Change management is a difficult thing. Asking people to do different things, some of which may feel uncomfortable in the sense that it is new or an activity they have never done before is one of the most challenging things a leader is asked to do. It can, however, be a rewarding and satisfying experience.

Every organization needs a way to identify and develop talent for the long-term. One of the best examples of how this works is in baseball. Professional baseball teams have development league teams, commonly referred to as ‘Farm Teams.’ These are teams that play at lower levels than what we know as the ‘Major League.’

A while back I wrote [Culture is What You Do, Not Something That You Create in a Day] pointing out that culture is always there, the summation of the behaviors of everyone in your organization. That is what defines your culture, not what you espouse it to be.

Motivation is perhaps one of the most significant outcomes a leader can create. Motivation is not a result; it is the creation of an environment that encourages others to be engaged.

It would not be difficult to find several people defining delegation as shifting stuff you don’t want to do to other people. And in some cases that may be true, however, there is so much more to delegation when it is done effectively.

Delegation. Few leaders will come right out and say they don't know how or that they don't have much experience with it. And the longer they have been in a leadership role, the more difficult that becomes. The truth is, delegation is hard. It takes practice.

Engagement is more than a buzzword, it is an output of effective leadership. If we were to simplify that thought process, we might be able to make a more significant impact on those we serve. There is no shortage of information related to the subject of engagement.

Calendar applications are one of those things that tend to be a personal choice. Most of the calendar apps essentially do the same thing - keep track of your daily appointments. Whether you have many meetings each day or just the occasional scheduled session, having a single place to keep track of that information is necessary.

Creating an outstanding customer experience should be the goal of every retail leader. Over the past decade, voice of the customer type surveys have continued to gain in popularity. I would wager that nearly every major retailer has some level of customer satisfaction measure within their business.

How many times have you visited a store, identified some opportunity areas for your Store Leader and the team, then asked for an action plan on how they would address those items that were identified? Probably fairly often. Right? Alternatively, maybe the store has struggled with a recent inventory, and they have a high shrink number.

Writing the schedule for your store or location can be a time consuming, frustrating experience. Even with the best workforce management solutions, there will always be aspects that the location manager needs to factor in when writing and maintaining a schedule for their store.

Does your team frequently state that there is too much on their plate? That they are receiving too much information? They may even indicate that there needs to be a ‘gatekeeper’ to prevent too many things from coming to them on a daily or weekly basis.

If you are a multi-unit leader or aspire to be one, you likely know that visiting the locations you oversee is one of the most important aspects of your position. Regardless of what method your company provides you for capturing your store visit notes, you need to know what you want to accomplish during your time in the location.

A year ago, I posted my first blog entry, and it was about the choices we each have. Our power to choose what we do is unmatched in determining the outcomes we will ultimately experience. More than ever I believe that to be true.