Focus on Activity

Welcome back to Manndatory Listening! It has been a minute since you've heard from The Mann Group, and you may be wondering what these folks have been up to. Join Dan Mann, Ryan McCarty, and the rest of The Mann Group team for this recording of Dan Mann's recent virtual book talk discussing his newest release, Leading Change: How to Achieve Superior Results with Gentle Pressure Relentlessly Applied - now available everywhere! And be sure to stay tuned for upcoming episodes of Manndatory Listening. Thank you for listening! Pick up your copy of Leading Change on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop! Please leave a review for Dan's Leading Change on Amazon: Hardcover: https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review?asin=B0C2WPY56F Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review?asin=B0C2K4SCPH Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review?asin=B0C1TKP5PJ

Kent and Dan talk with Ian Hughes, founder and managing director at Vielo Sports, a boutique bicycle company in the UK. The guys discuss Ian's interesting and varied background in the bicycle trade, in marketing, and in establishing his own brand starting in 2017. Ian also talks about the COVID-19 situation in the UK and how businesses are coping there.

Kent and Dan recognize some unsung retail heroes—some of The Mann Group's clients who are doing whatever it takes to keep going and keep innovating during the pandemic. During the worst economic crisis of our (or maybe any) time, these leaders and business owners are staying positive and coming up with new and novel ways to keep in touch with their customers, keep offering their goods and services, and to keep their spirits up.

Kent and Dan continue their coping with COVID-19 discussion, focusing on the importance of staying active and continuing to set goals. Something as simple as writing a "to do" list and methodically accomplishing those tasks keeps the mind focused on the positive and helps to tamp down stress and anxiety. Despite the gravity of the situation, it's not only possible but crucial to think positively and to be grateful for the good things in life and business.

Dan and Kent look back to 9/11 for lessons learned from that tragic time that business owners and leaders can apply today to help get through the COVID-19 emergency. The main lesson: take care of your people. Host a video conference call to touch base, make sure that your team members are doing OK, and to discuss plans and strategy looking ahead. As Dan and Kent discussed in the last podcast, it's important for leaders to set the tone for their teams by taking the situation seriously while also remaining optimistic and thinking about new opportunities that may emerge in the aftermath of the current crisis.

In the first episode of the 3rd season of Manndatory Listening, Kent and Dan Mann discuss our new, locked-down reality and what businesses, and especially business leaders, can do to weather the storm and emerge even stronger than before when things return to something like normal. A key for leaders is to practice and demonstrate self-discipline and self-care. Projecting calm and making insightful decisions, even when you're feeling less than calm and even scared, is crucial for boosting your team's morale and positioning your business to not merely survive but to stand strong during these difficult times.  

We're wrapping up Season Two and our GPRA series with a look at cultures of accountability. Dan and Kent discuss how to create a culture of accountability (the key is in following up), cultivating transparency through metrics, and how accountability is both the beginning and end of the GPRA cycle.  

Matt Powell, retail sage and VP & senior industry advisor in sports at The NPD Group, talks through the evolution of our industry, including topics like the transition from omnichannel to blended retail, customization versus personalization, brand and retailer partnerships, and investing in technology and people.      

Once you've gotten an agreement from your employees and established metrics to measure the results, it's time to train. But the trick lies not just in comprehensive training, but in watching what's happening and providing live feedback—or coaching. Learn how to implement both in the third episode in our GPRA series.

The only way to ensure you're getting results is through intentional, numerical tracking. In the second podcast in the Gentle Pressure Relentlessly Applied series, Dan and Kent talk through how to define the metrics of your goals, how to measure your business' and employees' results, and why it matters.