About twenty years ago, I vented. I was speaking with a dear friend and complaining about my current state of affairs. I was working for an incredibly well-known fashion company out of New York. I was struggling with the fact that I was working in an industry where “people bought things they really do not need, with money they don’t really have to impress friends they don’t really care about. How do I justify this?” She took about eleven seconds and asked. “So what do you want to do?” I immediately responded, “A history teacher”. She digested this one for twenty seven seconds and then said, “You are a teacher. You just don’t teach history.” Wow, that was it? Yep. That simple? Yes, that simple.
We all believe there is some great thing we are supposed to be doing and more times than not, we are doing it – just not the way we thought it would be. We are doing “x” and don’t like it. And upon reflection, we find we are doing “x” and also doing “a, b, c, k, q, t, u and y.” What we do does matter, even if it is not obvious to us and may only appear to matter to someone else.
I could go very spiritual in this post right now. I have a particular belief. There are those who might say, “This is just a way for him to espouse his beliefs.” My response would be that I espouse my beliefs when I am moved to do just that (which is every day in as many ways as possible). Today I choose to share this concept in a retail construct and how what we do matters.
My first retail job was selling jewelry in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Any majestic reason for being there? Nope. I sold diamonds, watches, rings and engraving. Was there a greater purpose? Nope, I collected a paycheck to do stuff and tuck away some change for college. I was seventeen. Seriously, you expected some monumental connection with Fink’s Jewelry store in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Pay attention to what I just said. It matters, pun intended.
This now involves one thing with two branches: perspective, yours and mine. We will cover off on that in greater depth in tomorrow’s post. What matters? Think about Stewart Fink and then think about me. Stewart was the owner and I was the employee.
Let’s start on the side of Stewart. He owned the business. He had risk (the extent known more so by him and not by any of his employees). He had all the stuff to do in running the business. None of this can be blithely exaggerated. He wanted the customer to be happy and buy something. This is retail. Nothing new here. Then I show up. I apply and then get the job.
For me, I was told to get a job by my parents. I was told that if I was to have a car and any kind of dollars and cents to do stuff (mostly movies at this point), I had better get a job. I was also to start saving for college. Even I did not think I would pay for my tuition at a four-year university by my employment at Fink’s. I knew the importance of working. That was certain and I do not say that with any sarcasm. This was not my first job. This also plays a part and will be covered tomorrow for sure. OK, let’s place a context of what happens next. Stewart has a business, has an opening and I show up. I must appease my parents, make some money and I show up. We meet and we enter into a behavioral transaction agreement. I agree to do “this” and Stewart agrees to pay me “that”. We start our defined relationship as employer and employee. This is key as it is the point with which all things now matter – for him and me.
For him, he now expects me to show up on time, be dressed to code, sell stuff and not tick any customers off. For me, I showed up because my Dad drove me, my parents told me what to wear, I expect to be paid and, I’m sorry, what does the customer want again? Can you already see the disconnect? Or is it just me? My parents taught me a very important lesson in work ethic (again, more on that tomorrow), but based on what I want to share today, that doesn’t play into the equation yet. Stewart had a sense of what matters and so did I…relatively speaking.
Fast forward to 1990, call it 1992. My question to my friend. I had been in working in retail in some way, shape or form since 1981. Am I supposed to be doing this? Let’s imagine for a moment, I was still in Fort Smith and not New York. Would Stewart’s “what matters” be different? Think about that. He expects the same thing in the business, however as an employee, I have changed what matters to me in these many years. That is the differential that makes the most important hiccup for the employer-employee relationship, especially in retail. Retail has the hardest retention rate of most if not all industries. Peoples priorities change and very few people think retail is the job for life. Most employees are in a holding pattern while in retail and then happily go to “the next job” or “that other job” or “the One”.
Things mattered differently in 1981, 1992 and now in 2011? My experiences have shaped me. In fact, I have become who I have become due to someone else and something else pretty much all along the way. So, are we clear how stuff matters? Maybe the better question is how does the realities of where we are in life and our current priorities impact what we do? Is this the ultimate “matter” thing? At this moment, I believe what I do matters. Why? Because what I say and do can make a difference. I did not know that at age seventeen. I get it that some guy or gal has to do “x” every day. And that matters. And even if it is not obvious, what you do and who you are impacts something in every day. Just ask yourself the questions. Am I doing the right thing right now? Is it having an impact? Does what I do matter? Yep. It has that potential. Even if it does not make the front page. Recently, there was Charlie Sheen in the news. What about the eleven Marines killed in action last week? Which was reported? Which one matters most? Does “matter” matter differently?
If you consider the flow of this message; the questions seem to change from what matters to does my job matter. The question may be better posed as how do I matter in the job? It may seem simple, but some customer needs you. In a crazy, not-expected sort of way, some guy or gal is trying to buy that thing to fulfill some need. They also want to figure out how the thing works. They want to understand the thing. They want you to matter to them, even if it is for selfish reasons. If I am the sales person, I want to see how my energy caused something. I want to invest into any effort that may help me create a relationship and sell stuff. I want the customer to know, even in my most trying day – they matter. So what happens next? I am sure it has to do with my choice. This is the “matter” thing, right? I choose to matter in the job. And what matters will be different every single day.
If I had to do stuff over again, would I do it again? Yes. Hind sight. If I knew then what I know now, I would have mattered more…especially to others. That is my matter thing. It is not the job, it is the mindset. Today you have an opportunity to matter. If you do not know it, you matter to someone else at this very second, in that job, at that place working for that guy or gal. And everyone you come into contact at that job matters. Things matter. People matter. The eleven Marines mattered in some far away place to total strangers.
Think about that today. Cheers.