Experience vs. Cost

A colleague of mine who works in retail related the story of a new department manager who had management experience, but little retail experience. I have seen this happen in the past, and it always puzzles me, for a couple of reasons:


You have a leader who has no idea of how the business works. Just because someone knows how to hire and fire, it doesn't mean they know anything about retail. I witnessed this in the restaurant business, where a manager was hired who knew nothing about restaurants (well, he probably was a waiter at one time, weren't we all?), and proceeded to anger the staff at busy times by walking into the back and asking "What can I do?"

My philosophy is, if you don't know what needs to be done, you have no business being a leader.

This can also affect the morale of staff. The thought goes something like: "why is this guy the boss? He doesn't even know what needs to be done"

And yes, I realize that you don't have to know everything about the operation to lead. But you do need to exude the confidence that you can lead, so that your staff does not feel like they are the ones running the show, and you are the one making all the money.
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Robert B. Wallis is a speaker, author, and consultant who helps business owners increase their profitability by improving their visibility. Contact him at The Wallis Group

Repost: What To Do When You Feel Like You Don’t Matter

By Scott Ginsberg The Nametag Guy
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Rob Wallis is The Marketing Outsider, a speaker, author, and consultant who helps business owners increase their profitability by improving their visibility. Contact him at The Wallis Group

According to Roy H. Williams, "rich people get rich because they think further ahead than the rest of us". Most people are sitting (figuratively) and waiting for the nxt thing to happen. It's a behavior you sometimes see in dogs: "throw the ball, throw the ball, throw the ball." Instead of waiting for something to happen, we need to be making things happen. That's right, MAKING things happen. And the first step of that, as in everything, is figuring out what you want. Really want. Then, work backwards, to where you are now. Map out the steps that will get you to that goal. Then the hard part. Figure out HOW. The hows are probably the hardest thing of all, so I tend to fall back on what I consider to be one of the best things I've ever said (which, I admit, I probably didn't think of first:"The best way to be in the right place at the right time is to be in lots of places"In other words, try lost of things. You will fail. Often. The interesting thing is, the more you fail, you will surely succeed. Paitence is more than a virtue; it's a necessity. So is persistence. Most people, if they fail, they stop. Listen: If you stop, you fail. The trick is not stopping. Are there times when you need to "get realistic" and go do something else? Of course. But not nearly as often as you might think. Now go do something. Robert B. Wallis

There has never, in all of human history, been even one human being who succeeded without screwing up first.

"Your ad will be just one of 5,000 sneaky little messages that will try to break into the customer’s consciousness today..." http://bit.ly/pSiW63

Scott Ginsberg on What to do when you feel like you don't matter.Read:

"Remember – the reason the Native American Rain Dance always works is because they never stop dancing until it rains." -Bert LordTo your success, Robert B. WallisMarketing OutsiderThe Wallis Group