I'm Am Not A Robot

“Select all photos with traffic lights.” 

Have you ever compared your store management life to the robot log ins on purchasing websites? I’m guessing it feels like a never-ending battle to engage and be different from the norm. As you know, retail is a peculiar beast compared to other industries. It isn’t a 9-5 job and each day varies from the last, but sometimes the way you are managed or the way you manage your team can be very robotic. 

Do this. Do that. Not enough payroll. Not enough hours in the day to finish a project. A no call no show. The same customer returns merchandise… again. Another customer makes a complaint for a better discount. Employees crying in the bathroom. Cell phones on the sales floor. More markdowns. Moving merch from the front to the back. Moving that same merchandise from the back to the front. Last minute promos. Trash left in the fitting room. Go backs. “How are you today?” Schedule changes. These are just a few things that can pop up during a day. With so much going on inside the store, why are employees bored out of their minds? 

The answer is YOU. If you are feeling like you are on a never-ending loop, then you aren’t doing your job to the best of your ability. Of course, you like things done a certain way. You have routines. You have been doing it that way for a long time, but how about changing perspective and processes a bit? How about empowering your people? I know it sounds simple, but in reality, if you are going through the same motions of managing your people on a daily basis with all the crazy going on in your store, you are not doing the job of managing. You are just…doing.

Employees crave a sense of accomplishment. Herzberg said it best with his Motivation/Hygiene Theory. I am paraphrasing here; to reach true fulfillment one has to feel like they are a part of something and fulfilled, supported and challenged. If an employee feels no sense of accomplishment or direction, boredom and job dissatisfaction ensue. As the store leader, it is your job to foster a work environment that enhances job responsibilities and makes your team want to come to work every day. When was the last time you expressed an interest or really talked to your people? Asked them what they need from you to feel challenged? Took notes and learned something new? On the other hand, when was the last time your boss really had a direct conversation with you concerning your needs? Meant what they said? Answered the hard questions? Helped with a concern?

I write this with the hope it will help motivate yourself AND those you work with to change the process. You must ask the right questions of your team and open up a bit. It’s not easy, but your people will thank you for it. Your boss will thank you for it. It takes guts to ask for help or change your mind set, but you will be worthier of a management title for doing so. Your team will feel better about their future and your store will run smoothly knowing it is an ever-changing environment where people feel empowered to make decisions and not fear mistakes. So instead of going through the everyday motions of do this or do that, how about taking a more democratic approach by asking someone how they would accomplish the task at hand. Try it. You may just like what you hear.

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.

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.

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.

Memory

               “She remembered who she was and the game changed.”  -Lalah Deliah                                                                                                                           

I read this the other day and It felt so fitting in regard to who I am and what I am doing with my life. It hit me right in the heart and it was just what I needed to persevere and keep going. I have been struggling. I am not sleeping. Not eating right. Drinking too much. Asking myself if I am creating value? Am I being all that I can be? Am I going to make it? Self-Doubt. I have been wallowing in it.

I didn’t set out in the world to try and change it, but I did set out in the world to try and gain and share insight. I wanted to be able to do something for a change. Be something I knew I could be without any restrictions. Be myself without someone telling me no or that’s not how we do things. Be someone who wasn’t fighting for every idea or belief. I lost faith in my power. My passion. My abilities. I lost faith in myself.

Working in retail can take a toll on you, your relationships and most of all, your teams. One piece of negative feedback can discourage you from remembering 100 positive ones. At least that’s how I always felt. I was working 70 hour weeks when I left my job a little over 1 year ago. It was killing me, but I always remembered how I got there and who got me to where I was. I was humbled by those that I had watched grow into incredible leaders around me. Those that worked hard along side of me. Those that supported me and those that believed in my vision. It was my time.

It is because of the countless hours training and developing people that I do this. When I remembered who I was, I said no to the negativity and politics and decided to begin again.  Wake from the monotony of going through the motions. Make an impact. Build teams to be strong and capable. Care.

If my memory serves me right…it really is up to you to do something. If I can.......... 

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.