Jefferson Haddox

Please, Don’t Call Me Boss

As a young adult, I could not wait until I had the title of “manager”; that meant that I had taken a huge step in my career. I was managing not just my processes and myself, but also other people. I would see other managers in action as they barked orders at their team members and told them what they needed to do each day. I too, had orders given to me for execution; some of them with a significant amount of detail: do these steps, do it this way, and do it on this exact timeline. Process is important, I definitely respect that, but process for the sake of control is wrong.

As I began to progress in my career, I made the decision not to manage a team like a “boss”; meaning, I would only cascade orders when absolutely necessary. Rather than barking orders at the team, I would bring them along on the journey with me. I would ensure that the team is seeing the larger, strategic picture and would ensure that they understand where and how their work impacts the strategy that we as a team are working towards.

An important aspect of this is clearly setting expectations. If you set clear expectations up front, your need to micro-manage a team diminishes greatly. I can recall many conversations over the years where I was given an assignment; one of the first things I would do with my manager is ensure expectations were set: are you just looking for ideas or do you want a buttoned-up strategy? When do you want me to have this completed by? Do you want an executive-ready presentation or just the concept outlined in a document. If your manager doesn’t set clear expectations with you, take the initiative and set them yourself.

Another important aspect of this is truly leading the team; managing versus leading a team are two totally different concepts. Managing a team is about providing oversight, telling people what to do and when to do it. Leading people is about focusing on driving activities that lead to organizational success; it’s about influence and motivation across the teams you work with. Sometimes, that means jumping in and doing the work alongside them.

A great example of leading is a rowing team. Personally, I’ve never been on a rowing team; I always thought that would be fun (a lot of work, but fun). Thinking about this scenario: if the leader of a rowing team did nothing but bark orders, they would essentially be “dead weight” in the boat; they would add little value to the team in terms of rowing and accomplishing their goal. On the other hand, a leader who came alongside the team and rowed with them while also ensuring their tasks were being complete and helping to guide and motivate the team adds significantly more value to the team. Not only do they provide guardrails and guidance, but they also take on some of the burden and do real work.

I’ve seen both of these types of managers in actions; those that take the role of leading a team often have better outcomes with their work, stronger team morale and sense of accomplishment, and better business results.

My challenge to you: think like a leader, not a boss. Lose the word “boss” from your vocabulary. Better yet, act like the leader that your team needs and maybe your team will notice the difference and stop calling you a boss.

Journaling: A 365 Day Journey

As we entered 2019, I set out on a mission to journal everyday for the year; 365 days of writing my thoughts, passions, fears, desires, etc. As I started, my goal was to journal for 40 consecutive days, just enough to make it a habit. After achieving my goal of 40 consecutive days, I was excited and decided to create another goal: 100 consecutive days. This was more of a challenge because sometimes I just didn’t know what to write about.

To help overcome that, I created a simple framework that helped me focus my writing efforts. The point of the framework was to keeping me writing so I wouldn’t be able to say “I don’t know what to journal about.” The simple framework consisted of just a few ideas to start my writing: spiritual thoughts, ideas about leadership, research within my field of work, experiences or thoughts I wanted to share, fears about a challenge I was facing, or just a recap of what happened yesterday. Each of my journal entries can be any combination of these subjects, just depending on what was in my head.

In April of 2019, I hit my goal of 100 consecutive days of journaling (you can read about that here). I was shocked; I couldn’t believe that I did it. ONE HUNDRED DAYS. That was incredible. Not only had journaling become a habit but it became something that I looked forward to each day. It was my outlet for sharing some of the crazy that was in my head. Some days it was deep with thought and other days it was light and shallow. It didn’t matter; the point was I was writing each day.

After hitting my 100 day goal, I decided to stretch myself even farther: let’s target 365 days, an entire year. What, 365 consecutive days? That’s crazy! It was defiantly a stretch for me; but, after 100 days, what’s a few more? And, journaling had become part of my daily routine and I was enjoying it. 365 days was within reach!

I’m happy to report that I have achieved a consecutive 365 days of journaling. 365 days of my life in five small Focus Journal notebooks. Details of my successes, failures, joy, excitement, dreams, passions, fears … you name it, all jotted down in blocked letters with a fine point Sharpie pen. It was one of the best creative releases I’ve ever had. Some days were more challenging than others but overall, it was a great experience. I am so glad I was able to do it.

What’s next for me? Well, I am taking the month of January off from journaling; just for a little refresher. Then, in February, I’ll pick it back up. But this time, rather than journaling daily, I am going to focus on a more in-depth, weekly journal. This will allow me to write with a heightened focus and really hone in on my creativity. I’m really looking forward to this new chapter of my journaling life.

