Battle Tested

It’s true. I am. You are. We have been through it all. We have made good and bad decisions. Good and bad mistakes. We have fought an uphill battle and survived. We have fought a downhill battle and made it through without failure. We have failed. We have learned. We have grown.

Does this sound familiar? It should. Most managers have gone through it. If you haven’t then your time will come and it won’t be easy. No amount of ass kissing or trying to talk your way out of things will make a difference. You will be pushed to the limit. Stretched thin and lastly you will cower to an unwavering boss that thinks you deserve it because they think so. It sucks, but believe me, you will survive. It will define who you are as a manager, a leader and more importantly…a person.

Pretty dramatic? I know. I am battle tested. I have been there. At some point, you have to ask yourself whether or not this is something that you can live with. Are these decisions worth the time you spent solving the problem and not receiving credit? Are the hours away from your personal life worth the rungs on the ladder climbed to succeed worth the mindset that you deserve. Are the angry entitlements of your direct reports back stabbing you whenever they get a chance not knowing you hear everything worth the silence it takes to help them grow into better people worth it?

I asked myself these things everyday throughout my career. I had sleepless nights pondering what I could do to just make everything copasetic. Make my environment a bit more manageable. Coerce those around me to drink the Kool-Aid and jump on board someone else’s vison train. I hated the politics. I REALLY hated the politics. It almost destroyed me, but you know want? It made me the person I am today. I don’t care about that shit anymore. I care about you and helping those of you get through it. Like I did for 27 years.

Too old. Too opinionated. Soften yourself. Too masculine. Too soft. Too compassionate. Not compassionate enough. Handle change. Lead change. Bring about change. Don’t change. It is enough to make you sick. It did. It made me sick. Panic attacks. I was pushed, prodded and driven to levels of hell I never thought I’d see, but I survived it. Grew from it. Inspired a new sense of self from it. That is what it means to be battle tested, at least to me.

I’d like to think I made some type of difference in the lives of those I worked with. I hear I did. I watch them in their careers now and believe the insanity that we went through together meant something to them. It did to me. I am in a reflective state of mind these days trying to figure out my next adventure. I am not sure what that is exactly, but I do know I need to make a difference. I need to share my experiences. I want to believe in the abilities of people and push them toward growth. I know those things to be true. The world is changing. People care less about each other and more about themselves and how everything affects them. A selfish mentality that has made managing people harder than it has ever been. Why? What has changed? What will it take to make people like people again? 

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.......... 

A Passion

I am not here to throw anyone under the bus, but managers today need to WAKE UP! I am often asked “why do you do the things you do?” Meaning...why did I decide to quit my career and focus entirely on mentoring. The answer is I have a passion for people, processes and a belief that one holds the power to have a positive influence on others. 

I have had a rollercoaster of a career. I loved every position I have held and every person I have met, developed or observed along the way. I have been pushed, challenged and mentally exhausted from the ride. Why???  Working for someone that doesn’t believe in you or share your same passion for people is detrimental. It destroys any chance of growth, inspiration and positive results. Teams need mentoring, leadership, strong belief in purpose and an overall understanding that they will be supported. Only then will anyone see success in themselves, their stores and their people.

I left a job I loved almost a year ago because I felt trapped. I had nowhere to go to communicate frustration and no one I could trust to keep me motivated. Politics play heavy roles in our work life today (not talking about government politics here). People want to work for friends not bosses. Peers not leaders. No wonder why employees feel lost and abandoned. Too many cliques and too many abstract circumstances. No one is around to help navigate through problems. If by some odd chance they are, they lack the courage to help in fear of being coached out of a job for not playing the part of the cultures status quo. It is a sad state of affairs and one we need to continue to shed light on.

I hear from people on a regular basis that they are afraid to voice opinions. They are afraid to challenge and speak up about concerns they may be having. They have ideas about how to make the environment in-store better. They want to help make people more engaged. It really breaks my heart. Trust. Does it even exist anymore? I am not talking about confidants and keeping secrets. I am talking about listening to your employee’s feedback and having the bravery to do something with it.

I was on twitter the other day when @theclopener commented on a post of mine:

                        “Every time an employee gives feedback, a middle manager absorbs

                         its power and grows stronger. But only if they ignore it.”

Think about that for a second. I do not know who @theclopener is or where they work, but I do know the he/she has a point. Many managers take feedback from direct supports, peers or home office on a daily basis. The problem is they keep it inside and either make changes on their own without admitting to the feedback or ignore it completely and go on with their day. Feedback is always positive whether you are getting reprimanded or not. It is there to help you change for the better, make improved decisions, and garner a stronger self-managerial image. It can suck, but you need to think about the feedback itself. It came from somewhere. Usually, it comes from your team.

