Balancing Growth and Change
My blog entries are erratic because I am not sure who is reading this and I certainly do not want to be self-serving or to assume my life is interesting enough to read about during one’s busy life. But, IF it helps others to know that we all work hard to achieve a balance in our lives and if there are tips that we women can share regarding work, kids, keeping fit, focusing on what is good, then I am all about blogging J
Anyway, it is now Dec 1st and once again I am waiting for winter to start. Owning a snow business and maintaining a positive psyche in a world where winters are changing and warming is particularly challenging. It is like hosting a party and waiting for the energy and excitement and participants to build. The invitation is in the mail, our friends want to join in, but conditions have to be right – the prices, services, weather, free time—all of it has to work. Yet when it all jives, the event is so very fun!
The challenges in this kind of business require a yoga-like philosophy of peace and acceptance of what I cannot change. Yet I have to mix that philosophy with the NEED to change what I CAN change- which in retail these days is a lot. I must constantly push myself to think of new, better ways to sell products thru a store front and on the web – and all with a limited budget. Listed below is what’s in my head, when I have time to ponder.
They are my goals which I must focus on a continual basis if I want to improve myself and Gear West.
1) As I mentioned above, letting go of things I cannot change. Not allowing warm weather, no snow, or the public’s changes in buying habits affect my mood in a way that beats me up or defeats me. My goal is to continue to appreciate all that we have achieved at Gear West, embrace the changes in the market place in a cheerful and functional way and be challenged to make things better.
This fall it also included accepting that a critical employee left in a manner that we least expected. In my mind we had done all we could to keep him at Gear West and in retrospect, we most likely did too much. In any case, this employee bought into another store and we not only lost a talented employee but we gained a respected competitor. Therefore I am continuing to teach myself to not worry about what he is doing, but redouble our efforts at Gear West to be as good as we can be and then even better. As a store with many moving parts– nordic, alpine, clothing, accessories, events, services, coaching, e-commerce, employees – it is hard to monitor all the details. To best manage 25+ years of business growth and to adjust to the environmental, technological and (how can I forget!) governmental changes affecting the workplace floods my mind. I need to continually process concern and desire to grow in ways that will move me forward, not backward in destructive ‘what if’s” .
2) Improving people management skills. Growing a business involves constantly understanding and managing those who work for you. The fun and often frustrating challenge is to learn how to bring out the best in each individual, create a flexible workplace that allows for uniqueness to shine, provide a fair and cheerful place to work AND manage those who do not respond to what you try to do. I have a psychology degree from Duke and I still need continuing education on new and creative ways to inspire and focus the myriad of personalities that work for GW. Also, there is nothing more humbling to me than managing humans. It forces a focus on me to evaluate myself and see where I can change for the better. To become a better boss I need to know I appear to others and identify areas where I need to grow and become more tolerant.
Yet, there unpopular decisions that must be made by me, the owner, and at times, hard stuff that must be done by those who want a salary from me. To create that workable balance is always on my mind. To become better at managing provides huge rewards to any business and I want to be the best manager / boss possible.
3) Finding or creating opportunities for Gear West to evolve and stay relevant in the marketplace. An example of a business which morphed itself into something more desirable in the fashion world is Sorrel boots. They used to represent practical warm snowboots. Now they sell hip, trendy snow and fashion boots of all shapes and sizes. Gear West and I need to see where and how we can most successfully continue to sell outdoor fun and market the benefits of an active lifestyle to our web and store customers. How can we continue to fill a unique niche, market that niche, and be some new form of what we already are, a family owned specialty sports campus must be kept in the forefront of my mind IF I don’t want GW to become a dinosaur like so many other long ago brands/ companies.
Yikes- I have a lot to do. Now I must return to figuring how who will remove all our dead flowers in the outside pots and decorate them all with Christmas pine bows. This and about 100 other little projects that need to be done today, is occupying my mind now. Always a balance!