August 10, 2023 • 43 mins
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Are you ready to elevate your retail leadership skills to the next level? In today's episode, we're dissecting the crucial elements of successful leadership - time, support, and capacity.
We'll guide you through five transformative areas to enhance your leadership prowess: amplify your retainability, decode feedback, craft a robust retention blueprint, bolster support, and become an irreplaceable asset to your team.
We're also shining a spotlight on an innovative model, 'SMILE,' that has remarkably transformed my leadership journey. This concept encapsulates self-awareness, mindful listening, inspiring trust, leading by example, and emitting empathy.
We're delving deep into this strategy, demonstrating how transparency and personalized growth plans can cultivate trust. Moreover, we’ll reveal how exuding empathy and leading by example can foster an environment of respect and comprehension.
Having an opinion as a retail leader holds significant weight. Today, we're exploring the importance of forming opinions about your people, your business, and most importantly, yourself. We'll walk you through the art of detaching emotion from your conversations, leading to more effective dialogue.
We'll unearth the importance of being data-literate in aspects like understanding your P&L, competition, merchandising, logistics, and customer buying patterns. Rounding it off, we'll delve into the art of self-awareness and how articulating your strengths and opportunities without boasting can catapult you to new heights of leadership. Tune in today for a treasure trove of insights and practical advice!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So I did a quick stint in project management.
Interestingly enough, right, Iknow we're here.
This is a retail leadershippodcast, but let me just tell
you this little quick story.
I did a quick stint in projectmanagement and part of that was
business development and I wouldgo into a different business
and I would identify theirbusiness pain.
I would identify the issuesthat they were struggling with
(00:23):
and align it with you know,their competition, and then what
I would do is I would providesolutions based on project
management principles.
But one of the things I learnedduring my process is that
everybody within theorganization sees a problem
differently.
I know you're probably sayingthat's pretty rudimentary, right
, you know everybody kind ofgets that, but do that?
(00:45):
I don't know if they do.
And what I want people tounderstand is that within every
problem that I've discoveredwithin those organizations is
that there are typically somefundamental reasons and tips
that you can use that you needto understand in order to
weather the storm or in order toconquer any problem.
(01:08):
Here's the thing for so manyretailers right now.
It's been that way for so long.
They've been weathering thestorm, they've been trying to
figure out different ways inorder to get things done and, in
my time as an experiencedretail leader, I know that there
are three things that retailleaders need to have a better
(01:31):
understanding about, and at itstime.
Right, you need more time togrow personally, professionally,
you need more time to getthings done.
You need more support.
Retention how do you retain toptalent?
But, more importantly, how doyou yourself become retainable,
(01:51):
indispensable to your team andto your organization?
And the biggest thing that Ican see right now, and the third
one that I want to address andwe're going to talk more about,
is this idea around capacity.
Right, retail leaders have moreenlarged responsibilities.
You have more stores as amulti-unit leader than you ever
(02:13):
had before.
Leaders are trying to build up,but they have less time to
build.
As a result, there's this hugerisk to lose talent, there's a
huge risk to lose profitability,and I'm not telling you
anything new.
But what we do want tounderstand and what I do want to
talk about today, is that we'regoing to talk about how to save
(02:36):
time.
How can we help you focus onfive critical areas in your life
, in your profession, withinyour team, that you need right
now, that are going to build upcapacity but, more importantly,
make you a profitable leader.
Let's go ahead and get started.
(02:56):
Well, welcome to RetailLeadership with Steve Worthy.
This is the Real Talk RetailLeader Podcast, where we go be
on the manual to teach you tipsand tricks and talk about real
conversations that a lot ofretail organizations don't.
We focus in on creating thatbridge of knowledge where
corporations stop to where youwant to be.
(03:17):
We are that bridge and this isthe podcast that you really
really want to hear.
All right, we are going to jumpinto these five critical areas
that you need.
I really hope you have a pen, Ihope you have a notepad, I hope
you have something to writethese things down.
This is going to be extremelyimpactful for you as a senior
(03:43):
retail leader, to understandwhere you are.
But, more importantly, what doyou need to do for your team and
also for yourself?
All right, are you ready fornumber one?
Number one is how do youincrease your retainability?
Retainability I know when Ijust said it it sounded like two
words, but it's one word.
It's retainability.
Here's the thing aboutretention.
(04:05):
Retention is a two-way street.
It's not.
I know it's important that youunderstand the ability to retain
great talent.
It's critical, it's absolutelycritical for your success as a
retail leader period.
But here's the thing that Ialways talk about how retainable
are you as a leader?
(04:25):
Are you indispensable?
So how many of you have been ona flight before?
And right before you take off,the stewardess talks about
putting on your mask firstbefore you put it on somebody
else.
When we think about retention,we have to think about it in
that way.
First, we have to think aboutdo I have the requisite skills
to be retainable?
(04:46):
Because if you don't know whatretainability looks like, do you
know how to hire for retention?
Do you know what it looks liketo hire the right person for
where you are and where you areactually going, if you don't
understand that for yourself?
So we want to talk about it inthat context of it's not just
(05:07):
about retention, it's aboutmaking yourself, and then also
your team, retainable.
You have to make an investmentin yourself, you have to make an
investment in your team.
So here's what happens when westart to think about
retainability.
There are three different areasthat I want to quickly talk
about.
Three quick areas Decodingfeedback, crafting your
(05:31):
retention blueprint and becomingirreplaceable.
So I want to go through theseand then we're going to, of
course.
Move on to the second oneDecoding feedback.
Okay, in retail there are somany different.
How can we put it?
Classifications, high potential,meet expectations, exceed
expectations, below expectations, don't meet expectations.
(05:53):
You've been hearing this yourentire career and you don't know
where do I stand.
Where do I stand right now?
Because, here's the thing youcan be high potential and then
you get a new boss and guesswhat?
You're not high potentialanymore because you have to
start from ground zero.
You have to start from groundzero.
(06:15):
So how do you decode thefeedback that you've received
throughout your entire careerand understand where you
currently are as a leader andwhat does that mean for you
moving forward?
So you have to be able todecode the feedback.
This is a point one aroundretainability.
Number two craft your retentionblueprint.
(06:37):
You need a plan.
You need a plan.
Retention just does not happen.
Listen to me you can look atyour succession plans all day
long, all you want, but if youdo not have a plan for retaining
that talent that you need to gointo that succession plan or
that's currently on yoursuccession plan, then it's just
(06:58):
not going to work.
But at the other point, we'rejust going to get back to this
again, about yourself.
How are you, how are you set upfor, for growth?
Right, I always think about itin this way Every time I hired,
anytime I hired, I hired forgrowth.
I didn't hire for.
Right now you have to hire forgrowth.
(07:21):
So, as a, as a, that begs thequestion Are you ready for
growth?
Do you have the records, thatskills to grow?
So, and in that, in thatretention blueprint, you have to
take Time to assess where youare, so that you can develop
those skills, so that you canbecome Retainable yourself.
(07:43):
And then the last point withthis one is are you are, are you
becoming irreplaceable?
Right, let me, let me, let metell you this right now this is
the secret sauce, this is thesecret sauce to be in
Irreplaceable how much do yougive of yourself?
How much do you give ofyourself?
(08:05):
The one issue that I alwayshave with leaders is that when
they withhold knowledge, whenthey withhold Information,
because they are afraid that themore information you give, the
less control you will have, thatis a clear sign of a insecure
leader.
When you will have theinability to give of yourself,
(08:30):
to give more of yourself, togive information, to be
transparent, right, you trulybecome irreplaceable, and it
takes time.
It takes time for you tounderstand that.
