Reginal Bone

Retail managers have to learn to be so multiple faceted in order to be a successful leader in their role.

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🚀 ALTA is Dominating the Industry/Breaking Boundaries-Join Us as a District Manager in Kansas🚀 This is not your average job offer—this is your chance to lead, inspire, and grow with one of the fastest-growing companies in retail! Alta has skyrocketed over the last 5 years, growing 40% and expanding from 3 states to 11. And we’re just getting started! We’re looking for a bold, visionary District Manager in Kansas who is ready to take this region to the next level. Why You Should Be Excited About This Opportunity: 💥 F: Lead 8-12 high-performing stores, driving profits, crushing goals, and fueling growth in one of our hottest markets. 💥 BE PART OF SOMETHING BIG: With our massive growth, there’s no ceiling here. Alta promotes from within, and this role is a launchpad for your career. We need leaders who want to move up, and we’re ready to invest in YOU. 💥 Shape the Future: You’ll be implementing high-impact strategies, growing teams, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in retail. Your leadership will directly shape the future of our brand in Kansas! What’s In It for You? 🌟 Unlimited Growth: As we continue our explosive expansion, your hard work won’t go unnoticed. This is where careers take off! 🌟 Make your IMPACT Felt: This isn’t just a job—this is an opportunity to build, innovate, and leave your mark on a company that’s breaking records in the industry. 🌟 The Fast Lane to Promotion: We’ve expanded from 3 states to 11 in the past five years, and we’re still growing. That means more opportunities for YOU to step up and move into higher leadership roles. Who We’re Looking For: 🚀 A seasoned leader with 5+ years in retail, gasoline, or food service management ready to manage multiple locations with confidence. 🚀 A people developer who can inspire teams, grow talent, and create the next generation of leaders. 🚀 A strategic thinker who can see the big picture and turn vision into action. 🚀 Ready to hit the road and drive change as a “road warrior” across locations. Ready to Grab This Opportunity? 💥 If you’re hungry for success and want to lead with confidence, this is your shot. Join us and become a key player in one of the fastest-growing companies in the industry. We’re looking for a leader like YOU to fuel our next chapter of growth. The future is waiting — take it! 🔗 Apply Now: http://tiny.cc/Alta1 📍 Location: Kansas #BigOpportunities #DistrictManager #RetailLeadership #UnitedPacific #CareerGrowth #FastTrackToSuccess #KansasJobs #TakeTheLead #PromoteFromWithin #ExplosiveGrowth

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Unlocking True Servant Leadership Quick-hitter tonight…my team is in town for #LeadersMeeting this week at #TractorSupply SSC and they are coming over for a cookout tomorrow so I better get back to cleaning the house. So here we go…. To me, servant leadership transcends all traditional leadership styles because it prioritizes the growth and well-being of the team members. At its core, true servant leadership involves actively listening, deeply empathizing, and nurturing an environment where every voice is valued. This approach requires not only humility but also a commitment to serving rather than commanding. To refine your servant leadership skills, begin by adopting a genuine service mindset—making it your mission to understand the needs and aspirations of your team. Establish trust through absolute transparency, and hold yourself accountable consistently. Engage in regular feedback conversations, contributing to a culture of open dialogue that empowers everyone. But is servant leadership truly the most effective way to lead? Research indicates that teams under servant leaders typically demonstrate higher engagement, enhanced performance, and elevated morale. Reflect on your leadership journey: what drives your motivations and values? What steps can you take today to actively support your team—be it through professional development, eliminating barriers, or encouraging collaboration? Every action you take matters. Servant leadership is more than a mere concept - it takes real practice grounded in intentional actions and genuine care for others. What experiences have shaped your understanding of leadership? How do you envision servant leadership impacting your team? #ServantLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #TeamEmpowerment #WeeklySundayPost

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Leave the interviewing to professionals… I once worked at a retail chain during an acquisition, where store employees from the acquired company conducted employee theft interviews. It was a dated practice, so we instituted a change so that loss prevention specialists conducted all employee interviews. A district manager mentioned to me that some employee interviews were scheduled, so I stepped in to conduct them and offered for her to come along. We had a tip that the employees in question were developing film for friends without charging them (something that would be caught with Exception-Based reporting today). It was my first time working with the new chain, and I had just moved to the state, so I knew nothing else about the case.     All I had was a plastic bag with some journal tape rolls. I devised an elaborate story about being part of the acquisition due diligence team and that I was conducting assessments to identify issues before the deal was closed. Both candidates admitted to thousands of dollars in theft. After the interview, the district manager said, “Wow, I didn’t realize you did all that stuff.” I not only convinced the problematic employee of my cover story, but I convinced the district manager, too. Meanwhile, I had made up the story on the fly. This was the “old school” way of doing things; the team at Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates would not be pleased with this method today. Today, loss prevention professionals don’t fabricate detailed stories when interviewing. Instead, we speak in the generic, i.e “Some of the activities we do include ‘may’ include investigating stores for chain M&A.” The moral of the story here is that conducting interviews is an essential skill in loss prevention. Today, there are tests and certifications for forensic interviewing. The methodologies change over time, but trained professionals must conduct interviews. P.S. Professional interviewing skills come in handy as a parent. My kids try their best to fool me, but always fold like a cheap suit. 😂 #lossprevention #assetprotection