Exit Stage Left

I was never really into theater but as I was contemplating this post, I began researching the concept and phrase “exit stage left“; simply put, it means “an orderly departure, timed as not to distract or detract; to exit in a non-dramatic fashion, making way for more interesting events”.

I am exiting stage left as it pertains to my career at Pier 1 Imports. This was by far the most difficult decision I’ve ever made. I have spent the last 13-years working alongside people and a brand that I love. I consider the people at Pier 1 my second family; we really do care for one another, both professionally and personally. The people are what made this decision so difficult.

As I reminisce and reflect on my time at Pier 1, I am overwhelmed with incredible memories. I think about all the amazing people I had the opportunity to meet, the work I was entrusted to do, and the impact I was privileged to make at such an amazing organization. I think about the projects I was privileged to work on (alongside incredible partners and team members): launching our first SMS program, building a propensity to purchase model, creating a media attribution model that was tied to behavior as opposed to revenue, building our first mobile optimized site, launching a buy online pickup in store model, relaunching ecommerce for a 50-year old brand, winning the Internet Retailer Comeback of the Year award, and building a multi-million dollar business that is now a significant amount of total company sales. What an incredible journey that I was able to have at Pier 1. I want to be really clear here … none of this could have happened without the people around me. None of the accomplishments on my resume are due to my individual contribution; they are all because of the incredible team and partners that surrounded every single initiative that I was a part of. I am eternally grateful for the support that was afforded me by the leadership and partners around me.

What I didn’t anticipate in all of this was just how difficult and emotional it would be. I’m really not an overly emotional guy, but through all of the goodbyes, I’ve had a hard time keeping my composure. The initial act of resigning was fairly simple but the aftermath of telling that to my team was, by far, so much more difficult than I imagined. And then following the conversation with the team, telling all my partners across the organization was equally as hard. As I contemplated this, I wondered why this was so hard for me? I’ve said goodbye to many things in my life; why is it that this one is so different? Then I was reminded of this quote:

“How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard”
A. A. Milne

To all those that I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside, I bid you an extremely heartfelt “thank you”.

Oh, you want to know what I’m doing next … you’ll have to look for that update later 😉

APP: A Cultural Framework

About a 3-years ago, I introduced a concept to the team I was working with that I called APP: Accountability, Passion, and Purpose. This was a framework that would help us work towards success but also help build the culture that we needed for our team. The initial idea was that it was circular in nature, meaning any one component could fuel the other components and it created revolving momentum. Let me set up those three components and then show you the evolution of the framework.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Accountability: A personal choice to rise above one’s circumstances and demonstrate the ownership necessary for achieving desired results; stepping forward and working hard to solve problems; working towards a purpose; see it, own it, solve it, and do it.

Let me give you an example of accountability:

Meet Jeff Dean. In 2002, Dean was an engineer at Google working on the algorithms that fueled the organic search side of Google. At this time in Google’s history, they had not yet “made it big”. In fact, they were going head-to-head against another company called Overture. Overture was picked to be the clear winner; they were backed by large amounts of capital funding. Google had very little backing and was only generating about $6M in profits annually.

One Friday, Larry Page, their founder, pinned a piece of paper to a message board in the lunchroom. It was a screenshot of Google’s search results page showing how poorly their AdWords platform was matching keyword relevancy to paid ads. Page wrote the words “THESE ADS SUCK” across the page.

Dean, who wasn’t working on the AdWords project, saw the note and decided to take a look. It reminded him of a similar problem he had seen on another project. Dean went back to his desk and started working on the problem. He didn’t ask permission; he didn’t tell anyone what he was doing; he just tackled the problem head-on. He came in on Saturday to work on the problem. Then on Sunday night, after having dinner with his family and putting his kids to bed, he returned to the office. At about 5 am on Monday, after pulling an all-nighter, he had the problem solved. He sent an email to Page and then went home to get some sleep.

In the year following Dean’s fix, Google’s profit soared to over $100M. The fix and refinement that Dean made to the Google AdWords algorithm helped put Google on the map.

This is a great example of accountability. There should be no need for us to wait and be told what to do; when there is an issue or a problem, we should rally and overcome the challenge. There should be no need for me to constantly follow up with my team to see where they stand on projects; with the right level of accountability, they will tell me what’s happening.

PASSION

Passion: The feeling of enthusiasm or excitement; caring strongly about doing something; a persistent desire to do something better. To help you think about passion, the best example I could think of is Noah and Allie. Yes, I’m talking about the movie called The Notebook. If you’re unfamiliar with the story of The Notebook, it is a love story that exemplifies passion. Let me tell you about it.

