WEBVTT 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:10.670 Ricardo Belmar: Welcome to our new Retail Razor show, Blade to Greatness, 00:00:11.180 --> 00:00:14.840 our new standalone Retail Razor show, where we hear from a retail industry 00:00:14.840 --> 00:00:19.180 leader who shares their sharp insights and cuts of wisdom on how to excel in 00:00:19.180 --> 00:00:21.040 this dynamic and competitive field. 00:00:21.340 --> 00:00:25.520 In this series, we learn about the essential must have skills and qualities 00:00:25.520 --> 00:00:30.005 that every retail executive needs to lead their teams and their business to success. 00:00:30.318 --> 00:00:33.948 Casey Golden: Whether we're talking about HQ or stores, we'll uncover valuable 00:00:33.948 --> 00:00:39.150 tips and advice that every retail leader can apply to their own retail career 00:00:39.150 --> 00:00:41.600 path, raising your Blade to Greatness. 00:00:42.155 --> 00:00:43.635 Ricardo Belmar: I'm your host, Ricardo Belmar. 00:00:44.085 --> 00:00:45.775 Casey Golden: And I'm your co host Casey Golden. 00:00:46.828 --> 00:00:52.593 We'll speak with Jeffrey p McNulty, founder and CEO of the Retail Ethos, 00:00:52.683 --> 00:00:58.143 creator of the Ultimate Retail Course, and author of the Ultimate Retail Manual. 00:00:58.623 --> 00:01:03.243 We'll learn from his 30 years of hands-on industry experience as the executive 00:01:03.243 --> 00:01:08.753 leader for the Home Depot, Lowe's, Barnes and Noble, PetSmart, Shopco, 00:01:08.963 --> 00:01:14.873 Toys R us, Publix and Festival Foods, plus 18 years of experience as a retail 00:01:14.873 --> 00:01:19.908 research analyst having conducted over a thousand consultations with clients 00:01:19.913 --> 00:01:25.248 on Wall Street, hedge fund managers, equity investment partners, retailers, 00:01:25.408 --> 00:01:28.263 and entrepreneurs in the retail sector. 00:01:28.773 --> 00:01:32.673 Jeffrey has a myriad of experience and knowledge, wisdom when it 00:01:32.673 --> 00:01:34.363 comes to retail leadership. 00:01:34.702 --> 00:01:36.862 Ricardo Belmar: And today he's here to talk with us about one of the 00:01:36.862 --> 00:01:41.152 most important skills every retail leader needs to master, how to foster 00:01:41.152 --> 00:01:42.942 an environment of intrapreneurship. 00:01:43.612 --> 00:01:45.262 Let's listen to what he has to share with us. 00:01:45.417 --> 00:01:46.227 Casey Golden: Welcome, Jeffrey. 00:01:46.770 --> 00:01:48.000 Jeffrey McNulty: Thank you for having me on the show. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:50.190 It's an honor to be on the Retail Razor Show and I'm, 00:01:50.190 --> 00:01:51.210 I'm really honored to be here. 00:01:51.215 --> 00:01:53.510 So yeah, foster an intrapreneurship. 00:01:53.850 --> 00:01:57.870 I'm very passionate about that as anybody that follows me on LinkedIn knows I talk 00:01:57.870 --> 00:01:59.190 about this probably about once a month. 00:01:59.900 --> 00:02:03.060 There's a quiet trend going on around called quiet, quitting, and 00:02:03.060 --> 00:02:04.290 there's a pun intended in there. 00:02:04.740 --> 00:02:07.320 This is when an employee or leader consciously decides to start 00:02:07.320 --> 00:02:10.347 putting in the bare minimum work effort or silently checks out from 00:02:10.347 --> 00:02:11.967 putting forth their best results. 00:02:12.387 --> 00:02:14.907 This trend is accelerating throughout all industries because 00:02:14.907 --> 00:02:18.327 many employees and leaders are feeling burned out and stressed out. 00:02:18.733 --> 00:02:21.523 World-class organizations create an inclusive environment where 00:02:21.523 --> 00:02:25.843 intrapreneurship, creativity, and autonomy can thrive and flourish. 00:02:26.353 --> 00:02:30.103 Intrapreneurs are exactly like entrepreneurs without any of the risk. 00:02:30.523 --> 00:02:33.523 Intrapreneurs can safely work within an organizational structure 00:02:33.637 --> 00:02:37.297 while creating innovative ideas and solutions that elevate the brand. 