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I think Ted Decker’s move to have The Home Depot executives work retail shifts is such a refreshing idea! 😃 It’s easy for leadership to lose sight of what frontline workers deal with, 😫 so getting in the trenches alongside them could spark some real understanding. Not only will it show appreciation for employees, but it could also lead to better solutions for improving daily operations. I love that this approach values empathy and creates stronger connections between the people behind the scenes and those on the floor. It feels like a step in the right direction! Do you think more companies should adopt these sentiment’s ? https://lnkd.in/e9RtHnxz

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Just finished inventory this week! As a target store for high theft in our area, we have been putting extra efforts into the overall mitigation of theft by using customer service and stronger inventory controls. Preliminary estimates (if I did the math correctly) has our shrink reduced by 1.11% in only 4 months from inventory to inventory! April 2024 was -4.34% loss where August 2024 was around -3.23%. We’re heading in the right direction. It’s not easy reducing theft in such a short time frame so to cut over 1% of loss is a pretty great achievement in my opinion! Our goal is to reduce into the 2% range by next inventory now knowing what’s working and isn’t working. Build on those known efforts and develop new ones off the things we know didn’t work as well. Adapt, plan, execute!

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Experience vs. Opportunity: A Thought for Retailers Why are so many retailers hyper-focused on “experience” when hiring? I’ve realized something important: Experience Begins with a Chance. What does it say about an organization that isn’t willing to invest time in developing someone for a role? Why are so many companies hesitant to give someone the opportunity to grow into a position? The truth is, experience alone isn’t always enough. Skills can be learned. Passion, determination, and a willingness to grow are often far more valuable than years of prior experience. Retailers—and companies in general—need to think beyond resumes and focus on people’s potential. Organizations that value potential over convenience build stronger teams and future leaders. Giving someone a chance isn’t just an investment in them—it’s an investment in your company’s future. So, here’s the real question: Are you building future leaders, or just hiring for convenience? Let’s invest in people and give opportunities the same weight as experience. What are your thoughts? #Leadership #Development #RetailIndustry #Opportunity

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For the first time in my retail career, I’m really struggling with the work life balance. It’s not that I work too much or possibly what readers may be thinking at this stage. In fact, it’s not even my job that is the issue. I love my job and nothing has really changed here for a long time. It’s the way that it seems all public service and retail expect some weekend coverage. This is the problem. Mrs McNee used to work in the food manufacturing sector is quality control. She unfortunately was made redundant after reducing her hours to part time and became a bit invisible and surplus quite quickly. However, with a young family and a house to renovate, she has focused on the house and family while I’ve worked and that seemed to work. Until recently. The children are now a bit older the house is complete and my wife is looking for work she can enjoy. Cafe work, retail work, a farm shop.. something like that. Similar to the enjoyable work I do. But, every job she goes for becomes a no go as we need at least one parent home on a weekend. This is effecting her mental health now to the point that I need to think about what I’m doing. Maybe it’s myself that needs a change. I enjoy what I do but it’s becoming an issue for my family and so there it becomes a work life balance issue that I never saw coming. If anyone is reading this running a store or cafe or another fun business local to us where you need a part timer that works mid weekdays, but isn’t needed at weekends or maybe only very occasionally. Please let me know. I have a good candidate. She’s smart enough to speak three languages and has two degrees, handy enough to put up shelves but is struggling to find a role that fits. 

