I have learned from home more than you know this week!

It has been a very interesting week. Concern as a small business owner is real especially working in retail. Worry for all my friends that work in retail and thinking about what the next 30-60 days could look like for our larger retail community. My first concern was how do I stay afloat. It is human nature to think about ourselves first in these types of situations, one of my favourite books SKill with People, Les Giblin says this over and over again.

I have worked in retail my entire life from the age of 16 when I got my first PT sales job in a store in the Royal Exchange, Manchester, UK. And the reason I love it so much is because I get to serve others and be part of a personal development journey not only in their career but their life. Working in retail makes you extremely resourceful and finding ways to do a lot with a little is the norm. We are used to a lack of resources with high expectations. I shared a LinkedIn post a while back that was written by a store manager who wrote about why every industry next hires should be a retail manager. I am sharing it again here, it was brilliant and one of my most shared posts of this year.

Once I got over the initial shock of closing down stores cancelled contracts and that the borders are now closed and my kids are in other countries I got to the realization that many in retail like me will be at home trying to figure out what to do in the next couple of weeks. And we have this amazing library of retailu courses that would be an amazing resource for so many while sitting at home. retailu courses are based on my own retail experience and how I have developed high performing teams over the years. I created it because I know there is a lack of affordable leadership development courses that are relevant to retail leaders.

I have always been an avid learner this is what has helped me grow in my own career.

Developing your leadership skills helps you grow, achieve higher results and promotions. It also impacts you personally and professionally. So as we were thinking about this crazy time in retail with the Covid19 situation we thought how can we add value to all of you our retail community at home during this time.

I started a thread on LinkedIn yesterday with requests for courses and live webinars and we have some great ideas and requests on topics that we will start in the next couple of weeks. More than anything just having a call with a ton of retail people will be so much fun! when do we ever get this time to actually connect in our retail community at large, never we are all so busy.s. We have also offered to our retail global community all-access pass to current content for pay what you can, we feel that more than ever our community needs to have a plan that can enable further development and get ready to come back strong. COVID19 Virus has impacted our retail community at large now is the time to help you stay productive and connected.

My Best Friend shared this quote with me tonight. “When everything is uncertain everything that is important becomes clear”.

Very powerful words indeed, we don’t know the quote was from but it means so much when you read these words.

We have a choice in uncertainty to get confused or to get clear. The planet is giving us a gift to get clear and focus on what is important to each of us. Maybe we have been so busy that we forgot this. I believe that meditation, taking alone time and becoming more connected will become by-products of this new reality. Being a more conscious retail community will be a bonus in my book. If we become more aware, more conscious and more connected imagine how we can influence the world. So many people work in retail. I always believed in leadership development but I believe it is even more crucial now.

Being a better communicator, stronger leader and having the capacity to care and lead by example are core qualities we will need even more for the future. We are all being asked to do our part, let’s always remember this when we come through this and we will be a better community for it.

Pause your day, but invest in your development to stay relevant. We need to be mindful of our time right now and use it wisely. Tine is one of those things you can never get back. Grab a bunch of your colleagues and start a course together and hold a mastermind to chat about what you are learning.

Learn more by checking this special offer out below. We will keep this offer going for as long as we can to give access to everyone to learn from home programs. This learn from home program for retail managers is an amazing resource.

retailu will help you create a learn from home program.

As of next week, we will start to host coffee chats with me and featured retail leaders and friends. More than ever I feel compelled to stay connected, engaged and discuss topics that can help us all for the future of what will become the new retail reality. If you are interested in attending these talks, please sign up and we will invite you personally.

Spots may be limited. SIGN UP HERE

Together we are better!

Chat soon,

Founder & President, retailu