00:02:37.777 --> 00:02:41.047 Imagine having an army of intrapreneurs within your organization 00:02:41.347 --> 00:02:44.917 that are excited and motivated to become seminal trailblazers. 00:02:45.427 --> 00:02:49.087 I created an acronym called GAP, which stands for Growth, Autonomy, 00:02:49.087 --> 00:02:53.002 and Purpose, to provide a blueprint to my retail and business clients 00:02:53.332 --> 00:02:56.732 on how to ramp up their efforts to actively embrace intrapreneurship. 00:02:57.322 --> 00:03:01.042 Here are a few of the basic principles for executing my GAP strategy. 00:03:01.388 --> 00:03:03.568 Under the growth we have succession planning. 00:03:03.898 --> 00:03:04.918 This is where it all starts. 00:03:04.918 --> 00:03:07.558 This, this is the meat and potatoes of the entire strategy. 00:03:07.768 --> 00:03:11.008 Are you strategically mapping out each employee and leader's 00:03:11.008 --> 00:03:12.928 future within your organization? 00:03:13.131 --> 00:03:16.900 You gotta have a plan for each employee and leaders future 00:03:16.900 --> 00:03:18.070 within your organization. 00:03:18.370 --> 00:03:21.310 And you don't have to do that just at times when it's the performance 00:03:21.310 --> 00:03:24.520 appraisal, cuz some performance appraisals are only yearly. 00:03:25.060 --> 00:03:29.740 So you have to do next is daily check-ins with your employees and leaders. 00:03:29.980 --> 00:03:32.740 A lot of times leaders will check in with their employees, 00:03:32.740 --> 00:03:33.730 but not with their leaders. 00:03:33.730 --> 00:03:37.450 In some organizations the leader is, is kind of like off to the side. 00:03:37.810 --> 00:03:39.850 They're an afterthought because we're paying you. 00:03:39.940 --> 00:03:41.200 You have more responsibility. 00:03:41.200 --> 00:03:43.060 You get bonuses, stock options, et cetera. 00:03:43.060 --> 00:03:46.330 But you gotta remember, employees and leaders both need check-ins. 00:03:46.690 --> 00:03:47.920 And here's the question. 00:03:47.920 --> 00:03:51.130 Are your leaders consistently performing this behavior, which helps 00:03:51.130 --> 00:03:53.020 build and strengthen employee bonds? 00:03:53.320 --> 00:03:55.930 There's nothing more important that you can do as a leader than 00:03:55.935 --> 00:03:58.690 to strengthen employee bonds by doing those daily check-ins. 00:03:59.200 --> 00:04:01.270 Next, you have providing challenge in work. 00:04:01.750 --> 00:04:05.890 Are you challenging each employee to engage in meaningful and fulfilling work? 00:04:06.295 --> 00:04:08.935 Do your employees feel connected to your organization? 00:04:09.116 --> 00:04:11.066 Next is competitive wages and benefits. 00:04:11.066 --> 00:04:14.066 This, this is huge right now because I'm, I'm happy to see a lot of 00:04:14.066 --> 00:04:17.936 retailers and businesses raising up their minimum wages and starting to 00:04:17.936 --> 00:04:21.176 be more competitive to reward the employees that are gonna work for them. 00:04:21.339 --> 00:04:24.219 Are you respecting and rewarding each employee's value and 00:04:24.219 --> 00:04:25.359 efforts to your company? 00:04:25.809 --> 00:04:26.549 And here's the key. 00:04:26.549 --> 00:04:30.119 Are you leading from the front or you are leading from the back of the bus? 00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:32.229 You're either a leader or you're following. 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:33.259 There, there's no in between. 00:04:33.924 --> 00:04:38.094 Next we have the A stands for autonomy, flexible scheduling options. 00:04:38.124 --> 00:04:42.024 Are you providing scheduling options that are flexible with your employees? 00:04:42.594 --> 00:04:45.444 Are you implementing a mild hybrid remote working option? 