Managing Unequally, Part 3: Creating New Outcomes

Building sustainable momentum across underperforming store locations.

Over the last two articles I walked through a district of mine that was sitting at 85 percent of plan, how I found the six stores holding almost the entire miss, and how I changed where my time went. Shorter visits for the stores that were performing. Real time, at varied days and hours, in the six that were not.

That tighter cadence worked, and it also did something I did not expect. It made a few things impossible to keep explaining away. Here is what happened next, with the people and with the numbers.

The one who did not make it

There was one store where the manager never got there. He was the weakest of the group. I kept coming back to the same place with him. Here are the expectations. I am trying to help you meet them. What else can I do for you?

The answers were always some version of "I do not know" or "I am just going to keep working harder." So I asked the more difficult question: “If working harder is not what is working here, do you need to try something genuinely different? Or is it possible this is not the right role for you?”

That ends up being a very different question when you have spent a bunch of extra time with someone over a few weeks. It is a more honest, helpful question versus what can be a serious threat question when it comes without the prior coaching and discussions.

People know. Even when they do not want to admit it out loud, they know.

He eventually chose to leave. There was no long, drawn-out disciplinary process. He reached the conclusion himself because the expectations and conversations had made the situation clear. He also knew I was not trying to push him out. I had genuinely tried to help him succeed. In the end, the role was simply no longer a good fit.

The investment continued to pay off

We promoted from within the district, a great assistant manager who was ready for her shot at running a store. I kept managing that store unequally, now for two reasons. The store still needed to improve, because the problem had never been about one individual alone. And a newly promoted manager could benefit from additional coaching as she stepped into the role. Both made that store a high-value use of my time.

I was still relatively early in my multi-unit career, and this helped me recognize that managing unequally is not a punishment you apply to weak stores. It is a decision about where your attention can create the most value for your team and district as a whole. Sometimes that is a struggling store. Sometimes it is a promising new leader. Sometimes it is a strong store doing something you want the rest of the district to copy.

The other thing I had underestimated was the impact on the team. This was not only about my conversations with managers. It was also about what the team saw. A district manager does not normally spend that much time in a handful of stores, and people notice. They saw the energy, the effort, the expectations, and the support. By the time the new manager arrived with a fresh, can-do attitude, I had built a different relationship with the team, and they had seen that change was possible. Watching the whole store improve was fun, and a tremendous learning experience for me.

Where it landed

About two months in, all six stores had made real progress. Three of the four lowest-performing stores were making plan regularly and building momentum. They still had year-to-date ground to make up, but they had stopped digging the hole, and that alone changes everything. The two stores that had been on the cusp were also making plan. The fourth of the bottom stores, the one where we changed managers, took longer. But it got there and became a performer, led by a new store manager who was already making a name for herself.

The district got back to plan, and by the end of the year, we made our plan for the full year.

The lesson continued to pay off the following year. We understood something we had not understood before, do not fall behind and spend the year playing catch-up. Build enough strength across the district that no small group of stores has to carry an unfair load.

Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time, doing the right things, and sales are terrific. When a few stores are running ahead, they create a cushion. Then, when a manager quits unexpectedly or something else goes sideways, the district can absorb it.

The part I remember most is not the sales number. It is the teamwork, the camaraderie, and how much I learned.

What I carried forward

I have used this in every role since, including the ones where I was no longer directly responsible for a group of P&Ls. From a corporate seat, the questions are still the same:

• Where are our misses coming from?

• Where can we spend more time?

• How do we help our district and regional managers look at their businesses differently?

It is also why I still believe in business reviews, and why I believe the real value is in the individual store results, not only the district roll-up. The most useful question is not, "Did the district make plan?" It is, "How many stores made plan, and what is happening in each one?"

The district result alone does not tell the whole story. A few strong stores can cover up misses in several others. I like to look at the number of stores making plan, not just whether the district made plan. That changes the conversation. It can expose hidden problems and reveal untapped potential, even in districts or regions that appear to be performing well.

Your time is your scarcest resource, and most of us spend it on a rotation instead of on a decision. Take a step back. Look at your business by store, not by average. Find the handful of buildings that hold most of your gap. Then go put your hours there and be honest with the people in them about why. You do not have to work more. You have to spend what you already have where it matters most.

That is the whole series summarized. You cannot fix an average, but you can absolutely fix a store and each one adds up.

How will you look beyond the averages and invest your time in different ways across your team?

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