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"Did you give them a corrective action?" "Maybe it's time for a performance improvement plan." "Are you documenting every time they are late?" Performance management in retail is a largely bullshit system that is ineffective at changing behavior. Too many companies, and a lot of peers of mine in most companies I've been with, are all too quick with the paperwork and documentation. Leading with empathy, and compassion. Allowing for grace, and room for error and failing, is more difficult than rote write-ups, and black or white declarations, and stead fast compliance with arbitrary rules. People will be late, they will have days where they perform under their baseline, they will fail, and err, and stumble. And when they do- it is our job as leaders to lead. To show them what better is, to support them, to help them grow, to allow them space to fuck up, and have it not be a big deal. My teams have achieved incredible, sometimes award/contest winning results. We have done this not through individual performance metrics and strict adherence to "policy," but through working towards a goal as a collective. My people know I have their back, and know that I am there for their betterment, whether within my four walls or not. Too much of the typical PM approach is based on each individual perfectly adhering to certain metrics, timeliness, and arbirtrary rules (don't get me started on most dress codes, what a waste of fucking time). I don't document a lot of my conversations with my team because they are organic and filled with compassion and honesty and not intended to be used at a later date as a "gotcha" in case I ever want to fire them (Often the purpose of such documentation.) That is not leadership, that is manipulative, and quite frankly, I think it lacks integrity. When I've shared this viewpoint with others, especially peers, the same question is often asked, "But how do you hold people accountable then?" And to that I will always say, Accountability does not equal punishment. And when people ask, "but don't your other employees get mad or lose motivation when so and so isn't punished for _____." If they do, then I have not completed cultivating the team environment. I strive to create an atmosphere where there isn't a petty need to tattle tale and watch for others to be punished in order to be motivated. My teams understand that their peers will have bad days, and when they have one, it's okay, we will lift them up too. And I'm going to repeat because I think some people may need to read this many times: Accountability does not equal punishment.

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A lot of my friends asked me “Why do you work in retail? You have college degree. You have a corporate background. You could do better!” Everyone has their own journey and life goals. I want to have my own business in the future. No other job can groom me like a retail job. That’s why I applied to be a cashier with my college degree and 10 years experience in Public Relations and Marketing but 0 years of Retail experience. Retail workers are tough! Being a retail manager is not for everyone. Everyday is a new day. You have to be creative to handle some situations with customers. Internal and external theft is another challenging part of the job in recent years. Hiring and firing sometimes can be emotional. Coaching and developing have to be your strong suit. Optimizing the team and leading the way have to be done together in a balanced way. I can go on and on for all the skills that retail managers have to have! If I can be a retail manager and run a multi-million dollar store successfully, why can’t I run my own business successfully? #retail #leadership #entrepreneur #dreambig

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Things I’ve learned being a people manager in retail: 1. People will amaze you everyday! I’ve had the pleasure of leading so many indivials that will show up and show out everyday, rain or shine. 2. Trust is built on the selling floor. Whether I’m connecting in between running go backs, or supporting a teammate on a deliverable; building trust with my team is done while we hustle together. 3. Give your team things to do that they love, and things that will challenge them. It should be a balance. Just giving a teammate tasks that they feel comfortable with can lead to stagnation and complacency. Don’t be afraid to mix it up, and who knows, they may find a love for something new! #retailjobs #leadership #teammanagement

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Job titles in the retail industry are getting a bit more complicated than they need to. For in-store leadership roles, it used to be the basics - department manager, assistant store manager, perhaps a co-manager, and then store manager. Now we're seeing store leader, store lead, coach, zone manager, area manager, executive team leader, team leader, and so on. There are probably many more I haven't remembered. Different job titles may be new and exciting, but they can also be misinterpreted on a resume. For example, say you're technically a store manager but your company calls you store leader. If you use "store leader" on your resume, it's possible the reader may see that and think you're a co-manager. Why? Well, last I checked Walmart used "store lead" as their official job title for co-managers, and "store leader" and "store lead" aren't all that different when someone is quickly skimming a resume. In most cases "area manager" refers to a store manager who simultaneously oversees other locations while continuing to manage their own store. However, I've come across a few companies where area managers are more like department managers, reporting up to assistant store managers and store managers. "Coach?" That could be anything, really. Virtually every leader coaches their team members in some regard, so to me it's a bit vague. The moral of the story? Use common job titles on your resume if you feel your actual title could be confusing (but don't misrepresent yourself or your job level). #retail #resumetips

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Closing a store is never fun. One of the saddest things, though, is when a location is closing and the team looses passion and integrity and starts to just give up, and not care. My Reebok location in Gonzales, LA is closing in December. We started the closing sale this week. Shipment is cut off, merchandise is selling down. My team, has not given up. They're still spending time with the customer, still helping them find what they're looking for, and still living SPARC's core values in every shift. Last year, i unfortunately closed a Brooks Brothers location. Close to the end, i had an idea to post on an area Facebook group that the store was closing to try to go out with the biggest bang possible, and boy did we! So today, i decided to do the same thing for Reebok. It. Was. Nuts. People kept coming and coming. The store was busier than I'd ever seen it. We were in heaven. The energy was infectious. We turned up the music, filled in the floor with what we had hourly, re merchandised when needed, and ended up more than quadrupling the day's sales goal. Moral of the story. No matter what company you work for, you have a reputation and legacy that you want to leave behind. What kind of leader do you want to be known as being? Have integrity. So much integrity that it hurts. Care for your people, listen to your people and customers. And fight for your people and store until the very end. Lead your team through it and come out on top. The fun has just begun, and i know my team will continue to rock out these last few weeks. As i said, closing a store is never fun... but your people are watching you. You are the example. What example do you want to set? Our DSM, on our Black Friday call today, ended our call with a quote that we need to live by this holiday season..I'm going to end this with that quote... "If you don't change it, then you chose it." What will you choose? Happy holidays all my retail warriors! Best of luck to you all this next week! 😁

