Leadership and Dissent

If you want to be a strong leader you have to have people around that challenge you and your opinions; push your buttons and speak up when they don’t agree with your ideas. Leadership and dissent are a necessity in the world of running a business. Especially in regard to running a store. I have witnessed many managers view those with differing opinions as a thorn in their side and oftentimes those employees were coached out of a job. Why? Because the “leader” didn’t like being second guessed. Seems oddly familiar, right?

Although it can be incredibly difficult to manage people who are constantly judging you and questioning your every move, it is important to remember that these people are not in your shoes and don’t always understand the gravity of certain situations. However, they are there to impact your thinking positively and push you to be a better version of yourself. You cannot have strong leadership without dissent. You just can’t. For anyone who says otherwise, they probably have never been in a leadership role or they have probably never had great leadership in their careers to relate to. Just because you hold a manager or business owner title doesn’t mean you are a true leader. Many people get that confused. A true leader inspires growth in position, personal development and encourages people to do and be the same for others.

So…how do you embrace the opinions? How do you find that special someone to have by your side that isn’t an ass kisser? Well, that’s a good question and one where the answer is…time. Many managers and business leaders will tell you, myself included, that an impactful dissenter is not hard to find, but hard to believe in and trust. Trust being the more important word. They can be a person that holds some authority in your business, or in my case, several sales associates that gave me honest feedback on a daily basis and I trusted them with certain decisions. Age never matters, as some of the wisest people I have had by my side are 15 years younger than myself. Thieir life experience has brought strong opinions and concerns to the forefront. 

These employees are not necessarily “sheep” in your stores’ world, but they do follow you. They believe in your purpose and maximize their efforts to support the business processes you have developed. They also share feedback when something is not working and have the courage to tell you when you are JUST PLAIN WRONG.  Every person in a position of leadership should have one. Two is best, but one is enough to right any path. Be careful!!! You never want to find yourself in a predicament where an employee is undermining your every move. They suck the life out of your business; you spend more time putting out fires from their impulsive mistakes and lack of judgment then empowering those same people to rise up and see the bigger picture. 

How do you differentiate? Again, time. The ugly truth always shows itself. Usually, they are the first to report you to a superior with exaggerations and falsehoods. They prey upon others to join their cause with a quid pro quo mentality. Often, they become the best of friends with newer managers or employees and use their influence to adopt a negative outlook of who is in charge. This type of dissenter has only one goal in mind…to have your title. They usually have never held a decision-making position and they feel wronged by you for some reason. It’s the “the grass is always greener” mentality. When their theatrics don’t play out, they usually leave. Yet another sad reality in running a business as they were probably the one you were developing to be the next you and they grew tired of waiting. Being a leader means you don’t take it personal. You wish them well, move on, grow from the experience and go back to empowering and building. 

Dissent will have many impacts on a business, but you are looking for open communication and an emotional intelligence that will build upon the belief of a positive end result not only for your business, but your business’s reputation and culture. Leading by example is not always enough, but leading with the courage to change your personal dynamic can be. Leadership and dissent should be the hallmark of a stores’ success. If you aren’t growing through differing ideas, then no one else will.

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.