1 Year Later - a Look Back on Effective Retail Leadership

A year ago, I posted my first blog entry, and it was about the choices we each have. Our power to choose what we do is unmatched in determining the outcomes we will ultimately experience. More than ever I believe that to be true. When we understand that we have absolute ownership of our future, we can then begin to move in the right direction for our own success. Slightly more than a year ago I made a choice, one that has lead to incredible new things.It is difficult to believe that a full year has passed since I began this journey of sharing leadership ideas and thoughts for retail (and other) leaders. It has been an amazing 12 months that has introduced me to new ideas, new people, and new ways of doing things. In short, I have learned a lot in the last year.I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to walk away from a company I enjoyed working with for nearly 25 years and a job I thoroughly enjoyed. That may sound strange, but few people have the chance to step away from something on their terms at a positive point and still have many options to explore when they do.I wasn’t sure what I would do when I left my position. I knew I wanted to explore some different things around leadership consulting and writing. I had always wanted to do that, but never really found the time. Suddenly, time was what I had the most of. Many of the ideas I have shared over the past year have come from stories, experiences, or ideas that I had while working in various positions over the span of my career. Throughout the year as I was able to research more and dive in more in-depth to many subjects - I could not only write about them, I could implement them in various new ways of my life.One of the best examples I can think of is refining my habits, routines, and planning processes. I have come to understand the value of getting enough sleep each night. I benefited from making specific time to plan and look further ahead. And now, I am finding new ways to utilize those honed skills.After taking eight months away from the day to day retail grind, writing, reading, listening to webinars, traveling, and spending time with my family, I have re-entered the corporate world and am enjoying putting many of the ideas I explored back into action in a new way I had never thought of before. I feel more organized, more in control, and much better able to utilize my time. My family and I have just completed a fairly complicated move which took us in several different directions, yet I was able to maintain my writing, reading, and keep up on my day to day work. I can attest to the value of planning, looking forward, and anticipating the steps necessary for success.From here, I plan to continue to write multiple articles weekly, share ideas on leadership, and making a difference for people. My purpose has only become more refined in the last year. More than ever I feel the need to share my thoughts and experiences on how everyone can be the leader that others want to follow. I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to both be a great leader and work with other great leaders. I am inspired every day by other leader’s aspirations to do that same thing. I also find motivation in coming across people who want that badly but haven’t had the opportunity to work for someone that has that same agenda. Working with leaders that see their role as serving first is a luxury that can be easy to take for granted. So when I find people who have not experienced that, I want nothing more than to find a way to surround them with leaders that think strategically, are team focused, have a servant’s heart, an open mind, and work tirelessly to develop others to do the same.As I look back at the year that has passed, I am grateful for what life has afforded me and the opportunities that have presented themselves. As I look forward, I am eager to take the next steps on a journey that now has so many new faces, friends, names, and stories to learn and share. Thank you to all of you who have joined me on this leadership journey. I believe the future is bright and full of new areas to explore and share to make each of us better at supporting, leading, and creating excellence. We can all be effective retail leaders.How have you grown, developed, or explored new ideas in the last year? Share your stories in the comments section.I would love to have you join the journey too. Join other retail leaders in continuing their development journey with Effective Retail Leader.com. SUBSCRIBE today to receive leadership tips directly to your inbox and monthly newsletters that provide many tools to help further develop your leadership skills. JOIN NOW!No SPAM ever - just leadership goodness.Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash