building a reputation and gaining a level of respect with your team and peers. A win-win. It makes all the hard work worthwhile. A true democratic leader will put their people on a pedestal by showing the entire team as to why the store is successful. The goal is to watch them grow, develop others in your style and so on and so on.

Defining the type of leader you want to become takes a lot of practice, trials and tribulations and turn over. You will, however, grow with each experience. After all, isn’t that the whole point? If you aren’t re-discovering yourself as a leader with each new employee, then why are you managing people in the first place? Just a thought….

Held Together

I was talking to a friend the other day who kept saying how disconnected everyone is at her company. Home office has no relationship with stores and store management has no relationship with the sales team. She told me that her job title should be “a frayed knot keeping it all together.”

I chuckled when she said this, but as I thought further about what she was actually saying, it got me thinking. How many of these types of employees are out there trying to make sense of unorganized organizations? I’m talking about those employees that will do whatever it takes to calm the storm; dot the i’s and cross the t’s. A person who is willing to sacrifice their own time and standing to right an organization’s course. 

Being the knot can’t be easy. Hierarchies be damned. If your peers or your boss don’t have the vision to see what’s happening, it may look like you’re not a team player or you don’t have patience in the process. Worse yet, people will get used to someone else finishing their projects. It will become routine and soon friction and strife between team members rears its ugly head.

I was sometimes called a rebel in my career. Not because I stood out and defied authority, but because I wasn’t afraid to challenge the system. I always had an eye for efficiency and pushing people in the direction of positive results, (although many didn’t see it that way). A rebel is defined as a person who resists any authority, control or tradition. I define it as someone who makes things happen without constraint to better the environment. 

When I think back on my early retail days, I guess I would now call myself a knot too. I worked with many different types of people from all walks of life. Many had their own agendas and thought no one was really paying attention to their moves and ambitions. I, for one, always saw the big picture and knew what had to be done despite the ass kissers and people pleasers. I dotted their I’s and crossed their t’s because I wanted the store to be successful and its employees to believe in something.

If leadership would have noticed what was being done, perhaps I would have moved up a lot faster as someone they could count on for results, but oftentimes, the knot gets put on the back burner because they are not seen as the driven one.  You see... knots don’t take credit for their work. Some would say that is stupid and because of it, I was passed up many times in my career. I was also put into positions training people with higher salaries and titles than myself and operational roles to clean up messes, it bothered me back then, but now I see what it did for me. It built my reputation and my resume. It pushed me to be a stronger version of myself. It forced me into playing defense and sticking to my belief that I could make a difference without putting my credibility into question. 

Don’t get me wrong, I struggled in the past watching mediocre managers move up ladders, but they proved to not last in their roles. Why? They never had the skillset to accomplish the roles they were promoted into.

They struggled to manage people. They struggled to manage their time. Now, one could say it was the fault of the knot holding everything together that they weren’t able to grow into position and manage their store, but I would like to add, if they were doing what they were hired to do, then the knot would have never existed.

As a person in a leadership role now, I look for the person that encompasses these characteristics because I know who they are to become in the future. Those characteristics take a defining role in my hiring decisions and should be yours too. We have enough ass kissers and people pleasers to last a life time. They are not going anywhere, but the rebel? Give them the opportunity to shine. Believe me, you will not regret it and your business will thank you for it.

How do you know when you have found one? Open your eyes on and off the sales floor! Hiring? Look at the candidates journey. Ask them questions about their responsibilities. Notice their body language when asked about their role on a team or what their supervisor may say about them. Is it a bit awkward? Don’t hold it against them. If the answers aren’t negative, you have a knot. Hire them.

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.