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Why Improving Your Soft Skills Will Land You a Job This advice applies to sales associates, store directors, operations managers—basically anyone working in retail. Improving your soft skills will help you perform better in interviews, which, in turn, will increase your chances of landing a better job. I’ve conducted many interviews—both on the receiving and giving end. Like many of you, I’ve faced my share of rejections (and if you haven’t, please DM me; I’d love to learn your secret). All the interviews I’ve been involved in were within the retail industry, and I can assure you that soft skills carry much more weight than hard skills. Here’s what I would focus on in an interview to boost your success rate: • Professionalism and Respect – Greet warmly, maintain eye contact, and present yourself with confidence. • Small Talk – Practice it, but don’t dive too deep. While last night’s kids’ football match might be exciting, it might not be the best topic for the interview. • Avoid Memorized Phrases – It’s obvious when you’re reciting rehearsed lines, and it doesn’t leave a great impression. • Be Natural – We want to meet the real you, but remember to keep your composure. • Relax – Think of the interview as an extension of how you’d behave in the store. If you’re uptight, that’s the image you’ll project, and that’s how we’ll imagine you on the job. All of this can be practiced. The more you do it, the better you’ll get.

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RNS Challenge today- Post a leader that is searching for a job. Changing it up a bit. This should touch more than one. If you’re currently looking, comment below with the desired area. Recruiters- you next leader is in the comments below 😉. #rns #retailstrong #callingallleaders

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We have been educated with skills or have worked and built experience. Trusting our team, if trained enough, to execute is crucial. Supporting our teams through adversity, and showing them the way is essential. As leaders, we can't simply point, tell, and give direction. Sometimes, we must help problem solve, show, and demonstrate. This is the commitment we made when we became leaders. Leadership is more than the data on a board or spreadsheet it’s the work and behaviors that produces the data or results. Leadership is more than a title. #TrueLeadership

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Today was a good day. During the storms today we had a slow traffic period, so I took the time to talk to each associate in every one of my stores departments. My store had been without a manager for 3 months prior to my arrival. I could feel the tension and stress they've been under, they know how behind we are, they work so hard, I knew they needed to vent and feel heard. I learned a few things during these conversations, and I wanted to share them. 1. Your coworkers notice everything. The first week I started, I cleaned up my VERY cluttered office. I cannot start my day with a messy work area, it sets the wrong tone for my work day. I need my work area to be clear in order for my mindset to be. They noticed. They said that was the moment they knew I was going to be a good manager. 2. They want to be heard. Most of my coworkers have been with the company for over a decade. They've seen multiple ways to do things, and they've learned what works and what doesn't. When you ask them for their input, they feel valued that you acknowledge that tenure, and that others want in on that knowledge they've spent years accumulating. 3. They need structure. Some people, like myself, thrive in chaos. I pull out my most positive, can-do attitude during the most hectic situations. As a manager, that's almost required. We wear a lot of hats, we have to be ready to change course in the span of a second. But they're not managers, they don't share that manager pay, the pressure should not feel like it's all on them. They need to know that you have a plan to get them through the chaos, that they have a peer partner that can share a clear vision with them and how it will have a positive impact on their department. 4. They need to see results. We have been reworking each department, and I told each department manager that once a week we would have a one on one to go over their percentages so that they could watch their sales rise as they put in the work. THEY WERE THRILLED. Why wouldn't they be? That's the best part of it all, seeing that your work MATTERS. Another thing I learned was that they were absolutely shocked that I would stop to check on them. That I would greet them with a smile, say good morning, or ask how their day has been. It was a good day, because I got to explain to my coworkers that I care about what they're feeling, what concerns or ideas they have, I want to know how I can roll up my sleeves and get to work to help lighten the load, and that they have a manager who wants them to feel like they can grow and be creative through their work. Retention is hard, but I pride myself on taking the time to connect with my people and let them know they are valued and I am here to help them in ANY way that I can. Every role is important, every role will play a part in OUR success. At 12am, all I can think about is how meaningful my connections with my staff were today, and how thankful I am to have them.

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The role of a store manager, manager, or leader is filled with challenges and stresses. Knowing that you may have made a positive impact on someone's life is what makes it all worthwhile. #Leadership #Management #Impact

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