FAQ: How Can I Go From Kickoff Meeting High to Concrete Results?

Addressing the challenge of moving from corporate vision to store execution.

One Friday each month, I dedicate the post to looking at some questions I have heard recently from developing leaders. Sharing those questions and my thoughts for them is a way for me to spread the information to as many leaders and future leaders as possible. If you have a question about leadership, or just a situation you would like some additional insight on, please email me at Effective Retail Leader. Let’s take a look at this week’s question.

I just got back from my annual kickoff meeting and I am genuinely excited about the company strategies and initiatives for the year. I want to bring them all to life in my store and have a great year. I just fear the realities we face will make that hard. How do I get my team excited, and ensure we can have a great year ahead?

The annual kickoff meeting is a unique season in retail. You spend a few days in a high-energy environment, surrounded by your peers, lots of a great discussions, even good slides. You love the vision. It almost feels like a dream and the art of the possible. You hear the roadmap, you know you’ll share the ideas, and you feel ready to conquer the world.

Then, you get back into your store the following Monday morning.

The transition from the hotel meeting room to the sales floor is often where the best leadership intentions go to die. Reality hits you before you even get through the front doors. Maybe it is a frantic call from a customer that puts you right back into reaction mode. Or maybe you walk into the building to find that tasks were missed, processes fell off, and the team struggled in your absence. Suddenly, those "known issues" are staring you in the face, and that exciting company roadmap feels like a distant memory.

Leadership in many ways is the art of managing this messy area between the vision at the meeting and reality at the store. There are no silver bullets, but there are ways to push through the day-to-day action to actually make progress on the things that matter.

The Trap of Trying to Do Everything

When you leave a kickoff meeting, you usually have a list of ten new initiatives that all sound critical. The energy is high, and you want to bring all of it back to your team. However, we have to remember that the word priority was originally meant to be singular. Multitasking is a myth, and if everything is important, then nothing is.

You have to be strategic. It is great to share the big picture with your team, but you must be the one to filter that noise. Thinking about what ‘could be’ is the fun part. It becomes a way to escape the realities of the moment. You need to be able to say, "Here is where we are going, and here is exactly where we are going to concentrate our efforts first".

Before you can take on the new things, you have to be honest about your foundation. If you have team or foundational issues, they must be addressed first. You cannot build a new strategy on top of a broken process. This requires a clear, honest conversation with your District Manager. They need to know your plan and understand that you might have some catching up to do before you can fully execute the new year's goals. Quality and effort on the right things will always beat a rushed, poor execution of everything.

Stirring the Pot with Intention

To get your team moving, you have to paint a picture of what could be. This is about being an agitator of change rather than just an irritant to your team. An irritant challenges people to do what you want them to do, which usually just leads to frustration. A positive agitator challenges them to do what they want to do by inspiring action and creating a desire for change.

One of the most effective ways to do this is to share the vision and then ask a simple question: "What would need to happen in order to make that true?"

This forces everyone to face the brutal truths of the current situation while remaining optimistic about the goal. It allows the team to identify the obstacles themselves. When the team helps name the challenges, they are more likely to take ownership of the solutions. This also sets a foundation for real accountability, which is simply everyone giving their word to the team and getting it done for the right reasons.

Using the VIE Framework

If you find yourself stuck between the meeting excitement and the store reality, try using the Vision, Intention, and Enable (VIE) framework.

• Vision: This is the "where are we going" part that you brought back from your meeting. It should be a vivid picture of success that pulls the team forward.

• Intention: This is your conscious decision to move from "I hope this happens" to "I am making this happen". It connects your "why" to your "how".

• Enable: This is where you provide the tools and remove the barriers.

By asking your team what needs to happen to reach the vision, you are essentially asking them to help you define the "Enable" portion of the plan.

The Reality of Resilience

Planning is the bridge between a meeting’s excitement and actual results. But the first change that must happen is in you, the leader. Effective leadership starts by looking in the mirror. You have to be the one to influence yourself first.

Are you building and protecting time in your schedule every week to review, reflect, and plan? Without that reflective space, you will lose effectiveness and just get swallowed by the next fire that pops up. You have to follow through. The excitement of the meeting is going to wear off fast. It might happen on your first day back, or it might take a week, but reality will eventually hit hard. Mike Tyson said it best: "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face."

(Side note: I didn’t expect to quote Mike Tyson in an article about leadership.)

Resilience is critical. You have to be the steady one in the building. You have to stand your ground in the face of the headwinds and show the way. If you bend or fall back into old reaction-mode traps, your team will too. Stay strong, stay committed, and protect your focus. That is how you bring the excitement and possibility of the meeting to life for the year ahead.

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