The story is set in 1940 in South Carolina. Noah, who works at the local mill, and Allie, who comes from a well-to-do family, fall passionately in love one summer. Allie’s parents did not approve of their relationship and worked to drive a wedge between them. They take separate paths in life but seem to always keep each other in their minds. A few years later in their life, Allie returns to see Noah one last time before she’s to be married. When that happens, their romance is once again rekindled.

What’s interesting about their love story is that it is dripping with passion. They have a high regard for one another but the level of emotion that comes out of that is rich: they fight, they cry, they laugh, they argue, they makeup. They have passion in their relationship.

Because I can’t leave the story hanging, I have to tell you how it ends. What I haven’t mentioned is that the story of Noah and Allie is told through the writings of an old notebook. And the narrator of the story is Noah in his old age. Allie, his bride, has been stricken with Alzheimer’s and doesn’t even recognize her husband or their children. To keep their love alive and to help her remember, he reads their love story back to her from this notebook.

Allie can no longer express love for Noah; she doesn’t even know who he is. But yet, Noah stays with her, cares for her, and tries with everything he has to help her remember.

That is passion.

What if Allie didn’t have the passion to go see Noah just before she was to be married? What if Noah didn’t have the passion to attempt to bring his wife’s memory back everyday? How would the story of The Notebook be different?

What are you doing to be passionate in your work today? Do you care about the work you’re doing? Passion is what fuels us as individuals; without passion in our work, what is it that we are working for? I believe that you must have passion in your work to truly be successful.

PURPOSE

Purpose: The reason why something is done; the aim or intention of something; the feeling of being determined to do or achieve something; the goal of a person.

Purpose is a powerful driving force of daily behavior; Purpose “is what we’re doing for some one else; it’s motivational because it connects with the heart as well as the head.” (Kenny, 2014). It fuels and guides us to accomplish whatever tasks and goals we’ve set for ourselves.

When I talk about purpose, I’m thinking about it from two different perspectives. First, there’s personal purpose. This is specific to you; why do you get out of bed every day? What is it that motivates you and drives you toward excellence? That’s what I consider personal purpose and I feel strongly that this is a vital element for you to figure out. You can read more about how I think about personal purpose here.

Within this framework, the purpose I’m referring to is organizational purpose. Organizational purpose is the reason why an organization exists. Yes, for-profit businesses exist to make money; but beyond making money, they must have a drive that benefits the greater good or offers some type of social change. This doesn’t have to be ground breaking or so incredibly complex; it just has to make sense to the brand and the people within the organization. It becomes the rally point or the focal point for all actions and decisions that are made within the organization. Here are a few examples to get you thinking.

Southwest Airlines

IKEA

“Create a better everyday life for the many people”

Boston Beer Company

Each of these examples is simple and straightforward. These brands didn’t overthink their purpose. They simply articulated the reason they were in business as it pertains to their customer. Notice there was no discussion of top-line revenue or profitability; this purpose statement is focused on what their brand is trying to accomplish for their customer.

Bringing it back to the opening statement about my original idea that Accountability, Passion, and Purpose was circular in nature (meaning, any one component could fuel the other components and it creates revolving momentum), this is an idea of how that triangular framework might look on paper:

After a bit of time exercising the framework with the team (what better way to test it, right), it became apparent that it was much more linear than I had initially thought. In fact, without a specific order, the framework did not hold. I had hoped that each person on the team would gravitate to the component that most resonated with them, allowing them to jump into the framework at whatever step made the most sense to them. After a bit of real-life testing, I’ve reworked the framework into a new version that is linear by nature: Purpose comes first, which fuels passion, and then passion drives accountability. Without passion, you don’t have accountability; and without purpose, you don’t have passion. This is why it must start with purpose.

PURPOSE: This gives each individual the “why” they do what they do for the company. It humanizes the brand and allows the individual to relate, at a customer level, with the work they’re doing. Purpose has to come first; without a clear understanding of “why”, the individuals who are working within the organization will struggle to fine their passion and ultimately, accountability.

PASSION: With the understanding of the organizational purpose, the individual can then leverage that purpose and begin to fuel their passion. This passion is the individual’s interpretation of the organizational purpose; it’s how the individual manifests the purpose in their own way. This is what makes passion so powerful; when funneled in through the right framework, passion will drive results for your business.

ACCOUNTABILITY: Every organization would love to have every team member 100% accountable. Very few organizations achieve this high level. However, with a clear definition of organizational purpose and the appropriate level of passion that flows from that, accountability is almost guaranteed. What I mean by that is that if you have the right level of purpose and passion, there is no need to have conversations with your team about being accountable; it is a natural by-product of purpose and passion.