The other thing that makes youirreplaceable and we're gonna
talk about this one here in In asecond is that you have to have
an, a valued opinion.
(08:50):
A valued opinion people willcome to you for Different
information and you have to beable to have an opinion on that
right, but your opinion has tobe valued over time.
So number one was increasingyour retainability, and we
talked about Decoding thefeedback, crafting your
(09:13):
attention blueprint and becomingirreplaceable.
All right, I really hope you'reready for number two.
I really hope you're ready fornumber two.
Okay, okay, so we just.
We just spoke aboutretainability.
Number two, let's talk aboutnumber two.
(09:36):
Okay, this one I've beensitting on for a while.
When I say I've been sitting onthis, this is honestly been, you
know, sort of my secret weaponas a retail leader for years.
I mean when I say years, I meanyears, and it is the idea and
concept of how to improve yourapproach ability.
(09:59):
I am in the midst of writingthe book the approachable retail
leader.
Within that book, we focus onan understanding that every
Retail leader spouts differently, and the reason I say smile is
because we actually have aframework, we have an action, an
acronym for the word smile, andit is self-awareness, mindful
(10:23):
listening, inspire, trust, leadby example and also empathy.
So here's why I love thisconcept of approachability.
It is a time saver, one of thethings, and all of you,
retailers, will know andunderstand this.
The one of the things I wouldalways tell my team is that
(10:46):
listen to me.
I would rather you inform me ofan issue than me having to find
out how many of you can relateto that.
How many of you can relate tothat?
Right?
So that will probably be myinitial conversation when I talk
to them, but then, over time,the level of approachability
that I was able to display wouldallow my teams to inform me
(11:09):
instead of me having to find outcertain things.
So, guess what?
We can identify problemsquicker, we can ideate solutions
so much faster, we can executeso much faster, we can hire so
much faster.
The idea of approachability isthat it's the process of
allowing people to be able tocome to you as a leader, as they
(11:30):
are, and be able to talk aboutreal situations, real issues,
without reprisal, withoutjudgment.
Approachability has a measureof curiosity associated with it,
and so, therefore, it'simportant that you walk into a
store and I always say this youvisit people, not stores.
(11:50):
So the approachability factorcomes into play.
When we talk about our acronym,smile, I will briefly go
through all of these becausewe're writing a book on it.
So I want to tease it a littlebit because the book is going to
be amazing.
I'm telling you right now.
So self-awareness Honestly,self-awareness is really just
(12:12):
having a deeper, a deep rootedsense of your why.
It goes a little far beyondjust the knowing your strengths
and your weaknesses.
It is understanding your why,why do you make decisions, how
do you react and why you reactin a certain situation the way
that you do.
Self-awareness has the abilityto make or break you as a leader
(12:34):
.
Your temperament, all thosedifferent aspects of your
leadership are wound up in yourability to understand your
measure of self-awareness.
M it's for mindful listening.
Here is, here's the brass tacksof it.
Retail is.
You have to understand this.
You are at different levelswith each one of your team
(12:55):
members all the time.
All the time.
The issue is that a lot ofleaders tend to lead one way and
they expect the team to kind ofacquiesce to that leader.
As a leader, you have to beadaptable.
You have to know where youstand and where you are at,
(13:17):
where you are with each one ofyour team members, each one of
your leaders, all the time.
And you and you have to adaptyour leadership style because if
you don't guess what, you'renot going to get the results
that you want.
So mindful listening the M.
So I inspire trust.
Two points on inspire trust youhave to be transparent with
(13:40):
your decision-making and youhave to provide a personalized
growth plan.
So transparency here's themajor issue.
Or why leaders are nottransparent?
Here's why because they areemotionally attached to their
decisions.
When you are emotionallyattached to your decisions,
(14:00):
guess what?
Any measure of disagreementwith that decision is almost an
attack on you.
You have to be how can I saythis?
You have to be mature enough inyour leadership to understand
and be okay with dissent.
It is okay to have dissentaround a potential decision that
you're going to make becauseyou want the best decision
(14:22):
possible.
So you have to develop thatlevel of maturity to accept and
be okay with dissent.
The second part is thepersonalized growth.
We have created all these kindof imaginary pathways for people
to get to the next level.
You have to go to this level,you have to start to this and
you have to go here and you haveto go there.
(14:43):
And now you can become a storemanager.
Or now you become a districtmanager.
After doing two or three rows,after you become a store manager
to get to the district managerlevel, yada, yada, yada.
We have to stop that.
You have to create apersonalized, you know, growth
plan for that individual that isrealistic, and it's not just
(15:03):
because everybody else has doneit this way that you have to do
it that way as well.
We can't.
We have to stop that.
You are not inspiring trust bydoing that.
And lead by example.
The L is lead by example.
Here's the here.
This is gonna help somebody outMaking changes in your
leadership style based onfeedback.
(15:23):
That's how you lead by example.
That's how you lead by example.
There are so many other thingsthat people talk about leading
by example, but leading byexample is when you are, as it
relates to your approachability.
When someone gives you feedback, you actually have to have the
ability to actually take thatfeedback and do something with
that feedback.
(15:44):
So leading by example is islearning and sharpening your
skills based off of feedback, sothat way you can become more
approachable as a leader.
And then empathy.
This last one, I'm gonna use aquote from one of my favorite
shows and it is called Ted Lasso.
If you haven't watched TedLasso, you need to watch it, and
he has this line and I love it.
(16:05):
It's be curious, not judgmental,as it relates to your
approachability, for when peoplecome to you with something,
when you walk into their market,when you walk into the store or
even when you go to home office, there has to be a natural
curiosity to that relationshipthat you want to have, and it
has to, and you have to be ableto suspend judgment, because if
(16:26):
you don't suspend judgment, noone is going to come to you.
No one is one is going to wantto connect with you.
So you have to be able tosuspend judgment but remain
curious, and that curiosity istalking to your team, asking
questions, understanding theiraspirations, how's their family?
All those different things.
So, as it relates toapproachability, we have this
(16:49):
framework and it's called thesmile framework because, once
again, every leader smilesdifferently.
All right, you ready for numberthree?
Okay, let's get into numberthree, because number three, all
right, number three is gonnaknock you in your butt.
It's gonna knock you in yourbutt and you gotta be ready for
it.
Let's go, let's go.
You're listening to retailleadership with Steve Worthy.
(17:10):
Okay, number three.
Number three I don't know why Ilaugh right before I start this
.
For every one of these I startwith like a little laugh.
I don't know, it's so funny andI hope you guys kind of get my
little sense of humor because Iget excited.
Obviously, I get excited aboutall these.
Okay, all right, here we go.
(17:30):
Number three you have to learnhow to develop your own opinion.
I know you're like really,steve, really you have to
develop your own opinion.
You have to develop your ownopinion.
I'm gonna get into this.
I'm gonna start with a quickstory.
Years ago, years ago, years ago,I was a store manager and you
(17:51):
know you get the, the, the, the,the visit from from HQ with,
like there, you know, anytimeyou get a visit from HQ, it's
not just two people, it's like ateam.
There's buyers, there's there'syour boss, your boss's boss,
there's H, hr, all these people.
So there's like a team, atleast six or seven people.
Right, they're not gonna justget on the jet and just like you
(18:11):
don't send two people, they'regonna send a whole whole group
of people.
So I would get these storevisits and you know they would
come in.
They would visit my store forabout an hour, right, and store
was down.
Then we were, we were good togo.
Then they would go over to mypeers, my pierce store, and they
would spend.
They would spend three, four,five or six hours at at his
(18:33):
store and I'm like dude.
