Field Notes for Retail Leaders

Good Morning, Next week is the last full week before Thanksgiving. If you're a retail veteran, you know this week is operationally heavy. You're receiving massive amounts of shipment and probably managing a giant re-merchandising of your store. My leadership team and I used to call it Hell Week. It's all hands on deck. It's long hours. It's a marathon. I got some flack on LinkedIn last year for calling it Hell Week. Some leaders were like, "In my sore we have so much fun getting ready! Hell...

Hey Retail Leader, October is one of the biggest months for planning out of the year. We're hiring for holiday. Maybe managing Halloween shopping. There is almost never a moment to catch up. But I want you to be ready for your next team meeting. It's important. Leading a successful team meeting is pretty easy, but we have to plan. So, today I want to give you my meeting blueprint. This is one of my freebies, but I want to make sure you have it. You're going to want it in a few weeks. ⬇️ How...

Photo by Thom Holmes on Unsplash Hey Retail Leader, I met one of my former sales associates for breakfast. She was struggling with her career path and wanted some advice. She's an assistant manager at a smaller boutique. She's working WAY too hard. Her store leader takes Monday off (WTF) so she does most of the operational tasks, plus she runs the sales floor most of the time. Another manager in the building is particularly unhelpful. He's one of those "Not my job" kinda people. He prefers to...

Hey Retail Leader, Do you gatekeep? Be honest. Sometimes it feels good, right? You're like, I know all this stuff, and you all better keep up. Sink or swim. Or maybe you're thinking, I had to figure out ALL THIS STUFF on my own, and I did it. Now, it's your turn. I get that. I get feeling like that. It's also pretty cool when your company sees you as the go-to person because they know that you know everything. But gatekeeping may be burning you out. As leaders, when we hoard information,...

Photo by Daniela Mota on Unsplash Hey Retail Leader, Do you know Ron Thurston? He's an absolute legend. He's led A TON of retail brands, written the books Retail Pride and Human Pride, and is an all-around super kind and generous human. I had the privilege of being on his Retail in America podcast a couple of years ago. I recently heard him on another podcast, and what he said was sooooooo true that I have to tell you about it. The question: Is it our job as team leaders to make people happy?...

Photo by Brandon Martinelli on Unsplash Hey Retail Leader, Have you heard of the book The Attributes by Rich Diviney? I'm a fan. Diviney is a leadership expert and former Navy SEAL. After he was a SEAL, he had the very hard job of deciding which candidates made it through training to become part of the Navy SEAL Team. He and his colleagues came up with a list of attributes. There are 41. We all possess all the attributes, but we are inherently better in some categories than in others. The big...

Hey Retail Leader, With the few moments I have you here today, I want to champion your expertise. You spend more time in your store than your DM or RM. You know your people better than they do. You know your customers better than they do. It's okay to say no sometimes. It may sound scary. It may sound wild. But this is what excellent leaders do. They question. They assess. Instead of saying yes right away, they analyze and then come back with a better plan for their building. It can be small...

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash Hiya, You’re getting this newsletter a day early! I want to invite you to my Substack LIVE with Steve Worthy today. This is not your usual LIVE event. We'll be talking about our retail origin stories and our best & worst times. If you can join us in real time, you can ask us any questions. The chat is always open, and we go through and answer questions as we go. Hope to see you there Substack LIVE 10:00 am PST/ 1:00 pm EST Let's Go! On with today's Field...

Hey Leader, There is rarely downtime on a retail sales floor. When we get that moment to breathe, we should take it. Stretch. Grab some water, and then take advantage of the break in customers. Here's how to equip your team to be resourceful and ensure you're able to push more off your plate. Make this list: Things to do when there is nothing to do. This list will be different for every store. It may be different for every department. But being resourceful, productive, and making great use of...