Now you see why this framework cannot be circular in nature; it must be linear and follow a specific order: First purpose, then passion, and then accountability. It is our job as leaders to create and clearly articulate the purpose. From there, we hire people that align with the purpose and they bring their passion to the job every day. When that happens, natural accountability happens. The individual is happy and performing at a high level; the organization is happy because they have an effective workforce that is driving their business. This framework becomes the essence of the organization’s culture.

This is my take on how to build and drive a successful team through a culture that does the heavy lifting. What are your thoughts and ideas? What else have you done that has worked? What have you learned from that didn’t work? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Defining Your Purpose

Why do you get out of bed every morning? What motivates you to do what you do? Why do you push yourself so hard and drive toward excellence in your workplace or with your children? How do you teach purpose to your children if you don’t seemingly have purpose yourself?

These are the questions that have haunted me for many years. As a Christian, I have often wondered if my work in the secular arena was futile. How does that work align with the purpose that my Creator had in mind for me? To that end, should I even be working in the secular world? Meaning, should I work in some capacity within the Christian ministry?

With every job or role I’ve had, I have questioned what is my purpose? How do I not only be successful in the job at hand, but how do I fulfill a greater need within myself and to the world around me? As I’ve continued to search for the right answer, I have gotten more clarity on my personal purpose. I’m using these words with intent as I don’t want to give the perception that I have mastered my personal purpose; there is still so much to discover and build upon. This will be a life-long evolution.

ENCOURAGEMENT

One of the concepts that I have found to be consistent as I’ve searched for purpose is the idea of encouragement. Encouragement is interesting in that it is both selfless and self-fulfilling; meaning, when you give encouragement to someone else, you feel good. You know you’ve done something good. But the flip-side to that (assuming you did a good job of it), you have done a self-less deed that lifts up someone around you. This helps the recipient of the encouragement to feel good, to be elevated in some way for their actions.

To caution this, encouragement can be demoralizing if it is given in a non-authentic manner. Many times I’ve received encouragement and affirmation from leaders without any substance; this always had a negative effect on me because it seemed so shallow and without real merit. Or it could be that the leader didn’t care enough to learn of the details of what I was doing so they were not able to fully provide encouragement. Either way, it actually had a negative impact on me. My caution here is that encouragement must be heartfelt and not merely words.

How do you make it heartfelt? Well, you first must have a heart! For years, business has tried to remove emotion from the equation, stating “it’s not personal, it’s business.” I don’t adhere to that philosophy; I believe for business to be successful, it must be personal. Leverage the emotion you have to fuel a heartfelt conversion with those around you. Don’t interpret this as me saying you should go around crying at work (although that is okay); there is a balance in how much emotion you have. My point, though – don’t push it away, leverage it to drive conversations with meaning. That’s when encouragement has the most weight and meaning.

INSPIRATION

The other concept that I have found to be consistent in my search for personal purpose is inspiration. Inspiration is slightly different from encouragement as it takes a heavier level of involvement and action. Inspiration is the long-game of encouragement. Similar to encouragement, inspiration has to be heartfelt, but it extends that to a relationship versus a one-time encounter. It still possesses the same emotional intelligence as encouragement, just over a longer period of time.

Think about the dialog that you might have with a grocery store clerk; you could pass encouragement to them by praising them for the way they handled your packing and organization of your groceries (which is very important, by-the-way). This exchange qualifies as encouragement as you’re providing support and enabling confidence in a specific activity. In contrast, think of inspiration as a long-term relationship. Children are the best example here. I have two young boys, and my goal is to come alongside them and provide inspiration for them. This would feel similar to encouragement but would be on-going for the duration of our relationship. My goal with inspiration would be to elevate their thinking and pushing them to the next level.

The caution I would give here is that you cannot just walk into someone’s life and start to inspire them; you must come alongside them and create a relationship that fuels this type of respect and bold dialog. There are those moments that I read a book or hear a speaker that inspires me. Likely, I do not have an existing relationship with this person. Clearly, inspiration can happen outside of a lasting relationship but where I have seen it work is with deep relationships.

MY PERSONAL PURPOSE STATEMENT

The net of all of this lead me to create a focused personal purpose statement:

To create inspiration and encouragement, in both personal and professional aspects, in the lives of those I encounter each day.

CREATE: Creation is about “causing something to happen.” I chose this word with intent because this will not happen without being intentional. I must plan time and put effort behind fulfilling my personal purpose.

INSPIRATION: I define this as “filling someone with the urge or ability to do something; to give rise to.” The idea of “filling” is to pour into someone; I must give of myself to someone else. Notice that this is heavy with action as well.