00:04:45.754 --> 00:04:48.860 Think about when leaders are writing performance appraisals 00:04:49.170 --> 00:04:52.065 employees, are committing or completing e-learning modules. 00:04:52.665 --> 00:04:55.545 Employees and leaders are preparing for an event or a presentation. 00:04:55.905 --> 00:04:58.005 Conference calls, Zoom meetings, et cetera. 00:04:58.455 --> 00:05:01.545 One of the hardest things I found as a leader working in retail for all those 00:05:01.545 --> 00:05:07.445 years was having quiet time to actually prepare for succession planning for my 00:05:07.445 --> 00:05:10.505 employees, my leaders, writing appraisals. 00:05:10.510 --> 00:05:12.955 Because as a leader, you're gonna get an interrupted 5, 00:05:12.955 --> 00:05:14.705 6, 7 times in an hour easily. 00:05:15.065 --> 00:05:17.495 And let's just say you're writing a performance appraisal and you, 00:05:17.500 --> 00:05:20.015 you're, you, you got a train of thought that's going and next thing 00:05:20.015 --> 00:05:22.740 you know, they say, "Hey Jeff, we got an employ a customer issue up here. 00:05:22.740 --> 00:05:23.400 We need you up here." 00:05:24.030 --> 00:05:24.960 There goes your train of thought. 00:05:24.960 --> 00:05:26.490 You gotta come back and start all over again. 00:05:26.490 --> 00:05:28.830 It's not fair to the employees, it's not fair to the leaders. 00:05:29.580 --> 00:05:30.720 Next, you have empowerment. 00:05:31.290 --> 00:05:34.620 This is where you can build an army of intrapreneurs throughout your company. 00:05:35.130 --> 00:05:37.590 Do your employees and leaders feel that they can attempt new things? 00:05:38.280 --> 00:05:41.380 And can they wade into unchartered waters to elevate your brand? 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:42.670 This is paramount. 00:05:42.670 --> 00:05:46.060 Do employees actually feel that they can attempt new things? 00:05:46.340 --> 00:05:49.400 You talk to a lot of retail leaders and you talk to a lot of business leaders and 00:05:49.400 --> 00:05:51.170 they say, yeah, we're, we're all for that. 00:05:51.170 --> 00:05:52.846 We're pushing for the intrapreneurship. 00:05:53.236 --> 00:05:55.846 But you talk to the employees and they're like, I, I was, I was starting 00:05:55.846 --> 00:05:57.286 out on something that was very creative. 00:05:57.661 --> 00:06:01.651 I made one minor mistake and I, and, and, and I was, I felt really like I was being 00:06:01.651 --> 00:06:05.941 insulted and put down, and I didn't feel like that I wanted to do this anymore. 00:06:06.151 --> 00:06:08.341 So you ruin the employee's confidence right after that. 00:06:08.371 --> 00:06:10.591 There's gonna be some mistakes and some growing pains. 00:06:10.801 --> 00:06:13.591 Now you can't make the same mistake five times, obviously. 00:06:14.311 --> 00:06:15.901 Next you have trust and respect. 00:06:16.141 --> 00:06:18.991 Do you trust your employees to make the right decisions or do 00:06:18.991 --> 00:06:20.341 you punish them for their errors? 00:06:20.371 --> 00:06:24.271 We just talked about that employees need to feel that they can make decisions. 00:06:24.601 --> 00:06:27.811 Autonomous decisions, of course, within the structure and organization 00:06:27.811 --> 00:06:29.041 and protocols of the company. 00:06:29.431 --> 00:06:32.131 And then if they do make those errors, you're not gonna drop 00:06:32.131 --> 00:06:32.971 a load of bricks on them. 00:06:33.178 --> 00:06:36.088 And then finally, in this segment, you have inclusion and support. 00:06:36.335 --> 00:06:40.475 Do all of your employees feel included and supported to maximize 00:06:40.505 --> 00:06:43.085 their innate talents and gifts? 00:06:43.625 --> 00:06:46.895 Do your store leaders actively embrace each individual and place 00:06:46.895 --> 00:06:48.455 them in positions to succeed? 00:06:48.785 --> 00:06:51.215 That's really the key when you're getting to know your employees. 