It is up to you to become the leader you want to be. It isn’t up to anyone else. You define your actions. Your superiors are there help shape those actions. If they aren’t…choose who YOU want to be and where your passion will follow. 

Nostalgia

Lately I have been thinking about my life as a teenager and the experiences I loved. Many of those experiences involved hanging out at a mall in Minnesota somewhere in the suburbs of St. Paul. It has recently come to my attention that teenagers don’t like malls anymore. They find them boring and useless due to technology. This brings up an important issue and one I feel will continue to make the impacts we are seeing in the retail world. Social media has destroyed social interactions. Malls have become the rotary phone to a new generation and this needs to change.

Malls have to reinvent themselves in order to be destinations again. Shopping centers need to think about how to get teenagers off social media and into their environments. They need to give people a reason to go out of their way from their busy lives and spend money by visiting stores in person. The truth is malls need to react to changing times or they will become future wastelands. You all know that as we are seeing it happen. Stores are closing their doors every day.

There is a shopping center I frequent that HAS. Gone are the 1990 color schemes and cheesy food court. Its perception is considered upscale, but in reality, it is just BECOMING the perfect retail mix where it meets the demands of at least four generations of customer. Its adapting. The mall is divided out from luxury brands on one side to budget conscious brands on another. They attract retailers that are nowhere else in the region and draw in new brands that have less than 40 stores across the country. It has become more of a boutique atmosphere than a shopping center. It has successfully immersed itself into the surrounding community by hosting events, supporting local/national charities and providing access to farmers markets. It has become a need and a desire. In this reality, the center isn’t depending on anchor retailers alone to be successful, but the guts of the center to build its reputation. Which brings me to my point on this topic.

Now that retail meccas are finally starting to figure it out, the stores inside need to provide some sort of longevity to keep customers shopping. Stores need trained people to exist. A no brainer, right? However, competition from online retailing has forced companies to find ways to be profitable and, of course, payroll is always the first operational expense to cut. It is the easiest and will make a store more profitable than high gross margins. Not rocket science info, right? Unfortunately, it is also the bread and butter of any store. Again, not rocket science, right? Teams in stores are what keeps a customer coming back.  However, due to payroll constraints; low pay, long hours and ridiculous expectations are making tenured employees move on. So, as a manager, what can you do about it?

Make every second of the day count towards making an impact on your people. It’s that simple. Get out of the back office and engage with your people and customers. Your customers want to feel connected to a brand and they do that through you. You need to ask yourself why should a customer leave their homes to shop? What kind of impact will you make with your teams to ensure they do? Does your store share a pride in its environment that attracts customers? What have you done to promote a healthy environment with your team? Are your 4 walls representative of an image that social media has determined it to be?

I know you have heard these a million times before, but it is all missing. Customers don’t like shopping anymore. They feel unimportant (especially teenagers). They are ignored. Their concerns go unnoticed. They go into stores looking for the negatives instead of experiencing the positives. You have the power to change this perception. YOU HAVE THE POWER. Payroll or no payroll, you set the tone. One positive experience with a customer can change the reputation of your store in an instant. Customers will want to come back and maybe they will bring a friend to share in the experience.

I love shopping in person. I want to see the employee’s interactions with others, touch the product and experience the brand with my own eyes. Social media has been an eye-opening experience for all brands. It can make a store magical and become an obsession for some (teenagers), but now you have to live up to its expectations. Now YOU need to adapt. Stop blaming poor results on payroll. It only takes one person to make a positive impression. Shouldn’t that begin with you? Shouldn’t you be the experience in your stores. Your management style needs to reflect that.

Mantra

Over the years, I have found a saying I learned while working for Gap that has stuck with me. OWN IT. DO IT. DONE. I interpret it as follows:

**Own what you do. Believe that anything is possible,

**Do it to the best of your abilities and challenge yourself to be better.

 **Done. Accomplish your tasks, learn from them and share your experiences with others.

These 5 words have followed me everywhere in my career. I wish I could remember the original mindset taught to me while I was with Gap, but I like to think the it was meant to change along with you and metamorphosis into what you want it to be. I know I have shared the words with many throughout the years.

I often ask people what they say over and over in their minds to keep them going. What do they say to themselves to keep motivated through good times and bad? I have found that many share the same mantra. The value I take from that is that everyone works hard and believes in themselves. A no brainer. Especially when no one else does. The word fighter is something I have heard a lot in my day. I am. I fight for the right to think for myself and support others. This may sound crass and a bit harsh, but I have experienced a lot of haters out there. I never understood why. If my business is successful and my team is tenured and my customers keep coming back, why am I constantly being penalized for standing up for myself, my processes or my teams?