ENCOURAGEMENT: I define this as “the action of giving someone support or confidence; to stimulate the development of an activity.” This is a little lighter than inspiration, but it is giving of yourself. The idea here is to give rise to confidence of those individuals around me.

For my personal purpose to work, I must be intentional with the idea of bringing inspiration and encouragement to life to those around me. I must be thoughtful and plan this type of engagement. But this personal purpose isn’t just in the workplace; my purpose exists in the workplace but also at home with my family, my friends and extended family, and in my local church. My personal purpose has no limits on where and how it can be utilized.

That’s my point of view on personal purpose. What’s yours (and don’t just steal mine)? How do you create purpose in your life? Explore your personal purpose; test it out and get feedback from those around you. Don’t over-think it; just try something and build upon it. Good luck!

Learning from Mowing the Lawn

I mow my yard; I have since … well, since I was about 6-years old. When I was a kid, I did it as a way to make some cash. I could push a lawn mower around the yard for an hour and make $10: Yes, please. Fast forward to my adult days, its not as much fun when you’re not getting paid. When Kim and I were first married and living in the suburbs with a tenth of an acre, it wasn’t a big deal; I could mow the front and back yard in less than an hour. I even splurged and bought one of those self-propelled push mowers; I had finally arrived!

Years later when Kim and I bought 2.5 acres, I had to update my mowing game; It was time to buy a riding lawn mower (I, of course, called it a tractor … which it wasn’t). I couldn’t just buy any lawn mower, I needed a fast, zero-turn mower. That thing drives like an adult go-cart! It suddenly was fun to mow the yard again. That only lasted for a few weeks. In the last couple of years, my oldest son has grown enough and he can competently operate the riding lawn mower. Now, mowing the yard has become his source of income (I pay a bit more than what I was making as a kid).

What has been most interesting is to see the patterns and logic that of each of us use to mow the yard. I like to make long, straight lines and my son likes to make boxes. Neither of the approaches we use is wrong, they’re just different. It got me thinking about perspective in business. So often, I deem my perspective as the correct perspective when I look at a business problem. I’m really open to those on the direct team when they bring their expertise to the conversation; they have earned my trust and I respect their perspective. But, what I’m not very good at is listening to those who may be new to the team; I almost immediately assume their perspective is wrong. Why is that? Why is that our natural reaction to people?

Last week, I mowed the yard because my son wasn’t feeling well. As I was mowing the yard, I found myself looking at the “problem” (how to mow the yard most efficiently) in a different way; I did this because it had been a few months since I last mowed the yard. Stepping away from the problem and tackling it with a new perspective was incredibly helpful. I was able to reduce my mowing time by 15-minutes. Applying this to business, if we allow those new perspectives to come into our business conversations, it can be helpful in finding new ways to overcome problems. The next time you write-off someone’s perspective or point-of-view, pause and allow them to fully articulate their thought; allow that perspective to be a viable solution to the problem you’re trying to solve.

Journal: A 100-day Challenge

Journaling: A 100-day Challenge

At the beginning of this year, I took on the challenge of attempting to journal frequently. Don’t think of this as a new year resolution (as I am not a fan of those) but rather one of the goals I’d like to accomplish this year. My realistic goal was not to journal every day, as I knew that might be a stretch; but realistically, I wanted to journal enough to make it a habit. I knew to do that, I would have to start strong. My initial goal was to journal consecutively for 40-days. That’s a relatively standard rule: do something for 40-days and it becomes a habit.

I tried to build a simple framework (yes, almost everything I touch has some from of a framework; I can’t help it); that framework provided me guidelines of ideas for me to discuss in my journal. The point of the framework was to keeping me writing so I couldn’t say “I don’t know what to journal about today.” The simple framework consisted of just a few ideas to start my writing: spiritual thoughts, ideas about leadership, research within my field of work, experiences or thoughts I wanted to share, or just a recap of what happened yesterday. And each journal entry can be any combination of these; it doesn’t have to be just one.

I’m proud to share that I have now been journaling for 100 consecutive days [applause if welcome]. It has been so great to have a simple outlet to share the crazy that is in my head. It has become more than just a habit; it has become a routine, something that I look forward to each day. If something comes up and I don’t get to write in my journal first thing in the morning, I get frustrated and upset. It is now a part of me.

The journal I’m using is called Focus Journal by L’Atelier (this is s free plug for their product). I like their journal because of its simplicity. There are three basic sections in the journal: checkpoint, journal, and notes. Checkpoint is a place for you to outline your broad goals you have in a given timeframe. I use one journal per quarter, so I tend to outline the concepts that I want to work on and accomplish in that 3-month window. This is a great way for you to plan what you want to focus on rather than just hoping you get to items on your list. The journaling section is where I spend most of my time. Within each journal page, there are to elements: daily goals/tasks and notes. The goals/tasks section is where I outline what I need to get done on a given day. Some of this is driven by my work calendar but a lot of it is the big things I need to accomplish that day, both in my work life and in my personal life. The note section is where I actually journal. This is limited to one page, so it’s not so overwhelming. And, there’s no requirement to fill the entire page; sometimes I just write half a page and I’m done for the day. The point is simply to write something (following your framework makes this easier).