So initially I thought Ithought my pier I'm just gonna
call him Jim I.
I initially thought Jim was introuble, like why are they
spending so much time at hisstore?
Then we got another visit,right, they would go to one of
my pierce store.
Then they go to the gym, gymstore, and they would do the
same thing.
They'd spend three or fourhours and I'm like dude, why are
they spending so much time ingym store?
(18:55):
So I walked I had this a gymdude I need to know and he
walked me through everythingthat he would do when they came.
Here's the thing Jim had anopinion on his business.
Jim had an opinion on the, theassortment.
(19:15):
Jim had an opinion on his team.
Jim had an opinion on hiscompetition.
Jim had an opinion on where hisstore was going, where the
market is going, where newstores can be built.
Jim had an opinion and and thatwas that is what set him apart.
Every leader must have anopinion.
(19:36):
Well, mostly is don't know howto express it.
You know they don't.
They don't know how toarticulate their opinion and not
come off as being a jerk.
Here's the thing.
An opinion, an opinion, is usedto provoke a better answer or
more, or add value.
(19:57):
An opinion doesn't necessarilymean that you have all the
answers.
It's just an informedperspective and so insight, but
it's laden also with curiosity.
Right, an opinion is is is used, once again, to provoke a
dialogue between you and whoeverit is that you're talking about
, so that they can go a littledeeper.
(20:18):
Then you can go a little deeperand both of you are leaning in
to whatever that opinion is orwhatever that perspective is, so
that, ideally, you come out theother side with more value.
You come out the other sidewith more information on what to
do next Period, and you have tohave an opinion.
(20:40):
As a retail leader, a goodopinion can change the course of
your career Because in matters,a good opinion carries weight.
Your opinion carries weight.
Please understand that thereare three areas that you need to
have an opinion on.
Three areas you need to have anopinion on your people, your
(21:03):
business and yourself and whoyou are.
You have to have an opinion onthose three areas as a retail
leader, right, here's the issuewith opinions though a Lot of
them can be late and withemotion and emotions.
You have to understand andlearn how to take the emotion
(21:23):
out of certain situations.
You have to be able to learnhow to do that An opinion for
your people.
You have to take the emotionout of the situation and really
go off the brass tacks of whothey are, what they've done, the
leadership traits that theyhave or that they need to work
on.
For your business, you have tohave an opinion on data literacy
, understanding what your P&L istelling you and what is telling
(21:46):
you in the future, yourcompetition, merchandising,
logistics, expansion, growth.
You know product placement.
You know where do you see themarket?
What are interest rates doing?
What's the buying pattern ofyour, of your customers?
What do you see coming down theline?
What do you think back toschool season is going to be
(22:06):
like Right now?
What do you?
What do you think aboutChristmas?
What do you think about Q4?
What do you think about yourstaffing levels?
Like these are the things thatyou need to have a very strong
and educated opinion on as well.
And lastly, you you have to havean opinion on on you.
Where do you want to be and howare you going to get there?
(22:29):
Right, you have to be able tohave an opinion on who you are,
your strengths, youropportunities, the things that
make you you, how you engageyour team and also what are the
things that you need to learn todo differently.
Right, the issue that I see alot of times when it comes to
opinion on yourself is that wedon't have the ability of skills
(22:50):
to, or have the language to,talk about ourselves in an
effective manner.
That doesn't come off asboasting, but it really gives
you a crystal clear picture ofwho we are and where we want to
go.
You have to learn how to havean opinion in these three areas.
All right.
Number four Okay, I keep sayingI'm excited about each one of
(23:13):
these, but I am, I am reallyexcited about this one, because
this one is Going to be onethat's going to change A lot of
your perspectives on who you areand what you do.
Right now let's go into numberfour.
Okay, number four.
Number four managing criticism.
Okay, here's the thing I am aNew York Knicks fan and the
(23:37):
Knicks have been horrible.
Probably since as long as I'vebeen alive, they have been
horrible.
We've had a couple of goodseasons, we've had a couple of
good you know years where we'vegone deep into the playoffs, but
we haven't had a championshipsince I have been alive
literally since I have beenalive and typically New York
(23:57):
fans are the worst.
Boston fans are probablyhorrible too.
As it relates to our passion forour team and Whenever, if
you've ever gone to a game andthe team is a performing well,
or or you may be a sports fanand your team is a performing
well, what typically happens?
Booing Right.
People start booing Right.
They just in a just like you.
(24:18):
Really, it's like they're,they're Upset at the performance
of the team and so they startbooing.
I remember listening to thatand I I stopped booing because I
started to realize that I was abad person.
I started to realize and startto think about the, the player.
I well how how much the playerfeel that their fans are booing
(24:38):
them, that their fans, the fans,are booing them.
That's it has to bedisheartening.
But here's the thing as a leader, what do you do when the booing
starts?
Because it's going to start.
Best belief doesn't matterwhere you are in your career.
(24:58):
The booing is going to startFrom your team, from the
customers, from your boss.
People are going to boo you now.
They are not going tophysically, you know.
You know when you walk in thestore, you know boo you.
Right, they're not going to dothat, but it's going to be
subtle.
It's going to be very subtlewhen they are displeased at what
(25:20):
you're doing.
So here are three ways that youneed to understand in your
career of when the booing starts.
Number one it's inherited.
The booze are inherited.
And what I?
What do I mean by that?
You're a new leader and you'rein a new market.
Right, they?
(25:41):
They love the previous leaderbecause the previous leader let
them get away with everythingand the booze of who you are are
unwarranted.
But they exist.
Right, because you're new.
Right, you are an unprovenentity in their eyes, and
everything that you say, everything that you do, every
mannerism is watched and it isscrutinized.
(26:03):
Every decision you make isjudged.
Now, I know what you're saying,steve.
You didn't.
You didn't do anything todeserve this.
Yes, you did.
Here's what you did you becamea leader.
You decided to be a leader.
Period doesn't matter when youdecide to be a leader, the
booing is going to start right.
(26:23):
Booing is Inextricably like,connected with them with with
leadership it is.
It just happens.
I don't know if any leader, ifyou have, if you're a leader,
you haven't been booed.
I dare say that you're notleading.
I Dare say that you're notleading.
So you can inherit the boozebecause of you know the.
(26:46):
You're a new leader, you're ina new market or you're you know
you, or even in the same storeor whatever.
And now you just got promoted.
So people, there are peoplethat are going to be booing you
and watching you.
Here's the other one the.
There are self-manufacturedbooze, and what I mean by that
is you deserve the booze becauseyour leadership sucks.
(27:06):
Okay, I don't know how, I don'teven know how else to explain
it.
You deserve all the booze.
They're not even late.
They are self-manufacturedbecause you, because your
leadership, needs help.
Period, right and so In.
But you don't know that right,you think you are.
You are the bees knees.
I'm so old I can't believe.
(27:26):
I just said bees knees, right,but you just think you are the
best thing since sliced bread.
I'm gonna know there's anotherone right there.
Right, but you're not.
And so the booze that youreceive are deserved because,
guess what, your leadershipisn't where it needs to be.
You need feedback, and you needit now.
Most important, you need to dosomething with that feedback.
(27:48):
If not, you're gonna lose theteam and the booing is Going to
become even more so.
It's gonna increase, right, andhere's the thing that you don't
want to have happen.
When it, when it's the boozeare self-manufactured because
your poor leadership, they startbooing to your boss.
They start booing to yourbosses, boss, they start booing
behind your back even more sobehind your back, right, so the
(28:12):
self-manufactured booze aresomething that you, you have
control over.
