“If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate.”

I’ll never forget one particular lesson learned when I was the store manager at the Clover Discount Store in Havertown, PA. Clover was a Discount Store chain similar to a target Store that was in business from the 1970’s to 1995.  It was a division of Strawbridge & Clothier a prominent upscale Department store chain located in and around Philadelphia Pa. I had worked for the company in various positions since I graduated High School in 1975. When the company went out of business I held the duel roles of Director of in-store Marketing and Merchandise Presentation and District Manager overseeing 8 of their stores.

One of my most vivid memories while working at Clover was a Saturday during the busy Christmas shopping season in the early 1990s. This event completely changed the way I managed people from that point on. The store was packed, the parking lot was full, and the checkout lines were long. We were short-staffed, so I decided to jump on a register—something I rarely did because I wasn’t the best cashier in the world.  Just as I started ringing up customers, in walked Peter Strawbridge—yes, that Peter Strawbridge of Strawbridge & Clothier fame, my bosses’ boss’s boss!

Peter Strawbridge was one of the great leaders I had the privilege of meeting and knowing. Unlike many corporate leaders today, he truly valued his workforce. He and all of the upper management  treated the workers like a family. When he arrived, a cashier quickly relieved me, and I was able to greet him. In spite of the crowded store we looked great, he was very complimentary of the store and our recent sales and profit results. When I was assigned at this store 1988 it was ranked 7th in sale volume and 10 in profit for the company.  It had many operational and personal issues. In a few short years we were able to turn the store completely around. My store became the company’s largest volume and most profitable location at the time, even more so than the S&C locations. 

After a few minutes of walking and talking, as he was about to leave, he gently put his hand on my shoulder and asked if there wasn’t someone else I could have put on the register instead of myself. BAM! That was his nice way of saying, “DUDE! We don’t pay you $60K a year to be a cashier!” He then asked me why generals in the army only carry sidearm pistols instead of rifles or machine guns. I knew right away the point he was making—I had heard it from other executives before. Generals carry sidearms because their job is to lead the troops, not to fight in the trenches. The sidearm is there so they can defend themselves, or, as he humorously noted, “shoot themselves when the enemy gets as far as them.”

Before heading to his modest Dodge Aries, he gave me some advice he had received as a young manager: “Run your store as if your hands are tied behind your back with handcuffs and see if you can manage for a week.” That message really sank in, and from that day on, I experienced some of the greatest successes of my career.

If you are ever involved in management or work leading others when you are in the work force and follow this proven rule and see how it works for you: Run your operation as if your hands are tied behind your back. Only physically work to train, set an example, build team support, manage a task, or put out a fire. If you find yourself working physically a lot because you “have to,” you have a bigger problem.