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You Gotta Hear This!

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Everything Works at HQ​ Podcast two-part series with Steve Worthy. Join Steve for the must-listen two-part podcast series, Everything Works at HQ. He’ll dive into the very real retail battle: US (Stores) vs. THEM (Home Office). 🎧 What HQ Can Learn from Stores, exploring store teams' under-appreciated insights. 🎧 What Stores Can Learn from HQ - Bridging the Divide, creating a mutual understanding and improved communication between HQ and stores. Get your headphones on! The first episode airs Thursday, March 28th. The second wraps up on Thursday April 4th. Subscribe now and listen anytime. Don’t miss out! I’ll see you there. ​ 🎧 Listen Now!

Welcome to Retail Renegades,

In every issue, I tear into 1 of the 10 biggest problems all retail leaders face:

• Delegation
• Priority order
• Building culture
• Self-confidence
• Speaking up
• Time management
• Actionable empathy
• Dealing with an overbearing boss
• Clear & consistent communication
• Streamlining processes - working smarter & saving time.

(If you want to smash all 10 of these AND master the fundamentals of running a kick-ass store, I'd love to have you in ​The Break Room​.)

Delegation

Stop doing everything yourself.

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​It feels easier to do it yourself, sometimes. It will be quick! You'll teach someone else later, right? Nah. Stop and teach someone else how to do it. Have them teach two more people.

It's the only way to get it all done without getting crispy.

When you're crispy, you burn out friends, and we don't want that. We want you sharp. Retail is incredibly dynamic, and you have to make quick decisions all day long. The more decisions you make, the faster you burn out.

(This is why I wear the same outfit: a black tank top and jeans every day. It's one less decision I have to make. But that's a story for another day.)

Here's how you can push small projects off your plate and be more effective at running your store.

Teach everyone everything

That sounds easy, right? Actually, it is. It doesn't need to be a huge project, you don't need a checklist, and you don't need to write memos. All you need to do is talk about what you're doing, teach someone who has been on the job for a few months, and carry on.

Do your cashiers ask you for help when they have an issue? That's great! Could they ask someone else? A tenured associate, perhaps? Probably.

Create small moments of ownership in the store. Jenny is in charge of the cases. Mark walks the windows on every shift. Max is in charge of restocking the cash wrap—whatever you want.

Teach your team how everything works so they can be self-sufficient. Giving them a small part of the store to oversee shows them that you trust them. You'll still need to manage it, but these small acts of delegation add up to time saved. It's also how your team grows.

Small tasks = a huge time suck

Every hour, we're required to pull a sales report. We pull the reports, do some math, and write it on the zone chart for the day. It's easy. It takes a manager about ten minutes to do it.

Add that up, and managers are spending TWO HOURS a day pulling numbers and doing math. (If you're open 10-9) Two hours.

Now, tracking your business is essential. We want to know where we are each hour to track our sales goals, but two hours a day of pulling numbers and calculating percentages is a lot.

So, delegate it.

A cashier can easily do this in between customers. They can pull the numbers, do the math, and loop the team in when finished. Ta-da! Your managers just got two hours back in their day.

How to ask

If you’re new to leadership, delegation may seem a little intimidating, especially if you’re around the same age as the people you are delegating to. You may be hesitant—you don’t want to come off too bossy. Who do you think you are, right?

I got you.

When I was a new assistant manager, delegating felt weird. I was like, “Um, yeah, hi, could you maybe fold this table? Is that cool?”

Twenty years later, I had too much to do and never enough time. My communication and leadership skills evolved. I had a dedicated team that knew me well, so I’d often say, “Tim. The front table needs recovery. Now. Go! Thank you.”

There is a happy medium. Here’s what you say. “Before we close, we need __ recovered. I’m going to have you in charge of __." Let me know if you need anything!”
“Do you want to A or B this morning?” Give them a choice. They’ll be more willing to help out.
“Can you do me a favor and __?” People want to be helpful.
​“I’m going to do __. Can I have you do __?” Explain what you’re working on. Otherwise, people may resent you if they think you’re only delegating and not doing work, too.

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Delegation streamlines work

Slow down - just a little - and start to teach your team small things. It may seem faster to get them done yourself, but you have enough to do. You have a team for a reason - to help you. So, let them in.

After a month or so, you'll see things start to click. You'll start to get back minutes a day and that will soon add up to an hour. Once your team is self-sufficient and they don't need you as much, you get to do your job better. You'll even be able to add recruiting, training, or strategy into your day.

That's what leads to your growth. It leads to helping with special projects. It leads to promotions.

When you get it right, delegation feels a little like magic.

Mailbox

DM of the week.

Girl, your boss sucks. Their boss sucks, too. It's not retail; it's that this store isn't being managed properly. It's fine if your boss trusts you to work a Monday occasionally, but this should not be an every-week thing.

Also - fire that shitty employee. I don't care if you're short-staffed. I'd rather work every day than deal with an associate like that.

One more thing, quit. This job is taking advantage of your work ethic. This is absolutely not fair to you. Start looking for something else.

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This example is why so many people hate retail. The majority of managers are never taught how to lead. So, you get store managers that don't hold crappy associates accountable and take advantage of the other people that work.

Don't take it. Find another job. You want to spend your days off energized, not totally crispy and exhausted. It's not worth it.

Level-Up

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One thing you can do today to be a better leader.

Have that difficult conversation
​If someone needs coaching, do it now.

I’ve put off coaching conversations more often than I’d like to admit. Because, well, it’s awkward! Here’s what I know.If you put it off, it only gets more complicated. Or it doesn’t get done at all, so the problem persists or gets worse.

Talk to the person right away. ”Hey, when you __. It didn’t go so well. Next time ___. Does that make sense?”

Come from a place of education and support.

No one comes to work and intentionally does a bad job (not usually). People don’t want to suck. So, let them know where they messed up and how they can improve. The conversation may be challenging, but you’ll be glad you did it.

Hey!
The Retail Leader's Summit is Coming.

Check out my 14 day leadership summit for retail leaders,

Decoding Leadership Styles.

I'm working on the course modules right now, and this is going to be so much fun and help you create cohesive, supportive leadership teams!

The two-week course will help you define your leadership style
which will help you:

• Improve communication
• Streamline your work
• Delegate more efficiently

I cannot wait for it to begin!

Find all the details here ⬇️ and put your name on the list for an invitation.
Space will be limited.

We start April 23rd.

Alright, have a kick-ass weekend!

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Hit reply and let me know what you think of this newsletter. Good? Bad? Helpful? Do you have questions you want answered?

See you next time,

Kit

Looking for more ways to save time and run an awesome store? Let's go!

If you want to learn how to write an excellent schedule in 60 minutes, go here. This ten-minute read will save you time and make your store more money, even if you are new to leadership.

Got a store visit coming up? Want to know how to prepare? Go here.​
I'll show you how to prep for a store visit and you won't have to work twelve-hour days.

Want to write impactful reviews that matter? Go here.

⭐️ Want ALL the HOW-TO nitty, gritty info?

​Order my book today! The Retail Leader's Field Guide: How to Run a Kick-Ass Store Where Everyone Wants to Work will help leaders at all levels, even if they are new to leadership.

See you next time!

PS - You're a badass and you can do hard things.

PPS - Stay rad.