Heart

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. The sound of a heartbeat is the truest sign of being alive. We talk about that when it comes to the human body, but what about looking at it from another angle…your business. Stores need heart.

A store needs the pumping of empowerment and the circulating of ideas. 

Have you ever had an employee that just radiates love? Love of the brand. Love of their peers. Love of the customer. You should. Stores can’t be successful without them. These are people who have stuck through it all; through crisis, rotational and dysfunctional management and brand struggles. They shine during high and low volume days, high level visits and customer interactions. The best thing about having heart… they believe in you and all that comes with you. They see the light in you even when things couldn’t get any worse. They provide you with calm when everything around you is in chaos. They embody positivity, integrity and honesty. And the best part of having heart, they aren’t afraid to tell you like it is. Pure honest and direct feedback. Good and bad.

Heart in the store environment will build a strong store culture. It helps by getting rid of dysfunction and disarray pushing you to be a more impactful leader. These employees give you a unique perspective into the temperature of not only your team, but the customer as well.

I walked into a very flawed retail environment. Poor visuals, an uncleanliness I have never witnessed, a “who cares” about the customer mentality and serious theft; both internal and external. I asked myself repeatedly, “What have I gotten myself into?”  I knew there were some issues. I knew this role would test everything I have ever learned about managing stores.  It was going to take a lot of time to turn this store around and the higher ups had HUGE expectations of me. So, what did I do? I ignored all the issues and focused on the people working in the building. Believe me, it did not go over well with the person who hired me. My boss wanted a strategic outline with bullet points on how I was going to turn business and the store round. Afterall, holiday was right around the corner and the clock was ticking.

There was a light. A bright shiny, rainbow hiding in the bowels of this place. Tenure. A heartbeat so loud that it shook my management philosophy to its core and reignited the passion I had sitting in my 3-hour interview.

All the flaws I experienced went on the back burner (for now) and I started sitting down with every tenured employee to learn and revisit their experiences through their eyes. As it turns out, they were forgotten. All of them. In the years of tenure with this team, many of them were leaders themselves, top producers, creative merchants and customer service super stars. All forgotten for a “new and improved” staff led by managers that could have cared less about who they were or what they could bring to the table.  Just a number mentality. They cut back on their hours and pushed them into the shadows. I did the opposite. I knew these tenured employees understood their role because they lived through all the ups and downs. They understood that a store is nothing without its people.

In doing so, I discovered a heartbeat for the brand and store. So, I exploited it! I gave them set schedules at interesting times of the day. I partnered them with new hires, put them in the fitting rooms on the busiest days, added them to the merchandising team and entrusted them to be direct and honest with me. No topic was off limits. I stood there and listened to all of it.  Guess what happened? The store started to thrive. The culture started to shift. Customers started to come back. Their pride flowed through the store. With change beginning to happen on its own, I now had time to strengthen my role and start focusing on the dysfunctionality of the stores systems and bad reputation. I included them in decision making and asked for their opinions on tough tasks.  I looked to them for guidance in hiring the right team. Asked a lot of tough questions and got a lot of hard to hear answers. It all started to work. I no longer needed a bullet point presentation on how I would turn the business around. You experienced it when you walked in the front door. You could feel it.

It sounds simple, right? I’m sure every store has heart, right? Thinking back on your past, perhaps you ignored the heart and that’s ok, but in looking at your present, are you embracing yourself as a leader who can be open? Or do you find yourself looking for a way to push them out because you’re afraid of what they might say? Running a store is hard. Lead with your heart and you’ll win every time.

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.

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 65 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 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. That’s the memory I bring with me. It really is up to you to do something. Be something. Encourage those around you. Lift people up. Share your experiences.