You can do that if you get theright feedback, if you get
coaching, mentorship, if youjoin different groups,
masterminds, to understand whereyou are within your leadership.
And the last one is and thisone is this one is a little
difficult, but it's it's.
It's very true you, you'reassuming that people are booing
(28:36):
you based off of insecurity.
Right, the booze may not evenexist.
But you are so insecure as aleader you think everybody is
booing you.
You do.
People aren't even people.
People are indifferent aboutyou.
They're not booing you, they'rejust indifferent about you.
(28:58):
But you have, you have assumedthat the booing is there.
So guess what?
Guess what you become?
You become a people pleaser,right you?
You become a people pleaser inhopes that the booze are going
to be reduced.
I go are going to be reduced,but guess what?
The booze don't even existbecause people are indifferent
about who you are and what youdo.
(29:18):
They don't have an opinion oneway or the other, but you are
insecure and who you are as aleader, so you just assume the
booze are there, right?
So if you're assuming thatpeople are booing, you need
clarity, you need an honestopinion about you and your
leadership.
You need a coach.
You need, you need a personthat's going to provide you with
(29:38):
feedback.
Right, when you assumesomething there, there is an
issue of insecurity in who youare and what you stand for.
So, once again, when the booingstarts, you can inherit the
booze, the booze become theirself-manufactured, or you can
assume that the booze are there.
All of these things requirehonest feedback on.
(30:03):
All of these things require amassive amount of introspection
and Change in who you are andInformed change.
Not just change for change sake, but Inform change so that you
can be the best person inversion of yourself that you
want to be.
All right, we are going to getinto number five.
(30:23):
Number five is going to be theone that is going to help you
bring everything Together allright.
Number five, number five is isis future self.
You need a game plan for yourimmediate future as a leader.
If you had the opportunity tospeak to your future self, what
(30:45):
questions Would you ask?
What questions would you askright, just think about that.
You could pause or you canwrite it down right now.
What questions would you askyour future self?
Well, most of us would askquestions related to three
things that we care about themost.
It's our future, our family andour finances.
(31:05):
Our future.
Let's talk about our future fora second here.
What am I doing?
So you're talking to yourfuture self like, what am I
doing?
All right, where am I doing it?
But most importantly, mostimportantly, do I enjoy what I'm
doing?
Am I fulfilled?
Am I fulfilled in what I'mdoing?
When you think about yourfuture self.
(31:26):
These are the questions thatyou will ask yourself.
The second one is around family.
How was I able to provide formy family?
Did I set a good example?
How?
What is my family doing as aresult of my leadership?
Where are they now within theirprofessional career, within
their personal development?
(31:47):
These are all important thingsthat leaders Would ask their
future self.
And the last one is gonna justbe my finances.
Where am I?
What type of behaviors here's ahere's a great question ask
your future self.
What type of behaviors do Ineed to learn now that will set
me up for future success?
(32:07):
What leadership skills do Ineed to develop in order to
maximize my future earningpotential?
Those are two killer questionsto ask you for yourself.
I really wish I had theopportunity to ask my future
self this when I was 26, 27years old, even 30 or even 35.
(32:28):
I would have been able to makea massive dent in the universe,
as my James, as my friend JamesHicks, always says.
Like you have to make a dent inthe universe.
I would have been able to dosomething completely.
I won't say differently, but Iwould have probably been leading
at such a different level.
Right, what about you what?
What questions Do you want toask your future self?
(32:50):
In order for you to become thatfuture self, you need a game
plan.
You need an open and honestplan around where you are and
around when you want to be.
You need a strategy.
You need a guided set ofactions and activities To
actually move you along ineverything that you want to do,
(33:13):
everything that you want toAccomplish.
So number five was your futureself Right, creating a game plan
that will immediately impactyou in your future as a leader.
Okay, so let's, let's quickly,just let me just quickly recap
(33:41):
number one improve your approachability, increase your retain
ability, learn how to developyour own opinion, manage
criticism.
What are you going to do whenthe booing starts?
Because it's going to start.
And then, number five Do youhave a clear plan?
Do you have a clear plan forthe immediate future as a leader
(34:04):
, for your immediate future as aleader for so, for so many
senior retail leaders, I knowthis is exactly what you needed
to hear.
And and in how you need tofocus on your developmental
plans for, for your highpotential leaders, so that you
don't lose them right by, bycontinuing to grow and nurture
(34:26):
them in the right way and youhave to do that now.
That being said, for most ofyou, executing this critical
plan is easier said than done.
It's easier said, andespecially right now, in the
state of re, in the state ofretail, a hundred percent.
I completely understand that.
When you look at the currentstate of our industry, you look
(34:47):
at the current state of wherewe're, where we're going.
The problem that many retailsenior retail leaders face right
now is around capacity.
Right, you need more.
You need more time.
You need more ability.
You need more a bandwidth toactually build your team.
More responsibilities yourresponsibilities have enlarged.
(35:07):
Right, more stores, leaders youneed more leaders to build up
and but you have less time to dothat.
And then you add on the thestretch of our upcoming season
Q4.
Right, q4 can take a massivetoll on leaders and you need to
be able to develop your team asbest as you can, and that means
(35:30):
developing the best talent.
Even if you don't have time todo it, even if you don't have
time to partake in itindividually, you need to be
able to invest in your team.
You need to be able to investin your team.
This is why I've developed aneight-week Retail leadership
mastermind.
(35:51):
That will help you bridge thedevelopmental gaps that you need
, which is to improve yourapproach ability, increase your
retainability, teach your teamhow to develop and have their
own opinions, prepare them forthe criticism that is to come,
but, more importantly, to have agame plan for their future
success.
(36:11):
I know one of the reasons why alot of people don't want
sometimes it's just real talkthe raw lot of times, leaders
don't want to invest in theirteam.
It's because they think they'regonna take that investment and
go somewhere else.
But I'm telling you right now,when you invest in your team,
right, they become, there is a,there is a piece of loyalty.
That is.
That is that happens, thatoccurs in them.
(36:32):
They become more loyal to you.
So it is.
It is important for you to alsothink about it in that context.
So take a second, think aboutthis which leaders on your team
is worth investing in right now?
Who has potential?
Who can you not afford to loseright now?
Right, so, do you have them inmind?
(36:54):
Did you write their names down?
Do you see them?
What is their names?
How important are they to you,your team and also to the
company?
How can you can, how can yousupport them differently and
authentically?
Right?
How can you do that?
Here's how you can do it.
You can connect with me and youcan set a time up so that we
(37:16):
can talk about your team and wecould talk about the mastermind
and to see and understand ifthis is something that they want
to do.
But here's the other part ofthis.
You're probably thinking likeSteve, hold up for a second man.
I'm listening to all of thisstuff and I need this, the same
thing.
You need to improve yourapproach ability.
You need to improve yourretainability, develop your own
(37:37):
opinions, right.
You want to be ready to leadthrough the booze right and to
develop a clear plan.
Listen to me, I got you coveredas well.
I got all of you guys covered.
I have the high potential storemanagers covered and I also
have the multi unit leaderscovered.
I have two separate mastermindsDedicated to both of those,
(37:58):
both of those groups of leadersthe high potential store
managers and also the multi Unitleaders, the district managers,
territory managers and regionalmanagers.
We are starting this inSeptember.
I am super excited about thisbecause it has been in high
demand.
We have been putting out tonsand tons of content around
retail leadership and it is timenow for this mastermind to take
(38:19):
place, and if you want to learnmore about it, there was a link
in the description.
Go ahead, click that link, setup a time for us to talk and I
will give you all theinformation that you need to
learn about the mastermind, Iknow is going to be impactful.