00:06:51.605 --> 00:06:54.845 You find out their passions, you find out what they like to do, and then 00:06:54.845 --> 00:06:57.990 you place them in positions where they're gonna have maximum success 00:06:57.990 --> 00:07:01.020 because it's something they innately want to do and they're good at. 00:07:01.620 --> 00:07:05.110 And then under the p for purpose, we have foster intrapreneurship, 00:07:05.130 --> 00:07:06.270 which we've already talked about. 00:07:06.750 --> 00:07:09.300 And the key here is are your employees allowed to express their creativity? 00:07:09.900 --> 00:07:12.840 Do you seek their input or ideas on how to improve the brand? 00:07:13.410 --> 00:07:14.310 That's that's key. 00:07:14.440 --> 00:07:17.680 You can always tell a, I could always tell if a leader was really involved in this. 00:07:18.055 --> 00:07:21.295 When they were having meetings, they would seek opinions and ideas on things. 00:07:21.775 --> 00:07:25.215 And even, even if ideas came up that weren't congruent with what they 00:07:25.215 --> 00:07:28.635 were thinking, they remained and had an open mind and were approachable 00:07:28.688 --> 00:07:30.303 for those ideas and, expressions. 00:07:31.053 --> 00:07:33.273 Tap into employee leader and intrinsic motivation. 00:07:33.278 --> 00:07:34.143 We talked about that. 00:07:34.143 --> 00:07:34.833 That's important. 00:07:34.833 --> 00:07:37.083 We could have an entire show on just that one segment. 00:07:37.773 --> 00:07:39.393 Next you have in community involvement. 00:07:39.753 --> 00:07:42.843 This one's a little, this is a slippery slope for a lot of organizations. 00:07:43.083 --> 00:07:46.143 Are you actively engaging and supporting your local communities? 00:07:46.638 --> 00:07:47.478 This is key here. 00:07:47.478 --> 00:07:52.128 Many employees become detached from a brand if leaders are being 00:07:52.128 --> 00:07:55.938 disingenuous about their commitment to serving their local communities. 00:07:56.478 --> 00:07:57.828 And finally, you have volunteering. 00:07:58.188 --> 00:08:01.968 Do you support employees volunteering efforts or is it merely lip service? 00:08:02.388 --> 00:08:06.878 So one of my favorite silver linings from the pandemic was a a resurgence 00:08:07.058 --> 00:08:08.918 of appreciation for frontline workers. 00:08:08.918 --> 00:08:12.608 We must remember, I always, I always preach this from the rooftops that. 00:08:12.968 --> 00:08:16.868 All four segments are important customers, employees, leaders, and vendors. 00:08:17.348 --> 00:08:19.898 A lot of businesses and brands, they, think about the customer 00:08:19.898 --> 00:08:23.408 and the employees, but they leave out the leaders and the vendors and 00:08:23.408 --> 00:08:27.068 all four segments have a symbiotic relationship and will determine the 00:08:27.068 --> 00:08:29.498 failure or success of each organization. 00:08:29.948 --> 00:08:34.628 The great resignation is the, the big brother of quiet, quitting, and far too 00:08:34.628 --> 00:08:38.438 many retailers and businesses took their frontline employee workers for granted 00:08:38.443 --> 00:08:40.058 and overworked their salaried leaders. 00:08:40.643 --> 00:08:44.273 Our society is in the middle of the pendulum effect where energy has to be 00:08:44.273 --> 00:08:48.743 rebalanced now, and the pendulum slash energy will eventually fall back into 00:08:48.748 --> 00:08:51.383 perfect balance, which I call homeostasis. 00:08:51.893 --> 00:08:55.133 I recently, I recently posted about how I implemented a four day work week 00:08:55.133 --> 00:09:00.173 with full-time employees at Home Depot in 2001, and that was 22 years ago. 00:09:00.713 --> 00:09:03.623 And the question I would have is, why hasn't this inclusive and 00:09:03.623 --> 00:09:04.973 rewarding trend caught on yet? 00:09:05.498 --> 00:09:09.368 So I applaud Lowe's for recently offering the scheduling option, but it's something 00:09:09.368 --> 00:09:11.288 that you do and retailers can do this. 00:09:11.648 --> 00:09:15.578 When I first thought about doing a remote working option for employees 00:09:15.578 --> 00:09:17.668 in retail, I thought, it doesn't sound like that's gonna work. 00:09:17.668 --> 00:09:18.898 You need employees on the floor. 