myRetailer.ca

What is the best approach to leadership in a team environment? How do you balance the fine line?

It’s not easy if you ask me. Therein lies one of the most challenging balancing acts that a leader must walk.

I know lots of people on both sides of this fence. I have friends and colleagues who are very well liked by their staff and go out of their way to befriend each and every person on their team. Then I know others who lead their companies with a heavy hand and rule every aspect of the operation.

So which is the better approach? I say a blend of the two. (more…)

One of the most effective training tools is make it easy for people to learn by example through mentoring.

For our business, it is hiring season. This is the time of year when we go from a staff of 12 in one store to 45. To do this, we are very fortunate to have the majority of our team return year after year. However,  we inevitably find ourselves hiring  8-12 new recruits every season.

One trick that we adopted a few years ago is mentoring. Every new recruit, when they join our team,  spend their first two shifts paired with a mentor, a veteran with our company. By mirroring and working closely with a senior person, several things happen. They can learn the technical tasks associated with the position. They actually do gain a mentor, someone they can go to in order to ask questions, like; “Where do I hang my jacket?” But most importantly, they can see a veteran customer service associate in action. (more…)

Truly great leaders all have two things in common. First they have great empathy and regularly ‘walk the floor’, communicate and connect with their employees. The second character trait is that they the boldness and tenacity to make the tough decisions needed to lead the company.

One of Canada’s most effective business leaders is Annette Verschuren, President of Home Depot Canada and Asia. Verschuren possesses that rare balance between great empathy and incredible tenacity for getting the job done.

I can recall a comment made by one of her office staff,  “28,000 associates in Canada don’t work for Home Depot, they work for Annette”. Now that’s quite a statement if I ever heard one. After you meet Annette for the first time, you can easily see why they think that way. She really does care about her staff (all of them), and she leads the company to great performance with resolve each and every day. (more…)

You, and how you conduct yourself are the secrets to your business’ success

Cigarette Left on Sidewalk via Flickr by randa1thor

Presenting yourself for success is vitally important in everything you do.

I love the quote; “How you do anything, is how you do everything”. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, how you do it will convey to the outside world how you live your life.

Tom Peters, in his book Re-Imagine talks about the importance of paying attention to detail and design. Tom reminds me that regardless of what it is I or someone in my company is doing it should be done to such a degree of detail, precision, and design that someone from outside your company would pay good money for the service.

So it doesn’t matter if I’m leading a meeting of 20 managers, or filing papers from this morning’s work, perform each job to the best of my abilities.

This hits home for me almost daily.

I find myself so busy at times that I might be tempted to skip over certain daily tasks. However I stop myself with this quote – How I do anything is how I do everything. By doing this, I’ll immediately stop, turn around and address the task that I was about to skip over. This can be as significant as preparing for a meeting with a potential bank, or as trivial as picking up a small piece of garbage in front of the store. I have actually walked over a cigarette butt on the ground in front of my store because I was too busy, then a few seconds later, stop myself, turn around and walk back to pick it up and throw it out.

It doesn’t matter what it is, in order to become our best, we must put forth our 100% effort into everything we do, even if it is picking up a cigarette butt.

Confidence & Enthusiasm are Contagious and It Starts With a Leader

Is your team confident and enthusiastic about your company’s future? If not, maybe the problem isn’t them, maybe it’s you!

As the leader of a company, it is imperative that you conduct yourself in such a way that demonstrates confidence and enthusiasm toward your company’s future direction. Especially in today’s economic environment when many small businesses are struggling, it is vitally important that you instill confidence and enthusiasm in your team.

To help you, here are a four tricks for you to consider.

1. Always have a clear vision & plan. Communicate the plan with your team, and stick to it your strategy. Whether it’s navigating through a difficult period, growing sales, expanding into a new product line or growing your client list, make sure you have a clear plan and include your team in on it. (more…)