We are only Only offering sixto eight slots for each group
(38:40):
for the high potential storemanagers and also for the multi
unit leaders.
We are only offering six toeight slots, so we're excited
about this as well.
So all five of these lessonsare super critical to you as a
retail leader.
I'm excited and I'm lookingforward to talking to those of
(39:01):
you who are interested in Takingyour career from where you are
to where it is that you trulywant to take it, and the only
way you're going to be able todo that is by taking the first
step.
It's going to be connectingwith me and setting up a time
for us to talk.
I look forward to us meetingand talking.
This has been retail leadershipwith Steve Worthy.
(39:21):
Have a great day and God bless.
So I did a quick stint in project management.
Interestingly enough, right, Iknow we're here.
This is a retail leadershippodcast, but let me just tell
you this little quick story.
I did a quick stint in projectmanagement and part of that was
business development and I wouldgo into a different business
and I would identify theirbusiness pain.
I would identify the issuesthat they were struggling with
(00:23):
and align it with you know,their competition, and then what
I would do is I would providesolutions based on project
management principles.
But one of the things I learnedduring my process is that
everybody within theorganization sees a problem
differently.
I know you're probably sayingthat's pretty rudimentary, right
, you know everybody kind ofgets that, but do that?
(00:45):
I don't know if they do.
And what I want people tounderstand is that within every
problem that I've discoveredwithin those organizations is
that there are typically somefundamental reasons and tips
that you can use that you needto understand in order to
weather the storm or in order toconquer any problem.
(01:08):
Here's the thing for so manyretailers right now.
It's been that way for so long.
They've been weathering thestorm, they've been trying to
figure out different ways inorder to get things done and, in
my time as an experiencedretail leader, I know that there
are three things that retailleaders need to have a better
(01:31):
understanding about, and at itstime.
Right, you need more time togrow personally, professionally,
you need more time to getthings done.
You need more support.
Retention how do you retain toptalent?
But, more importantly, how doyou yourself become retainable,
(01:51):
indispensable to your team andto your organization?
And the biggest thing that Ican see right now, and the third
one that I want to address andwe're going to talk more about,
is this idea around capacity.
Right, retail leaders have moreenlarged responsibilities.
You have more stores as amulti-unit leader than you ever
(02:13):
had before.
Leaders are trying to build up,but they have less time to
build.
As a result, there's this hugerisk to lose talent, there's a
huge risk to lose profitability,and I'm not telling you
anything new.
But what we do want tounderstand and what I do want to
talk about today, is that we'regoing to talk about how to save
(02:36):
time.
How can we help you focus onfive critical areas in your life
, in your profession, withinyour team, that you need right
now, that are going to build upcapacity but, more importantly,
make you a profitable leader.
Let's go ahead and get started.
(02:56):
Well, welcome to RetailLeadership with Steve Worthy.
This is the Real Talk RetailLeader Podcast, where we go be
on the manual to teach you tipsand tricks and talk about real
conversations that a lot ofretail organizations don't.
We focus in on creating thatbridge of knowledge where
corporations stop to where youwant to be.
(03:17):
We are that bridge and this isthe podcast that you really
really want to hear.
All right, we are going to jumpinto these five critical areas
that you need.
I really hope you have a pen, Ihope you have a notepad, I hope
you have something to writethese things down.
This is going to be extremelyimpactful for you as a senior
(03:43):
retail leader, to understandwhere you are.
But, more importantly, what doyou need to do for your team and
also for yourself?
All right, are you ready fornumber one?
Number one is how do youincrease your retainability?
Retainability I know when Ijust said it it sounded like two
words, but it's one word.
It's retainability.
Here's the thing aboutretention.
(04:05):
Retention is a two-way street.
It's not.
I know it's important that youunderstand the ability to retain
great talent.
It's critical, it's absolutelycritical for your success as a
retail leader period.
But here's the thing that Ialways talk about how retainable
are you as a leader?
(04:25):
Are you indispensable?
So how many of you have been ona flight before?
And right before you take off,the stewardess talks about
putting on your mask firstbefore you put it on somebody
else.
When we think about retention,we have to think about it in
that way.
First, we have to think aboutdo I have the requisite skills
to be retainable?
(04:46):
Because if you don't know whatretainability looks like, do you
know how to hire for retention?
Do you know what it looks liketo hire the right person for
where you are and where you areactually going, if you don't
understand that for yourself?
So we want to talk about it inthat context of it's not just
(05:07):
about retention, it's aboutmaking yourself, and then also
your team, retainable.
You have to make an investmentin yourself, you have to make an
investment in your team.
So here's what happens when westart to think about
retainability.
There are three different areasthat I want to quickly talk
about.
Three quick areas Decodingfeedback, crafting your
(05:31):
retention blueprint and becomingirreplaceable.
So I want to go through theseand then we're going to, of
course.
Move on to the second oneDecoding feedback.
Okay, in retail there are somany different.
How can we put it?
Classifications, high potential,meet expectations, exceed
expectations, below expectations, don't meet expectations.
(05:53):
You've been hearing this yourentire career and you don't know
where do I stand.
Where do I stand right now?
Because, here's the thing youcan be high potential and then
you get a new boss and guesswhat?
You're not high potentialanymore because you have to
start from ground zero.
You have to start from groundzero.
(06:15):
So how do you decode thefeedback that you've received
throughout your entire careerand understand where you
currently are as a leader andwhat does that mean for you
moving forward?
So you have to be able todecode the feedback.
This is a point one aroundretainability.
Number two craft your retentionblueprint.
(06:37):
You need a plan.
You need a plan.
Retention just does not happen.
Listen to me you can look atyour succession plans all day
long, all you want, but if youdo not have a plan for retaining
that talent that you need to gointo that succession plan or
that's currently on yoursuccession plan, then it's just
(06:58):
not going to work.
But at the other point, we'rejust going to get back to this
again, about yourself.
How are you, how are you set upfor, for growth?
Right, I always think about itin this way Every time I hired,
anytime I hired, I hired forgrowth.
I didn't hire for.
Right now you have to hire forgrowth.
(07:21):
So, as a, as a, that begs thequestion Are you ready for
growth?
Do you have the records, thatskills to grow?
So, and in that, in thatretention blueprint, you have to
take Time to assess where youare, so that you can develop
those skills, so that you canbecome Retainable yourself.
(07:43):
And then the last point withthis one is are you are, are you
becoming irreplaceable?
Right, let me, let me, let metell you this right now this is
the secret sauce, this is thesecret sauce to be in
Irreplaceable how much do yougive of yourself?
How much do you give ofyourself?
(08:05):
The one issue that I alwayshave with leaders is that when
they withhold knowledge, whenthey withhold Information,
because they are afraid that themore information you give, the
less control you will have, thatis a clear sign of a insecure
leader.
When you will have theinability to give of yourself,
(08:30):
to give more of yourself, togive information, to be
transparent, right, you trulybecome irreplaceable, and it
takes time.
It takes time for you tounderstand that.
The other thing that makes youirreplaceable and we're gonna
talk about this one here in In asecond is that you have to have
an, a valued opinion.
(08:50):
A valued opinion people willcome to you for Different
information and you have to beable to have an opinion on that
right, but your opinion has tobe valued over time.
So number one was increasingyour retainability, and we
talked about Decoding thefeedback, crafting your
(09:13):
attention blueprint and becomingirreplaceable.
All right, I really hope you'reready for number two.
I really hope you're ready fornumber two.
Okay, okay, so we just.
We just spoke aboutretainability.
Number two, let's talk aboutnumber two.
(09:36):
Okay, this one I've beensitting on for a while.