00:09:19.138 --> 00:09:21.298 They need to pack out the freight, they need to ring the registers. 00:09:21.303 --> 00:09:25.168 But then I thought, I thought you could do a mild hybrid version of it for 00:09:25.168 --> 00:09:27.118 writing reviews and doing stuff like that. 00:09:27.118 --> 00:09:29.038 There is a way to, I, I discuss this more in the book and 00:09:29.038 --> 00:09:30.118 then in the online courses. 00:09:30.718 --> 00:09:34.768 And then as an added bonus for, for all the listeners of the Retail Razor Show, 00:09:34.768 --> 00:09:38.668 I'm offering a $100 off discount to all listeners for the Ultimate Retail Course. 00:09:39.178 --> 00:09:43.138 All you have to do is enter RETAILROCKSTAR100OFF at checkout. 00:09:43.288 --> 00:09:46.468 Go to the ultimateretailcourse.com and for any of my consulting 00:09:46.473 --> 00:09:50.248 services at New Retail Ethos, you can go to newretailethos.com. 00:09:50.635 --> 00:09:51.475 Ricardo Belmar: Oh, that's fantastic. 00:09:51.475 --> 00:09:52.435 Thank you for that, Jeffrey. 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:53.365 That's amazing. 00:09:53.725 --> 00:09:57.715 So one of the things that strikes me from what you described is, I, I think 00:09:57.715 --> 00:10:02.785 a key component to this is that your employees have to feel that not only 00:10:02.875 --> 00:10:06.835 do they are, are, is their creativity welcomed, but I I think there has 00:10:06.835 --> 00:10:09.620 to be a a lack of fear of failure. 00:10:09.811 --> 00:10:14.401 And I, I would imagine that maybe that is perhaps the, the toughest part 00:10:14.911 --> 00:10:18.296 for the retail leaders you work with to accept that they, they may not be 00:10:18.296 --> 00:10:21.366 used to the idea that it's okay if, if you, you let your employees be 00:10:21.366 --> 00:10:24.216 creative, you let them take something on, but maybe it doesn't work. 00:10:24.216 --> 00:10:27.156 But to your point, it, there's a difference between, okay, you try 00:10:27.156 --> 00:10:30.516 and it didn't work out, then you try something else versus I keep trying 00:10:30.516 --> 00:10:32.166 it 5, 6, 7 times and keep failing. 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:34.310 Jeffrey McNulty: Yeah, that's, that's a great point you bring up, Ricardo. 00:10:34.340 --> 00:10:37.410 One of the things that I wanted to do as a leader first and foremost, I, 00:10:37.410 --> 00:10:38.850 I generally love people as you know. 00:10:38.850 --> 00:10:41.940 I, I love to engage with people on LinkedIn and I love to get to 00:10:41.945 --> 00:10:43.230 know people and learn about them. 00:10:43.510 --> 00:10:45.995 That came from my working in retail for all those decades. 00:10:46.175 --> 00:10:50.695 But I fostered an environment where I allowed people to, to not view it as 00:10:50.695 --> 00:10:52.495 a mistake, to view it as a lesson. 00:10:52.945 --> 00:10:53.875 It's only a mistake. 00:10:53.875 --> 00:10:54.895 I, I used to preach this. 00:10:54.895 --> 00:10:58.255 In fact, I had some buttons made up one time that said, it's only a 00:10:58.255 --> 00:10:59.755 mistake if you don't learn the lesson. 00:11:00.355 --> 00:11:04.015 And that was to send a message to every employee and every leader in 00:11:04.020 --> 00:11:07.135 the stores and district that, you know what, we're all gonna make mistakes. 00:11:07.135 --> 00:11:09.805 But the key is, it's only a mistake if you don't learn the lesson. 