Maybe it was the MY in that last statement. I always loved to try things differently from the rest. After all, I had been managing stores for a very long time and had experienced many different scenarios. Some processes work and others don’t work as well. I personally like the ones that work and work for the better. This attitude often brought on problems with superiors. Again, why? Maybe because it wasn’t what everyone else was doing. Maybe it was because they never believed in me. Maybe it was considered a threat to the status quo. Not sure. I am not saying to be a fighter, but we all have incredible ideas. It is important that we don’t let them disappear because we may not feel comfortable in how others may take that idea. This happens too often and frankly I am sick of it. Aren’t you?

At any given time, we have the innate ability to own our problems, our issues, our behaviors and finally our legacy. We get to own the processes we put in place to lead, to generate strength and to fulfill promises we made to our teams. Our legacy should be to finish with grace, respect and fortitude. This is a mantra I share with all of you. Be you. Embrace new ideas. Don’t be frightened by the idea that you may not be in the right or your idea may fail in action. We learn from experiences and grow from them no matter what the outcome. Own up to you.

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.

Be A Chameleon

I love chameleons. They are such a unique species. As their skin adapts to their environments they are camouflaged from predators and invisible in nature. They are beautiful and interesting. All of you should adapt the idea of being a chameleon as inspiration to do the same.  Not that you need to hide from predators or blend into your stores’ or business’s environment, but you need to be able to reach several different types of people on many different levels to accomplish the same goals. These goals are success in business and a tenured well-rounded team.

Every person you manage or work side-by-side with during your career is unique. They look different from you, grew up in various environments from you and their approach to learning is unique from yours. So why would you ever try to train them and manage them all the same? These are some of the most frustrating things to hear from employees. “My manager just can’t communicate with me “.  “He/she just doesn’t get me”. “I wish my boss would just listen to what I have to say”. “I don’t understand what I am to do and I am afraid to ask questions”. Now I am not perfect, I have heard many, if not all of these examples directly, but I learned from them and forced myself to take the high road and become a better version of myself.

Going back to the previous blog “Know Your People Before You Manage Your People”, you have spent some time observing. You have seen how they handle customers, peers and tasks. Now you can start developing them. Remember, no person is alike. You must adapt your training mindset to that of the individual. Some like to take a lot of notes and some like to memorize through observing processes. Some hate technology and some are computer wizards. Most people are passive in new situations and need a lot of positive reinforcement to gain confidence. Others believe they know everything and really take offense to fresh ideas. All of this can be frustrating when running a business and it is easy to take your frustration out on your people. It doesn’t have to be. YOU need to adapt! You cannot be a strong, successful leader if you don’t.

Your employees look to you for guidance. It is important that you prove to them why you are in the position you are in. Ask a lot of questions and make sure what you are communicating is clear. Maintain an open mind and be open to learn something yourself, your management style and your temperment. That is the best part. Learning from your people. It challenges you and keeps the open communication flowing. Maybe it won't work on everyone, but don't give up. If you can develop just one person to be a better, stronger, well rounded individual then next time you can develop two people. After all, isn’t that what it’s all about? The domino effect gives any manager or business owner a sense of pride.

Know Your People Before You Manage Your People

Have you ever been told when starting a new management position or getting promoted that you should just fire everyone and start fresh? Yeah, me too. My response always has been…” we’ll see, let me see what I can do first.” I have always been a believer in the philosophy of know your people before you manage your people. It wasn’t always that way, in fact, I learned it over the years. As I grew, so did my management skills and my management style. Both took on a life of their own. Whether my bosses liked it or not. I don’t think that, nor do I believe that people can’t change. I believe people WANT to be better. I believe people can be whatever they want to be if they have the right tools to get there. Tools can mean training, stronger leadership and positive store environment.

Being a store manager or any level of manager for that matter means you should be an observer first, developer second and then and only then can you decide whether a person fits the mold. If you don’t understand your people, how can you manage them? If you were promoted into the position, you already have a basic grasp of who each person is, how they respond to each other and how they learn. But now they work for you so you need to tread carefully as this adds a new dynamic to the store. If you enter the business as a new manager, especially new to the brand, you have big shoes to fill. There is a lot riding on your shoulders. You were brought in there to assert change, drive results, and breathe life into a store. This is not an easy task and to get there you need the support of your team.

Observing may sound simple enough, but it takes patience and time. You need to sit back and watch each member of your team in a variety of circumstances. You have-to let them make mistakes without interfering. You need to learn how they handle different types of situations. From these observations, you can determine how to develop. I usually observe for about a week. I try to schedule myself different shifts so I can experience the store during different parts of the day and the team interacting with different people. After observing, I like to meet with everyone. It could be all at once during a manager's meeting or what I always liked to do was talk to them randomly one-on-one when it wasn’t planned. The goal is to listen, ask questions and develop a rapport. This will start the process naturally and give you a fresh outlook.

Development comes next. Stay tuned for what I like to call being a chameleon….

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.