Tuesday, October 14, 2008

All eyes on you....

I was recently asked to comment on the top three qualities of a good leader. The audience in that case was a group of leadership experts, which tends to make one pause before responding. Still...was pretty easy:

1. Integrity, both personal and professional.

2. The ability to inspire others to do their best and the grace to recognize their achievements.

3. Clear vision, both of the future and the past; rewriting history robs us of our ability to learn from it.

Do you possess those qualities?

If you have employees who have been with you for years, odds are that you do. Rarely (especially in retail) do people stay put for bonehead employers.

It’s important to be the kind of leader that staff members want to work for-—right now, they’re you first line of defense against dropping sales or poor customer experience.

It’s also important to be the kind of store owner customers want to shop with-—in a world that seems to be swinging left hooks, they crave stability and confidence in their personal universe.

You owe it to them. You owe it to you. Allow your leader within to shine.