00:11:10.345 --> 00:11:14.095 And that's really the key to make sure that people feel that, that support 00:11:14.395 --> 00:11:17.665 and that comfortability with you, that as a leader, you know, the, the 00:11:17.725 --> 00:11:21.100 one of the hardest things for me to understand and realize is as when I 00:11:21.100 --> 00:11:24.850 was a store leader of 400 employees in a store doing like $70 million a year, 00:11:24.850 --> 00:11:29.710 is that you cast a very large shadow and everything you do is being watched 00:11:30.010 --> 00:11:33.730 by employees and leaders, and you almost feel like a, like a celebrity. 00:11:33.965 --> 00:11:36.245 Not for me the celebrity part being the fame and all that, but 00:11:36.665 --> 00:11:38.135 everybody's watching everything you do. 00:11:38.135 --> 00:11:39.545 They're watching your interactions. 00:11:39.545 --> 00:11:42.915 They're watching how you handle, a customer issue or an employee issue. 00:11:43.105 --> 00:11:45.595 They listen to how you talk about other employees. 00:11:45.715 --> 00:11:46.585 Are you gossiping? 00:11:46.590 --> 00:11:48.535 Are you sharing information that's sensitive? 00:11:48.835 --> 00:11:51.805 They watch what you do and they find out, do you have character? 00:11:51.835 --> 00:11:52.675 Do you have integrity? 00:11:53.095 --> 00:11:56.510 If I keep, if I divulge a secret to you, are you gonna keep that secret or 00:11:56.510 --> 00:11:57.920 are you gonna share it with your circle. 00:11:58.170 --> 00:11:59.450 You're clicque, that type of stuff. 00:11:59.720 --> 00:12:03.230 So I would foster the environment where it's okay to not be able 00:12:03.230 --> 00:12:05.510 to complete something where you learned a lesson along the way. 00:12:05.660 --> 00:12:08.420 Now, the key is, is you gotta have consistent improvement though. 00:12:08.930 --> 00:12:11.780 If you want to tackle something that's very creative, make 00:12:11.780 --> 00:12:13.850 sure that it's something that they're very passionate about. 00:12:13.855 --> 00:12:15.320 Number one, we've talked about that. 00:12:15.710 --> 00:12:17.630 And number two, make sure that they understand that 00:12:17.720 --> 00:12:19.430 just continual growth is good. 00:12:19.610 --> 00:12:21.050 You're gonna, you're gonna have some dips. 00:12:21.423 --> 00:12:23.870 Ok, you're gonna fall in the ditch a few times, get back up. 00:12:23.930 --> 00:12:26.780 And I used to always ask, whenever they say, I'm so sorry I made a mistake. 00:12:26.780 --> 00:12:28.340 I'm like, no, no, we're not there yet. 00:12:28.760 --> 00:12:29.510 What did you learn? 00:12:29.660 --> 00:12:31.640 Tell me what you learned from what, what didn't work out? 00:12:31.645 --> 00:12:31.850 Right? 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:34.370 And as long as they learned something from that, I'm like, 00:12:34.370 --> 00:12:35.540 it's not, not a mistake anymore. 00:12:35.540 --> 00:12:36.410 Now it's a lesson. 00:12:36.800 --> 00:12:39.320 Now we can't make this same lesson over and over again. 00:12:39.320 --> 00:12:40.970 You gotta learn the lesson the first or second time. 00:12:41.390 --> 00:12:44.540 But the key is, is that the employees need to feel comfortable that they can 00:12:44.540 --> 00:12:45.950 do this and express their creativity. 00:12:45.950 --> 00:12:48.200 Because I'll tell you something, when you have 400 people in your 00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:50.225 store, and you're only one person. 00:12:50.345 --> 00:12:52.445 You're not gonna have better ideas than all 400 people. 00:12:52.505 --> 00:12:53.285 It's not gonna happen. 00:12:53.290 --> 00:12:56.285 No matter how smart you think you are, no matter how much knowledge you have, 00:12:56.285 --> 00:12:58.535 no matter how many years of experience. 00:12:58.635 --> 00:13:00.760 I talk about in the book five different biases. 00:13:00.760 --> 00:13:03.200 When you have you're doing performance appraisals. 00:13:03.410 --> 00:13:05.780 And one of 'em, one of 'em is called tenured biases. 