Here’s an example of what the notebook looks like. This is a quick sample from one of my entries.

I share this with you in the hopes of challenging you to take on something you might not otherwise do. It doesn’t have to be journaling; it can be anything that you’ve wanted to do and haven’t made the time. What is it that you’ve been wanting to try for some time now but haven’t taken the plunge? Do it. Just start. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just give it a try and see how it goes. Once you start, make adjustments as needed to help keep you motivated. Enjoy the journey.

Wisdom in the Workplace

This is what it looks like when I think 🙂

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the concept of wisdom. This all started as I began to reflect on some personal advice I had given a colleague a few weeks ago; the advice was well-received and I’m sure it was helpful, but it made me wonder if the advice I gave was wise? Meaning, was it the right advice? Was it simply my personal opinion or was it backed by some knowledge or experience? That led me down the path of asking how does someone obtain wisdom?

I have been thinking a lot lately about the concept of wisdom. This all started as I began to reflect on some personal advice I had given a colleague a few weeks ago; the advice was well-received and I’m sure it was helpful, but it made me wonder if the advice I gave was wise? Meaning, was it the right advice? Was it simply my personal opinion or was it backed by some knowledge or experience? That led me down the path of asking how does someone obtain wisdom?

I started thinking about some of the leaders I have had throughout my career. I won’t name them here publicly, but I have had the privilege of working with some incredible leaders that have been full of wisdom. Just to stress this, the word “incredible” doesn’t do these leaders justice; these leaders have helped to mold me by showing grace, humility, and patience in my life. They have shown me how to balance work and life, how to work hard and make progress in business while having fun, and they’ve shown me how to build and manage a team. I am incredibly grateful for what these leaders have done for me.

There’s another aspect of this too; those bad leaders that I’ve encountered in my career. I know what you’re thinking … you’re already listing off all those bad leaders you’ve had in your career. That’s okay, we’ve all had them. The point I want to make is how you can learn from these poor leaders; just as you learn aspects to emulate from good leaders, you can also learn aspects that you should not emulate from poor leaders. In my experience, learning from poor leaders is almost more valuable than learning from good leaders. Every experience that we encounter, good or bad, is worth learning from. The question is how do you learn from your experience?

Back to my original question about wisdom, the experiences we have with leaders certainly help to mold our wisdom. But, that’s not the only place that we gain wisdom. I began to think back beyond my work career, all the way back to my childhood. My parents, teachers, coaches, and friends imparted wisdom on me. Some more than others and some better than others. I learned a ton from my parents; my mom taught me grit and endurance, how to not just survive but thrive in any situation. My dad taught me how to think about things from a different perspective; how to problem solve by evaluating the various perspectives of a given problem. While there were good things I learned, I also observed things that I didn’t like that I have chosen not to emulate.

As I get older and grow in maturity, I find myself continuing to seek and desire wisdom. Not just knowledge but real wisdom that can help guide my thoughts and conversations. The Bible is an incredible source for guidance and wisdom. I know I just lost some of you as you’re now thinking “this guys is some type of holy-roller”. But, stick with me for just a moment longer. Look a just a few verses that discuss how we can gain wisdom:

“Listen to advise and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future”.
Proverbs 19:20

“In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”.
Colossians 2:3

“Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding”.
Proverbs 3:13

As you continue to seek and grow in wisdom, I hope you will find someone you can listen to and accept instruction from. This could be a leader that you look to for mentorship, it could be a friend or a peer, or it could be something more spiritual that guides you. Whatever it is, find it and grow in wisdom.

5 Strategies Used by Retail Store Managers to Engage Customers

Photo Credit: Getty Images by Hispanolistic

{Originally published on MyTotalRetail.com}

It’s no secret that online shopping has grown in the last few years, putting downward pressure on revenues at brick-and-mortar store locations. To add context to the size of this shift, e-commerce sales have grown by $129 billion between 2013 through 2016, growing from 5.8 percent to 8.5 percent of total retail sales in the United States. As of 2015, 77 percent of the U.S. population had access to the internet. With the proliferation of connected devices, more consumers are turning to an online channel to purchase merchandise. Brick-and-mortar retailers have begun to struggle with maintaining the historic levels of revenue in their stores.

