This is the Most Powerful Question You Can Ask in Leadership

Retail leaders are busy.

There is never enough time in the day to finish all that is required of us and put out all the fires. We need help. (Ohmygod...so many fires).

When leaders try to do it all, they struggle.

You're the leader for a reason, but it doesn't mean you must take on all the work. You need to delegate, but before you can do that, you need to get to know your team well.

How do you do that when you're running the floor, writing schedules, and - let's be honest - re-writing schedules? (Because you know you're going to have to do it).

When you have a few minutes. When you get a lull in traffic, ask your team this -

What do you think?

Here's the kicker, though.

You have to listen without judgment and excuses.

What I mean is, if someone provides genuine feedback, you can't say -

• That person is new.
• I don't think they meant that.
• We can't do that.

Because if you do, people will stop telling you stuff.

Your answer should be along the lines of -

• Okay.
• I hear you.
• Thanks for your insight.

Listen closely to your management team.

People work differently for different leaders. If you are the Store Manager, District Manager, or Regional, people are on their best behavior when you're around. Listen to your support managers; they have fantastic insight.

So does your visual team.

Visual teams are the eyes and ears of the building. They see everything that happens. They are in the store early and aren't zoned. They can move around freely, so they see how the store truly operates.

Luckily, I had a good relationship with my Visual Manager. She was a young, Black woman, and people sometimes treated her differently. She let me know if they did. There were a handful of seasonal hires we didn't offer core staff positions to because of this.

It didn't matter so much how they treated me. I wanted to know how they treated everyone else.

During every manager meeting, I would read through a list of our employees. Every leader would get a chance to comment on the person's strengths/opportunities. This was eye-opening every time we did it.

I took their comments at face value and believed them. Even though Candice worked well for me, she didn't work well for others. She would ignore their direction or walk away. She talked too much with other team members.

When you ask for this honest feedback, you have to be open to it.

Listen, keep your eyes open, and support your team.

They want to help you. Give them the space to do it. It will make your team stronger and work more efficiently.

The next time you're rolling out a new change or analyzing your business, turn to the person next to you and ask them, "What do you think?" You may find insight in the answer.

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Kit Campoy is a former retail professional turned freelance writer. She covers Web3, travel, leadership, retail, writing, and more. She also writes personal essays on Medium. Connect with Kit on LinkedIn, DeSo, and Twitter. Give yourself a break, and join her weekly newsletter.