00:13:06.170 --> 00:13:09.560 And these are when people have tenure with an organization or in a position 00:13:09.950 --> 00:13:12.500 and they're not receiving any more information coming from anyone. 00:13:12.980 --> 00:13:16.460 I know it all, I have confirmation bias is in full swing. 00:13:16.835 --> 00:13:19.435 And I'm like, I don't understand, just cuz you had 10 years in this 00:13:19.435 --> 00:13:22.225 position with this company, who's to say that you know everything? 00:13:22.225 --> 00:13:23.125 Nobody knows everything. 00:13:23.695 --> 00:13:25.165 And these people weren't approachable. 00:13:25.345 --> 00:13:28.315 They, they weren't accepting new information and it destroyed the whole 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:30.265 vibe in the store or in their department. 00:13:30.295 --> 00:13:32.605 So I'm really passionate about this, as you can tell. 00:13:32.610 --> 00:13:35.185 We could go on and on, but I know, I know we have time limits, so. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:38.130 Casey Golden: No, thank you for sharing, Jeffrey. 00:13:38.130 --> 00:13:42.255 I mean, more retailers could really amplify intrapreneur, 00:13:42.255 --> 00:13:45.465 shop, ship, ugh, opportunities. 00:13:45.855 --> 00:13:49.865 It, it's definitely something that I'm not, I don't think I've ever 00:13:49.865 --> 00:13:53.705 experienced in an organization so much as a defined initiative. 00:13:54.688 --> 00:13:56.668 Jeffrey McNulty: Yeah, that's, that's something that's, and you worked, you 00:13:56.668 --> 00:14:00.298 worked in retail for a while, Casey, and it's, it's prevalent through a lot of the 00:14:00.298 --> 00:14:02.668 retailers, it's, it's, it's a win-win. 00:14:02.668 --> 00:14:04.198 You can't lose with this. 00:14:04.748 --> 00:14:08.938 If you, if you explain the structure, you explain the protocols the employees 00:14:08.938 --> 00:14:12.628 have, the, the support and the inclusion, they're allowed to, to, to 00:14:12.633 --> 00:14:13.918 make some errors every now and again. 00:14:13.923 --> 00:14:14.938 Again, they're not mistakes. 00:14:15.028 --> 00:14:16.438 They're only mistakes if they don't learn. 00:14:16.708 --> 00:14:17.758 But I mean, think about it. 00:14:17.763 --> 00:14:19.618 You have 400 people in your store. 00:14:19.888 --> 00:14:21.568 You could have 400 intrapreneurs. 00:14:21.988 --> 00:14:24.958 Now granted, there's some people that have some, some outlandish ideas 00:14:24.958 --> 00:14:28.048 that just don't align with a brand or something, and you have to reel 'em 00:14:28.048 --> 00:14:29.278 in a little bit from time to time. 00:14:29.278 --> 00:14:31.858 I mean, but, but you gotta remember, it's because they have that passion. 00:14:32.338 --> 00:14:36.028 And to me it was, I, I, my stores were on autopilot when it came to 00:14:36.028 --> 00:14:39.928 this because people felt like they could really express their creativity. 00:14:40.288 --> 00:14:45.508 I positioned them, and this is why I always, I didn't like leaving stores after 00:14:45.508 --> 00:14:47.188 a while because I got the store running. 00:14:47.188 --> 00:14:48.448 It's in tip top shape. 00:14:48.658 --> 00:14:50.908 It's like a nascar, the engines running perfect. 00:14:50.908 --> 00:14:53.068 Your, your, your, your times are keep getting better. 00:14:53.188 --> 00:14:57.208 It was perfectly smooth and oiled and everybody got along, and then you go to 00:14:57.208 --> 00:14:58.618 a new store and you start all over again. 00:14:58.618 --> 00:14:59.608 But that's the challenge. 00:14:59.968 --> 00:15:02.038 I was known as a cleanup guy, a fixer. 00:15:02.158 --> 00:15:06.088 They wanted me to go into tough areas and tough stores and fix the morale, 00:15:06.268 --> 00:15:08.818 and that's the first thing I worked on, is the morale of the store. 