To help overcome this business challenge, retail store managers must find ways to differentiate the in-store experience and create engaging customer experiences in-store. A differentiated in-store experience is important as some store managers have experienced positive financial results by enhancing customers’ in-store experiences. To better understand how some brick-and-mortar stores were seeing success with this, I conducted a qualitative multiple case study to explore the strategies that retail store managers were using to create engaging in-store experiences.

The primary themes I identified were fun at work, customer connection, relationship, pride, and genuine care. The themes that I identified in my study were significant factors that contributed to successful customer engagement strategies for these retail store managers. As I approached this study, I expected that I would hear the concepts of tools and training to be fundamental to the in-store customer experience. To my surprise, those weren’t the main themes. The themes I heard were more focused on engagement between the store associate and the customer. Those themes were centered around the concepts of fun at work, customer connection, relationship, pride, and genuine care.R

Strategy 1: Fun at Work

The most prominent strategy that emerged in my research was the idea of fun at work. Many of the store managers attributed their successful customer engagement strategies to the root idea of their store associates first having fun. Having fun at work was a component of the individual store culture and is something that was established at the manager level. This culture then cascaded down throughout the remaining members of the organization. This idea of fun at work manifested itself by playing upbeat music, dancing in the store, laughing at various situations, and finding a way to remain happy and pleasant even though the team was doing laborious work. Participant four stated that “if my store associates are having fun, they have a higher rate of interaction with the customer. That interaction is more pleasant for the customer and results in higher levels of sales productivity.” As I observed the store associates and their interaction with customers, I could see they were both having fun; because the store associates were happy and cheerful, the customers gravitated towards them and would adopt a similar attitude of happiness and cheerfulness.

Strategy 2: Customer Connection

Another strategy that emerged was connection with the customer. Rather than having that store associate go straight to selling a product, he or she will attempt to connect with the customer by learning about a project they might be working on at home or understanding what might have brought them into the store. From there, the store associate will build on that connection and tie the selling aspect into the conversation. This approach helps to create a higher level of comfort with the customer, allowing them to become more engaged with the store associate. Creating a more personal connection with the customer leads to a better and richer conversation that allows the two participants to more quickly find ways to help the customer fulfill their needs.

Strategy 3: Relationship

The strategy of building trust and relationships with the customer emerged from my research as well. This concept builds on connection and conversation with the customer by maintaining that level of engagement over a prolonged period of time. Participant four shared several stories of customers coming in with their spouses just to meet one of the store associates with whom they had a relationship. The bond between the customer and store associate fosters a deep level of trust that enriches the customer experience, both in the present and in the future. This level of relationship is built by having a store associate spend time with the customer. It’s not a bond that’s formed in a single encounter; it takes time to develop and mature.

Strategy 4: Pride

Participant two described pride as drawing a parallel to their store as their home: “The analogy that I use is when you shop at my store is that it’s like you come into my house. If these customers were guests in your house, how would you treat them? Using this approach helps to create pride for our associates; they make it personal.” The level of hospitality and pride that store associates take in their personal lives spill over into the stores they manage. Fostering pride can be difficult. Participant four described the method used for building pride in their store associates: “To create pride in our associates, we involve them in the ‘why’; it’s not just about telling them what to do, it’s about bringing them along on the journey of why we’re doing it. Providing them with a deeper understanding of why creates buy-in and fosters pride for the associate.” The sense of pride that these store managers and store associates had seemed to help elevate the customer’s experience in-store.

Strategy 5: Genuine Care

The final strategy that emerged from the collected data was the concept of genuine care. Participant two said, “it’s not just a job for us; we actually care about our customers. When we have an interaction with our customer, we’re genuinely listening and care about what they have to say.” This concept ties into a few of the other strategies previously discussed; mainly, customer connection and relationship. Because the store associate cares about the customer, this leads to a deeper connection and relationship with the customer. Participant five said, “we interact with the customer because we care about the customer; we genuinely want to make a difference in their life.” The concept of genuine care seemed to help more quickly cultivate a strong relationship between the customer and the store associate.

Conclusion

Customer experience is an important part of the brick-and-mortar retail experience. As customers have many options from different retailers to fulfill their shopping needs, creating an engaging customer experience is a means to a differentiated shopping experience. This differentiated customer experience could be what sets the retailer apart from its competition. In an ever-competitive landscape, customer experience has become an important component for brick-and-mortar retailers. In this study, I identified and discussed a few factors that could lead to a differentiated customer experience. When used appropriately by retail store managers, these five strategies have the potential to create deeper customer relationships and increased revenues.

