Posts by Michael Patrick

In the past two weeks six different, major retail clients have called to schedule meetings to discuss plans for training September thru December.  With July almost here BTS will begin shortly.  In retail, everything happens fast.  That means that having all your ducks in a row, getting the resources, partners, participants, and agendas laid out…

On one level, keeping momentum of new initiatives fresh is having a way to provide at least the content and skills needed to support the initiative. Technology helps us automate and ensure that new people are brought into the fold of what we believe and value. Another critical part is having visible senior management support…

When we decide to develop any program it always begins with a need brought to us by the retailers themselves.  We get a sense of the target audience and general challenges and then go to work with national and North American retail research and sometimes even include European and Asian retailers. The underlying leadership foundation…

I was walking to a client training session this week which was held in a massive convention center complex.  Along the way I noticed some signs for another meeting with another client’s name.  There were people streaming into a ballroom when someone I know recognized me and said ‘Hi!”.  We exchanged pleasantries and then they…

After more than 40 years of working with retailers and retail leaders themes about what works and what doesn’t emerge.  We believe that motivation is actually an outcome of good leadership.  While cheering people on or being energetic or enthusiastic is helpful, the affects are short-lived. When leaders focus more on building their team’s competence to…

Those who are intentional achieve more.  We know this is true.  Why?  Our daily To-Do lists are full and constantly being buffeted by new priorities someone else adds or that appear out of nowhere from the dynamic business envirnonment called retail.  What we’ve observed as a best practice is that multiunit managers and others who…

Since more and more of our retail clients have extended their global reach through either licensing and/or company-store expansion outside the US, translation of programs is becoming more important.  Translation doesn’t simply mean just converting English to Mandarin or French-Canadian, it means making sure that the meaning in that country is culturally appropriate.  We use…

When the SVP, Stores got up to address this group of multiunit managers, he talked about people.  He made the connection that when times are tough in retail, the leadership message is often more focused on operations and back to basics.  But he wanted this group to know that the focus now more than ever…