00:15:09.118 --> 00:15:11.748 Pull all the leaders aside and say, listen guys, we, we need to make 00:15:11.748 --> 00:15:15.138 sure we're working together as one symbiotic unit and we need to have 00:15:15.138 --> 00:15:18.258 one message, and that's, we care about the employees and we gotta show it. 00:15:18.813 --> 00:15:22.293 But you're right, Casey intrapreneurship, you gotta have leaders that 00:15:22.293 --> 00:15:23.733 generally care about people. 00:15:23.973 --> 00:15:27.213 And, they gotta put their ego aside because a lot of leaders I worked 00:15:27.213 --> 00:15:31.893 with that, they felt that if the idea didn't come from directly from 00:15:31.893 --> 00:15:36.333 them, that their employees or leaders below them were gonna upstage them. 00:15:37.053 --> 00:15:40.443 And I would pull them aside and say, no, no, no, you gotta remember, they're a d 00:15:40.473 --> 00:15:42.453 a direct reflection of your leadership. 00:15:43.023 --> 00:15:46.323 So when they come up with great ideas, it's reflecting positively on you. 00:15:47.103 --> 00:15:51.143 So they elevate and then you get elevated because you're elevating the employees and 00:15:51.143 --> 00:15:52.733 allowing them to express their creativity. 00:15:52.853 --> 00:15:53.933 It literally is a win-win. 00:15:53.933 --> 00:15:57.623 But I've worked for some leaders that there was zero creativity allowed, 00:15:57.833 --> 00:16:00.563 zero autonomy zero intrapreneurship. 00:16:01.083 --> 00:16:04.593 And I said to myself, I can't, I can't wait to be a store manager or district 00:16:04.593 --> 00:16:08.313 manager so I can finally implement the ideas that I know are successful. 00:16:08.793 --> 00:16:10.323 Like Jeff said, they'd say, Jeff, what do you, what do 00:16:10.323 --> 00:16:11.313 you love about being a leader? 00:16:11.988 --> 00:16:14.028 The extra money and the stock options and the bonuses. 00:16:14.028 --> 00:16:15.138 Don't get me wrong, that's great. 00:16:15.348 --> 00:16:16.938 I'm not gonna lie to you who doesn't like that? 00:16:17.328 --> 00:16:20.958 But to me it was I can finally make the right decisions now to help people. 00:16:21.288 --> 00:16:25.668 And because I cared about people and I wanted them to succeed, I said, ego, 00:16:25.668 --> 00:16:27.048 you're gonna sit on the shelf for a while. 00:16:27.048 --> 00:16:28.008 You're not needed right now. 00:16:28.218 --> 00:16:30.918 This is, this is the time for the employees to shine and other 00:16:30.918 --> 00:16:32.178 leaders to show what they can do. 00:16:32.418 --> 00:16:34.788 And it never, it never failed me every single time. 00:16:34.788 --> 00:16:35.688 It was always a win-win. 00:16:36.048 --> 00:16:37.038 Casey Golden: Great insights. 00:16:37.043 --> 00:16:38.898 Thank you so much for joining us. 00:16:39.214 --> 00:16:39.754 Jeffrey McNulty: My pleasure. 00:16:40.549 --> 00:16:42.969 Casey Golden: if you've enjoyed our show, please consider giving 00:16:42.969 --> 00:16:46.919 us a five star rating and review on Apple podcasts and Goodpods. 00:16:47.429 --> 00:16:51.789 Remember to smash that subscribe button in your favorite podcast player and tune 00:16:51.789 --> 00:16:53.919 in on YouTube, so you don't miss a minute. 00:16:54.539 --> 00:16:56.309 I'm your cohost, Casey Golden. 00:16:56.909 --> 00:16:59.339 Ricardo Belmar: Please share your feedback with us on Twitter at Casey 00:16:59.339 --> 00:17:03.429 C Golden, Ricardo underscore Belmar, and at RetailRazor, or find us on 00:17:03.439 --> 00:17:04.889 LinkedIn, Threads, and Instagram. 00:17:05.324 --> 00:17:09.284 For the best highlights from each episode, shipped straight to your inbox, subscribe 00:17:09.284 --> 00:17:12.704 to our substack newsletter for full episode transcripts and bonus content. 00:17:13.024 --> 00:17:14.344 I'm your host, Ricardo Belmar. 00:17:15.049 --> 00:17:15.959 Casey Golden: Thanks for joining us. 00:17:16.624 --> 00:17:18.394 Ricardo Belmar: Until next time, keep cutting through 00:17:18.394 --> 00:17:19.654 the clutter and stay sharp. 00:17:19.744 --> 00:17:22.084 This is the Retail Razor Blade to Greatness.