From the Desk of Erson – January 2019

Since finishing my dissertation in November 2018, I’ve had a little more time on my hands to read. It’s almost like I’ve been reading in an attempt to fill a void that has been left in me since I’m not continually researching and writing. I thoroughly enjoyed the process of writing and publishing my dissertation but I did miss the opportunity to read a book or article for enjoyment purposes. To that end, I have read a few books and I thought I would share those with you all.

Lincoln The Unknown, by Dale Carnegie

A few months ago, I read a book called How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (you can see my thoughts on that book here). In his book, Carnegie discussed some of Abraham Lincoln’s approach to leadership and mentioned that he had written a book about his life; that peaked my interest and caused me to read Lincoln the Unknown. I have always been a huge fan of presidential history. I have a bust of President Kennedy and a drawing of Abraham Lincoln in my office. While studying political science (that was my minor) in my undergrad, I took a class solely dedicated to the presidential history and political strategy. To top all that, I own and have read Kennedy’s dissertation that he wrote while finishing his Master’s degree, Why England Slept. The point of all that: I am a presidential nerd.

In Carnegie’s book, he does a fabulous job depicting many details about how Lincoln came to live in the White House. It was both sad and fascinating to be reminded that Lincoln was met mostly with failure in his life: multiple businesses that failed, a disappointing political career (until he obtained the Republican nomination for President), an meager law practice, and a very sad marriage. But what I found most interesting was that even in the face of so much disappointment, Lincoln pushed forward for what he believed in: re-uniting the Union. Amongst all the political and personal set backs, Lincoln continued the fight for what was moral and right. The amount of character that he exhibited was astounding. I can only hope and pray that I leave a legacy of similar magnitude.

Dare to Serve, by Cheryl Bachelder

This book by Bachelder serves as a good reminder about why we, as leaders, work. Don’t confuse that statement with organizational purpose, but rather a personal purpose that fuels our passion for people each and every day. For those of you who know me, you know how strong my feelings are about finding purpose in our work. I cannot and will not work to make a rich man richer; I do not work for a good-looking bottom line. That is not who I am. Just to balance that out, I am a businessman and understand the ins and outs of a healthy P&L. The point I’m making here is not that we should ignore the P&L but rather as leaders, our emphasis should be on the people and the purpose we serve first and foremost. Then, using that approach, we can drive a healthy P&L.

In her book, Bachelder reminds us of the importance of putting people first in the business. She discusses in depth the important characteristics of a servant leader: humility, inspiration, accountability, stepping out of the spotlight, and helping your team find personal purpose. Bachelder sums it up best in her definition of servant leadership: “Servant leadership simply means service above self“.

I aspire to be servant leader. Abraham Lincoln was a servant leader, often found sitting and talking to the soldiers fighting in the Civil War discussing their needs and their personal life. Even Christ, in his short time on this earth, exhibited the characteristics of a servant leader. Look at how Matthew describes servant leadership: “But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Matthew 20:26-28 NLT.

The 4-Hour Workweek, by Timothy Ferriss

This is not the typical book you would see me read, much less write about. But I have to say, this book caught my attention. And not just because the title (I mean, who wouldn’t want to limit their work week to just 4-hours); it got my attention because of two things: 1) It was incredibly entrepreneurial. The ideas and concepts presented by Ferriss, while extreme, do have merit in the corporate world when used appropriately. 2) His simple, no nonsense, approach to business is very appealing. The idea of eliminating all distractions and focusing on short snippets of work in a hyper-effective manner is refreshing.

I happened to read this book over Christmas break, just in time to have it influence my new year’s resolutions. Just to be clear on this, I don’t love the idea of resolutions; for me, I use this time of year to regain focus on the things I’d like to make a priority for the coming year. The concept that stood out to me in this book was the frequency in which Ferriss checks his email; to be most accurate, I really should have said the infrequency in which he checks email. Ferriss states that he only checks email for an hour on Monday mornings. That’s it. One hour each week. That blew me away. I live and breathe by my inbox. For the most part, what appears in my inbox drives that tasks that end of doing each day. And often, the tasks that I do on the weekend. I have anxiety about unread items in my inbox, to the point where I check email more that 50 times in a day. That’s insane! No wonder I’m behind on all my work; I spend too much time reading and responding to email.

To counter that this year, I am trying something new. I am only checking email 3 times a day: first thing in the morning (usually at about 7:15a), around the noon hour (assuming I can find a few minutes at my desk for lunch), and just before I leave the office for the day. If you work with me in some capacity, don’t freak out by this; I’ve been doing it for 3-weeks and no one has asked me why it took 4-hours to respond to their email versus 4-minutes. My inbox is very much up-to-date, I’m just choosing when I spend time on my inbox versus other items on my long list of things to accomplish.

What are you reading? What should I read next? I’d love your thoughts and feedback!