Store Leaders with More Freedom Can Earn Higher Profits

My?Leadership Field Guide?book will be out this year! I'll tell you how I set up my stores for success and created a community that kept people coming back.?

Be the first in line to get your copy - sign up?right here .

Freedom in Leadership

While skimming through Insider's website the other day, a headline caught my eye.

"The Barnes & Noble CEO says sales are rising because he trusts his booksellers to 'create good bookshops' and run each store the way they want to"

I posted about this, and all the retail leaders were like, "Yes, of course."

An IT person commented that Barnes and Noble's stores are some of the best ones to support.

Interesting.

This tells me that when leaders are given more autonomy to run their businesses and cater to their unique neighborhoods, they thrive. They're thriving in all areas of their business because if an IT person comes in and can tell, then you're doing it right.

Why?

Because they travel to stores all the time, they've seen some wild stuff, and they (just like delivery drivers) know what stores are running well and what stores aren't.

How can companies give more power to store leaders?

I'm glad you asked; I have a couple of ideas.

Make Volunteer Work Part of the Benefits Plan

Companies are waking up to the fact that employees want to do more than show up and earn a paycheck. They want to give back, and they want their company to care.

Many employers now offer one paid volunteer day a month. Employees can choose where they'd like to volunteer and get paid for that day of volunteer work.

I would've been so game for this. It was one of the things I was looking for when considering switching retail jobs.

Community is essential, especially when you're running a business.

If I could have volunteered in my community as the Store Manager of my company, it would've boosted our traffic - guaranteed. People love to see leaders in their community get involved, no matter where they come from.

Participation in the local community means leaders understand their neighborhood better and it lets them forge partnerships they may not have otherwise.

Merchandise Depending on Location

How are those shorts on your front table selling for you in Oregon right now?

Hmmmmmmm, yeah. That's what I thought. They're not.

Want to know who does know what's selling? Your store leader.

You'll see sales rise when you give your store leaders more freedom to merchandise their stores. Yes, have standards, but encourage people to make decisions based on how their neighborhood shops.

Whenever we had an accessory go to clearance that we knew would sell, we'd put some at the cash wrap as add-ons.

There are many easy ways to encourage this in stores - let people be creative. If it doesn't work, that's okay. We learn, and we move on.

We're selling stuff, not saving lives. Let's have some fun.

Your store leaders are the experts in their building, and they're tuned into what's happening around them.

My leadership teams knew when local school events were, festivals in the area, and what the mall events were. Typically corporate isn't tracking that stuff because they don't have time to do it.

Let your store leaders do it. Give them some freedom to make choices to move their business forward.

When we micromanage, innovation dies.

We're selling stuff, not saving lives. Let's have some fun.

Hey, I'm Kit. I led teams in retail buildings for over 20 years.

My?Leadership Field Guide?book will be out this year! I'll tell you how I set up my stores for success and created a community that kept people coming back.?

Be the first in line to get your copy - sign up?right here .