When I say I've been sitting onthis, this is honestly been, you
know, sort of my secret weaponas a retail leader for years.
I mean when I say years, I meanyears, and it is the idea and
concept of how to improve yourapproach ability.
(09:59):
I am in the midst of writingthe book the approachable retail
leader.
Within that book, we focus onan understanding that every
Retail leader spouts differently, and the reason I say smile is
because we actually have aframework, we have an action, an
acronym for the word smile, andit is self-awareness, mindful
(10:23):
listening, inspire, trust, leadby example and also empathy.
So here's why I love thisconcept of approachability.
It is a time saver, one of thethings, and all of you,
retailers, will know andunderstand this.
The one of the things I wouldalways tell my team is that
(10:46):
listen to me.
I would rather you inform me ofan issue than me having to find
out how many of you can relateto that.
How many of you can relate tothat?
Right?
So that will probably be myinitial conversation when I talk
to them, but then, over time,the level of approachability
that I was able to display wouldallow my teams to inform me
(11:09):
instead of me having to find outcertain things.
So, guess what?
We can identify problemsquicker, we can ideate solutions
so much faster, we can executeso much faster, we can hire so
much faster.
The idea of approachability isthat it's the process of
allowing people to be able tocome to you as a leader, as they
(11:30):
are, and be able to talk aboutreal situations, real issues,
without reprisal, withoutjudgment.
Approachability has a measureof curiosity associated with it,
and so, therefore, it'simportant that you walk into a
store and I always say this youvisit people, not stores.
(11:50):
So the approachability factorcomes into play.
When we talk about our acronym,smile, I will briefly go
through all of these becausewe're writing a book on it.
So I want to tease it a littlebit because the book is going to
be amazing.
I'm telling you right now.
So self-awareness Honestly,self-awareness is really just
(12:12):
having a deeper, a deep rootedsense of your why.
It goes a little far beyondjust the knowing your strengths
and your weaknesses.
It is understanding your why,why do you make decisions, how
do you react and why you reactin a certain situation the way
that you do.
Self-awareness has the abilityto make or break you as a leader
(12:34):
.
Your temperament, all thosedifferent aspects of your
leadership are wound up in yourability to understand your
measure of self-awareness.
M it's for mindful listening.
Here is, here's the brass tacksof it.
Retail is.
You have to understand this.
You are at different levelswith each one of your team
(12:55):
members all the time.
All the time.
The issue is that a lot ofleaders tend to lead one way and
they expect the team to kind ofacquiesce to that leader.
As a leader, you have to beadaptable.
You have to know where youstand and where you are at,
(13:17):
where you are with each one ofyour team members, each one of
your leaders, all the time.
And you and you have to adaptyour leadership style because if
you don't guess what, you'renot going to get the results
that you want.
So mindful listening the M.
So I inspire trust.
Two points on inspire trust youhave to be transparent with
(13:40):
your decision-making and youhave to provide a personalized
growth plan.
So transparency here's themajor issue.
Or why leaders are nottransparent?
Here's why because they areemotionally attached to their
decisions.
When you are emotionallyattached to your decisions,
(14:00):
guess what?
Any measure of disagreementwith that decision is almost an
attack on you.
You have to be how can I saythis?
You have to be mature enough inyour leadership to understand
and be okay with dissent.
It is okay to have dissentaround a potential decision that
you're going to make becauseyou want the best decision
(14:22):
possible.
So you have to develop thatlevel of maturity to accept and
be okay with dissent.
The second part is thepersonalized growth.
We have created all these kindof imaginary pathways for people
to get to the next level.
You have to go to this level,you have to start to this and
you have to go here and you haveto go there.
(14:43):
And now you can become a storemanager.
Or now you become a districtmanager.
After doing two or three rows,after you become a store manager
to get to the district managerlevel, yada, yada, yada.
We have to stop that.
You have to create apersonalized, you know, growth
plan for that individual that isrealistic, and it's not just
(15:03):
because everybody else has doneit this way that you have to do
it that way as well.
We can't.
We have to stop that.
You are not inspiring trust bydoing that.
And lead by example.
The L is lead by example.
Here's the here.
This is gonna help somebody outMaking changes in your
leadership style based onfeedback.
(15:23):
That's how you lead by example.
That's how you lead by example.
There are so many other thingsthat people talk about leading
by example, but leading byexample is when you are, as it
relates to your approachability.
When someone gives you feedback, you actually have to have the
ability to actually take thatfeedback and do something with
that feedback.
(15:44):
So leading by example is islearning and sharpening your
skills based off of feedback, sothat way you can become more
approachable as a leader.
And then empathy.
This last one, I'm gonna use aquote from one of my favorite
shows and it is called Ted Lasso.
If you haven't watched TedLasso, you need to watch it, and
he has this line and I love it.
(16:05):
It's be curious, not judgmental,as it relates to your
approachability, for when peoplecome to you with something,
when you walk into their market,when you walk into the store or
even when you go to home office, there has to be a natural
curiosity to that relationshipthat you want to have, and it
has to, and you have to be ableto suspend judgment, because if
(16:26):
you don't suspend judgment, noone is going to come to you.
No one is one is going to wantto connect with you.
So you have to be able tosuspend judgment but remain
curious, and that curiosity istalking to your team, asking
questions, understanding theiraspirations, how's their family?
All those different things.
So, as it relates toapproachability, we have this
(16:49):
framework and it's called thesmile framework because, once
again, every leader smilesdifferently.
All right, you ready for numberthree?
Okay, let's get into numberthree, because number three, all
right, number three is gonnaknock you in your butt.
It's gonna knock you in yourbutt and you gotta be ready for
it.
Let's go, let's go.
You're listening to retailleadership with Steve Worthy.
(17:10):
Okay, number three.
Number three I don't know why Ilaugh right before I start this
.
For every one of these I startwith like a little laugh.
I don't know, it's so funny andI hope you guys kind of get my
little sense of humor because Iget excited.
Obviously, I get excited aboutall these.
Okay, all right, here we go.
(17:30):
Number three you have to learnhow to develop your own opinion.
I know you're like really,steve, really you have to
develop your own opinion.
You have to develop your ownopinion.
I'm gonna get into this.
I'm gonna start with a quickstory.
Years ago, years ago, years ago,I was a store manager and you
(17:51):
know you get the, the, the, the,the visit from from HQ with,
like there, you know, anytimeyou get a visit from HQ, it's
not just two people, it's like ateam.
There's buyers, there's there'syour boss, your boss's boss,
there's H, hr, all these people.
So there's like a team, atleast six or seven people.
Right, they're not gonna justget on the jet and just like you
(18:11):
don't send two people, they'regonna send a whole whole group
of people.
So I would get these storevisits and you know they would
come in.
They would visit my store forabout an hour, right, and store
was down.
Then we were, we were good togo.
Then they would go over to mypeers, my pierce store, and they
would spend.
They would spend three, four,five or six hours at at his
(18:33):
store and I'm like dude.
So initially I thought Ithought my pier I'm just gonna
call him Jim I.
I initially thought Jim was introuble, like why are they
spending so much time at hisstore?
Then we got another visit,right, they would go to one of
my pierce store.
Then they go to the gym, gymstore, and they would do the
same thing.
They'd spend three or fourhours and I'm like dude, why are
they spending so much time ingym store?
(18:55):
So I walked I had this a gymdude I need to know and he
walked me through everythingthat he would do when they came.
Here's the thing Jim had anopinion on his business.
Jim had an opinion on the, theassortment.
(19:15):
Jim had an opinion on his team.
Jim had an opinion on hiscompetition.
