What do you do if feedback reveals your strengths and weaknesses in retail marketing?

Approach it with an open mind and a growth mindset. Feedback is a gift that can help you improve and excel. Identify your strengths and find ways to leverage them further. Explore opportunities to take on projects or responsibilities that align with your strengths. For weaknesses, create a targeted action plan. Seek out training, mentorship, or resources to bridge the gaps. Break it down into achievable steps. Make self-improvement a habit. Regularly seek feedback, attend workshops, or pursue certifications to stay ahead of the curve. Collaborate with colleagues who complement your weaknesses with their strengths. Foster an environment of knowledge sharing and collective growth.

Don't stop at embracing your strengths. Go one step further by reflecting on--and asking the leader providing the feedback--how those strengths and the underlying skills could be applied more broadly. For example, if your feedback shows strengths in promotional marketing, consider the underlying skills you and your team use to deliver exceptional promotional marketing (e.g., competitive benchmarking, data modeling, pricing strategy). Where else can you or your team apply those skills to benefit the business? Are there team members that excel in these areas who should be part of special or stretch assignments or career progression to ensure the retailer is fully utilizing those skills?

Consider the weakness in relation to organizational vision, retail strategy and brand positioning. For example, competitive benchmarking may reveal gaps in mobile marketing versus peers, but that may be less relevant to your brand or less valuable than other channels or tactics to your retail strategy. If weaknesses represent gaps in areas that are meaningful, consider what gaps have the greatest impact and are feasible to address. For instance, if paid media and personalization are gaps of equal importance, consider which can be addressed sooner based on requirements and available resources. You may the strategy, skills and budget to improve media effectiveness but not the data or tools to advance personalization at this time.

Once you've decided what gaps are relevant, impactful and feasible to close, if choices have to be made--and don't assume you have to choose--plot the "from to". What steps need to be taken, when and how soon can they be taken to close those gaps? What can be done in parallel to close gaps in multiple areas? Can investments needed to close gaps in one area also help to address deficiencies or advance efforts in another area? Map out long-term resource needs and dependencies in order to define a phased approach, where needed (e.g., discovery to inform long-term capital investments). Engage colleagues who have insight, lead related work or are impacted by your decisions to learn, ensure visibility and collaboration and inform your decisions.