Jim had an opinion on where hisstore was going, where the
market is going, where newstores can be built.
Jim had an opinion and and thatwas that is what set him apart.
Every leader must have anopinion.
(19:36):
Well, mostly is don't know howto express it.
You know they don't.
They don't know how toarticulate their opinion and not
come off as being a jerk.
Here's the thing.
An opinion, an opinion, is usedto provoke a better answer or
more, or add value.
(19:57):
An opinion doesn't necessarilymean that you have all the
answers.
It's just an informedperspective and so insight, but
it's laden also with curiosity.
Right, an opinion is is is used, once again, to provoke a
dialogue between you and whoeverit is that you're talking about
, so that they can go a littledeeper.
(20:18):
Then you can go a little deeperand both of you are leaning in
to whatever that opinion is orwhatever that perspective is, so
that, ideally, you come out theother side with more value.
You come out the other sidewith more information on what to
do next Period, and you have tohave an opinion.
(20:40):
As a retail leader, a goodopinion can change the course of
your career Because in matters,a good opinion carries weight.
Your opinion carries weight.
Please understand that thereare three areas that you need to
have an opinion on.
Three areas you need to have anopinion on your people, your
(21:03):
business and yourself and whoyou are.
You have to have an opinion onthose three areas as a retail
leader, right, here's the issuewith opinions though a Lot of
them can be late and withemotion and emotions.
You have to understand andlearn how to take the emotion
(21:23):
out of certain situations.
You have to be able to learnhow to do that An opinion for
your people.
You have to take the emotionout of the situation and really
go off the brass tacks of whothey are, what they've done, the
leadership traits that theyhave or that they need to work
on.
For your business, you have tohave an opinion on data literacy
, understanding what your P&L istelling you and what is telling
(21:46):
you in the future, yourcompetition, merchandising,
logistics, expansion, growth.
You know product placement.
You know where do you see themarket?
What are interest rates doing?
What's the buying pattern ofyour, of your customers?
What do you see coming down theline?
What do you think back toschool season is going to be
(22:06):
like Right now?
What do you?
What do you think aboutChristmas?
What do you think about Q4?
What do you think about yourstaffing levels?
Like these are the things thatyou need to have a very strong
and educated opinion on as well.
And lastly, you you have to havean opinion on on you.
Where do you want to be and howare you going to get there?
(22:29):
Right, you have to be able tohave an opinion on who you are,
your strengths, youropportunities, the things that
make you you, how you engageyour team and also what are the
things that you need to learn todo differently.
Right, the issue that I see alot of times when it comes to
opinion on yourself is that wedon't have the ability of skills
(22:50):
to, or have the language to,talk about ourselves in an
effective manner.
That doesn't come off asboasting, but it really gives
you a crystal clear picture ofwho we are and where we want to
go.
You have to learn how to havean opinion in these three areas.
All right.
Number four Okay, I keep sayingI'm excited about each one of
(23:13):
these, but I am, I am reallyexcited about this one, because
this one is Going to be onethat's going to change A lot of
your perspectives on who you areand what you do.
Right now let's go into numberfour.
Okay, number four.
Number four managing criticism.
Okay, here's the thing I am aNew York Knicks fan and the
(23:37):
Knicks have been horrible.
Probably since as long as I'vebeen alive, they have been
horrible.
We've had a couple of goodseasons, we've had a couple of
good you know years where we'vegone deep into the playoffs, but
we haven't had a championshipsince I have been alive
literally since I have beenalive and typically New York
(23:57):
fans are the worst.
Boston fans are probablyhorrible too.
As it relates to our passion forour team and Whenever, if
you've ever gone to a game andthe team is a performing well,
or or you may be a sports fanand your team is a performing
well, what typically happens?
Booing Right.
People start booing Right.
They just in a just like you.
(24:18):
Really, it's like they're,they're Upset at the performance
of the team and so they startbooing.
I remember listening to thatand I I stopped booing because I
started to realize that I was abad person.
I started to realize and startto think about the, the player.
I well how how much the playerfeel that their fans are booing
(24:38):
them, that their fans, the fans,are booing them.
That's it has to bedisheartening.
But here's the thing as a leader, what do you do when the booing
starts?
Because it's going to start.
Best belief doesn't matterwhere you are in your career.
(24:58):
The booing is going to startFrom your team, from the
customers, from your boss.
People are going to boo you now.
They are not going tophysically, you know.
You know when you walk in thestore, you know boo you.
Right, they're not going to dothat, but it's going to be
subtle.
It's going to be very subtlewhen they are displeased at what
(25:20):
you're doing.
So here are three ways that youneed to understand in your
career of when the booing starts.
Number one it's inherited.
The booze are inherited.
And what I?
What do I mean by that?
You're a new leader and you'rein a new market.
Right, they?
(25:41):
They love the previous leaderbecause the previous leader let
them get away with everythingand the booze of who you are are
unwarranted.
But they exist.
Right, because you're new.
Right, you are an unprovenentity in their eyes, and
everything that you say, everything that you do, every
mannerism is watched and it isscrutinized.
(26:03):
Every decision you make isjudged.
Now, I know what you're saying,steve.
You didn't.
You didn't do anything todeserve this.
Yes, you did.
Here's what you did you becamea leader.
You decided to be a leader.
Period doesn't matter when youdecide to be a leader, the
booing is going to start right.
(26:23):
Booing is Inextricably like,connected with them with with
leadership it is.
It just happens.
I don't know if any leader, ifyou have, if you're a leader,
you haven't been booed.
I dare say that you're notleading.
I Dare say that you're notleading.
So you can inherit the boozebecause of you know the.
(26:46):
You're a new leader, you're ina new market or you're you know
you, or even in the same storeor whatever.
And now you just got promoted.
So people, there are peoplethat are going to be booing you
and watching you.
Here's the other one the.
There are self-manufacturedbooze, and what I mean by that
is you deserve the booze becauseyour leadership sucks.
(27:06):
Okay, I don't know how, I don'teven know how else to explain
it.
You deserve all the booze.
They're not even late.
They are self-manufacturedbecause you, because your
leadership, needs help.
Period, right and so In.
But you don't know that right,you think you are.
You are the bees knees.
I'm so old I can't believe.
(27:26):
I just said bees knees, right,but you just think you are the
best thing since sliced bread.
I'm gonna know there's anotherone right there.
Right, but you're not.
And so the booze that youreceive are deserved because,
guess what, your leadershipisn't where it needs to be.
You need feedback, and you needit now.
Most important, you need to dosomething with that feedback.
(27:48):
If not, you're gonna lose theteam and the booing is Going to
become even more so.
It's gonna increase, right, andhere's the thing that you don't
want to have happen.
When it, when it's the boozeare self-manufactured because
your poor leadership, they startbooing to your boss.
They start booing to yourbosses, boss, they start booing
behind your back even more sobehind your back, right, so the
(28:12):
self-manufactured booze aresomething that you, you have
control over.
You can do that if you get theright feedback, if you get
coaching, mentorship, if youjoin different groups,
masterminds, to understand whereyou are within your leadership.
And the last one is and thisone is this one is a little
difficult, but it's it's.
It's very true you, you'reassuming that people are booing
(28:36):
you based off of insecurity.
Right, the booze may not evenexist.
But you are so insecure as aleader you think everybody is
booing you.
You do.
People aren't even people.
People are indifferent aboutyou.
They're not booing you, they'rejust indifferent about you.
(28:58):
But you have, you have assumedthat the booing is there.
So guess what?
Guess what you become?
You become a people pleaser,right you?
You become a people pleaser inhopes that the booze are going
to be reduced.
I go are going to be reduced,but guess what?
The booze don't even existbecause people are indifferent
about who you are and what youdo.
(29:18):
They don't have an opinion oneway or the other, but you are
insecure and who you are as aleader, so you just assume the
booze are there, right?
So if you're assuming thatpeople are booing, you need
clarity, you need an honestopinion about you and your
leadership.
You need a coach.
You need, you need a personthat's going to provide you with
(29:38):
feedback.
Right, when you assumesomething there, there is an
issue of insecurity in who youare and what you stand for.
So, once again, when the booingstarts, you can inherit the
booze, the booze become theirself-manufactured, or you can
assume that the booze are there.
All of these things requirehonest feedback on.
(30:03):
All of these things require amassive amount of introspection
and Change in who you are andInformed change.
Not just change for change sake, but Inform change so that you
can be the best person inversion of yourself that you
want to be.
All right, we are going to getinto number five.
(30:23):
Number five is going to be theone that is going to help you
bring everything Together allright.
Number five, number five is isis future self.
You need a game plan for yourimmediate future as a leader.
If you had the opportunity tospeak to your future self, what
(30:45):
questions Would you ask?
What questions would you askright, just think about that.
You could pause or you canwrite it down right now.
What questions would you askyour future self?
Well, most of us would askquestions related to three
things that we care about themost.
It's our future, our family andour finances.
(31:05):
Our future.
Let's talk about our future fora second here.
What am I doing?
So you're talking to yourfuture self like, what am I
doing?
All right, where am I doing it?
But most importantly, mostimportantly, do I enjoy what I'm
doing?
Am I fulfilled?
Am I fulfilled in what I'mdoing?
When you think about yourfuture self.
(31:26):
These are the questions thatyou will ask yourself.
The second one is around family.
How was I able to provide formy family?
Did I set a good example?
How?
What is my family doing as aresult of my leadership?
Where are they now within theirprofessional career, within
their personal development?
(31:47):
These are all important thingsthat leaders Would ask their
future self.
And the last one is gonna justbe my finances.
Where am I?
What type of behaviors here's ahere's a great question ask
your future self.
What type of behaviors do Ineed to learn now that will set
me up for future success?
(32:07):
What leadership skills do Ineed to develop in order to
maximize my future earningpotential?
Those are two killer questionsto ask you for yourself.
I really wish I had theopportunity to ask my future
self this when I was 26, 27years old, even 30 or even 35.
(32:28):
I would have been able to makea massive dent in the universe,
as my James, as my friend JamesHicks, always says.
Like you have to make a dent inthe universe.
I would have been able to dosomething completely.
I won't say differently, but Iwould have probably been leading
at such a different level.
Right, what about you what?
What questions Do you want toask your future self?
(32:50):
In order for you to become thatfuture self, you need a game
plan.
You need an open and honestplan around where you are and
around when you want to be.
You need a strategy.
You need a guided set ofactions and activities To
actually move you along ineverything that you want to do,
(33:13):
everything that you want toAccomplish.
So number five was your futureself Right, creating a game plan
that will immediately impactyou in your future as a leader.
Okay, so let's, let's quickly,just let me just quickly recap
(33:41):
number one improve your approachability, increase your retain
ability, learn how to developyour own opinion, manage
criticism.
What are you going to do whenthe booing starts?
Because it's going to start.
And then, number five Do youhave a clear plan?
Do you have a clear plan forthe immediate future as a leader
(34:04):
, for your immediate future as aleader for so, for so many
senior retail leaders, I knowthis is exactly what you needed
to hear.
And and in how you need tofocus on your developmental
plans for, for your highpotential leaders, so that you
don't lose them right by, bycontinuing to grow and nurture
(34:26):
them in the right way and youhave to do that now.
That being said, for most ofyou, executing this critical
plan is easier said than done.
It's easier said, andespecially right now, in the
state of re, in the state ofretail, a hundred percent.
I completely understand that.
When you look at the currentstate of our industry, you look
(34:47):
at the current state of wherewe're, where we're going.
The problem that many retailsenior retail leaders face right
now is around capacity.
Right, you need more.
You need more time.
You need more ability.
You need more a bandwidth toactually build your team.
More responsibilities yourresponsibilities have enlarged.
(35:07):
Right, more stores, leaders youneed more leaders to build up
and but you have less time to dothat.
And then you add on the thestretch of our upcoming season
Q4.
Right, q4 can take a massivetoll on leaders and you need to
be able to develop your team asbest as you can, and that means
(35:30):
developing the best talent.
Even if you don't have time todo it, even if you don't have
time to partake in itindividually, you need to be
able to invest in your team.
You need to be able to investin your team.
This is why I've developed aneight-week Retail leadership
mastermind.
(35:51):
That will help you bridge thedevelopmental gaps that you need
, which is to improve yourapproach ability, increase your
retainability, teach your teamhow to develop and have their
own opinions, prepare them forthe criticism that is to come,
but, more importantly, to have agame plan for their future
success.
(36:11):
I know one of the reasons why alot of people don't want
sometimes it's just real talkthe raw lot of times, leaders
don't want to invest in theirteam.
It's because they think they'regonna take that investment and
go somewhere else.
But I'm telling you right now,when you invest in your team,
right, they become, there is a,there is a piece of loyalty.
That is.
That is that happens, thatoccurs in them.
(36:32):
They become more loyal to you.
So it is.
It is important for you to alsothink about it in that context.
So take a second, think aboutthis which leaders on your team
is worth investing in right now?
Who has potential?
Who can you not afford to loseright now?
Right, so, do you have them inmind?
(36:54):
Did you write their names down?
Do you see them?
What is their names?
How important are they to you,your team and also to the
company?
How can you can, how can yousupport them differently and
authentically?
Right?
How can you do that?
Here's how you can do it.
You can connect with me and youcan set a time up so that we
(37:16):
can talk about your team and wecould talk about the mastermind
and to see and understand ifthis is something that they want
to do.
But here's the other part ofthis.
You're probably thinking likeSteve, hold up for a second man.
I'm listening to all of thisstuff and I need this, the same
thing.
You need to improve yourapproach ability.
You need to improve yourretainability, develop your own
(37:37):
opinions, right.
You want to be ready to leadthrough the booze right and to
develop a clear plan.
Listen to me, I got you coveredas well.
I got all of you guys covered.
I have the high potential storemanagers covered and I also
have the multi unit leaderscovered.
I have two separate mastermindsDedicated to both of those,
(37:58):
both of those groups of leadersthe high potential store
managers and also the multi Unitleaders, the district managers,
territory managers and regionalmanagers.
We are starting this inSeptember.
I am super excited about thisbecause it has been in high
demand.
We have been putting out tonsand tons of content around
retail leadership and it is timenow for this mastermind to take
(38:19):
place, and if you want to learnmore about it, there was a link
in the description.
Go ahead, click that link, setup a time for us to talk and I
will give you all theinformation that you need to
learn about the mastermind, Iknow is going to be impactful.
We are only Only offering sixto eight slots for each group
(38:40):
for the high potential storemanagers and also for the multi
unit leaders.
We are only offering six toeight slots, so we're excited
about this as well.
So all five of these lessonsare super critical to you as a
retail leader.
I'm excited and I'm lookingforward to talking to those of
(39:01):
you who are interested in Takingyour career from where you are
to where it is that you trulywant to take it, and the only
way you're going to be able todo that is by taking the first
step.
It's going to be connectingwith me and setting up a time
for us to talk.
I look forward to us meetingand talking.
This has been retail leadershipwith Steve Worthy.
(39:21):
Have a great day and God bless.
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