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This podcast is designed for convenience store managers who are responsible for leading teams, driving performance, and maintaining store standards. Each episode focuses on leadership, accountability, communication, and the systems that keep a store running successfully.
Managing a store requires more than completing tasks. Thrive breaks down how to develop employees, improve execution, manage performance, and create a culture that delivers consistent results.
If you are responsible for a store and want to strengthen your leadership skills while improving operations, this podcast provides practical guidance you can use every day.
T EP 114: MANAGERIAL ROLE EVOLUTION (MOVING FROM DOING THE WORK TO LEADING THE TEAM)
You are the Store Manager. Your store is busy, and your Assistant Manager, Mike, is great at fixing problems. But whenever something gets tough—a vendor issue, a broken machine, or a difficult customer—Mike jumps in and does the work himself. He spends his whole day running around, fixing every little thing, while your newer employees stand around waiting for orders. You think, "At least the work is getting done." You are wrong. You are actually watching your store stop growing. You caused this problem because you are rewarding Mike for being a "helper" instead of a leader. You are allowing your manager to be a hero today, but you are leaving your store helpless for tomorrow.
Welcome back to Thrive. I am Mike Hernandez. Today, we are talking about moving from "Doing" to "Leading." It is the hardest change a manager ever makes, but it is the only way to build a business that actually lasts.
When you start as a manager, you are usually promoted because you were the best at doing the job. You were fast at stocking, you were great at the register, and you were a master at cleaning. So, when you get the manager title, you keep doing those things. It feels comfortable. It feels like you are working hard. But there is a trap here: when you do the work, you are telling your team that you don't trust them to do it. You are telling them, "I’ll just do it myself because you won't do it right." That is the fastest way to make your team stop trying.
To grow, you have to switch your mindset. You are no longer the one who has to finish the list. Your new job is to make sure your team finishes the list.
First, you have to get comfortable with things being done differently. When you do the work, you do it your way, and it’s perfect. When you teach someone else, they might be slower, or they might do it a little differently. You have to let that happen. If you take the job back every time they make a mistake, you are training them to be lazy. You are training them to wait for you to fix it. Instead, you have to stand there, be patient, and show them how to do it correctly. It might take longer today, but it saves you ten hours next week.
Second, watch your team more than you watch the work. As a manager, your "work" is what your team is doing. If you are always stuck behind a counter or in a cooler, you can't see the big picture. You have to step back. You need to be able to look at the whole store and see where people are struggling. Who needs help? Who is bored? Who is ready to learn something new? You can’t answer those questions if you are busy stocking sodas. You have to be the coach on the sidelines, not the player on the field.
Third, remember that your success is measured by your team. If your store runs perfectly when you are there, but falls apart the second you go home, you haven't succeeded. You’ve just made yourself a prisoner of your own store. A great manager builds a team that can run the store without them. When you aren't the most important person in the building, that’s when you know you’ve finally become a leader.
Alright, let’s get your leadership style fixed. Your goal is to stop being the one doing the work and start being the one who makes sure the work gets done by others.
Here is your assignment for the week. Find one task that you do every single day. Tomorrow, don't touch it. Find a team member who hasn't done it before, show them how to do it, and let them do it. Don't take it back from them. Just watch, help, and let them get it done.
I have a "Leadership Growth Protocol" for you. It’s a simple checklist to help you track how much you are coaching versus how much you are doing yourself. Text the word THRIVE114 to 9 5 6 - 8 9 7 - 9 1 9 2. Or, email the word THRIVE114 to admin at c store center dot com and I will send you a digital copy you can use on your phone.
Before you go, a quick personal note. Between 2011 and 2013, I worked on the Navajo Reservation and volunteered on the Tsaille Community College Advisory Board Council. That experience helped me realize I wanted to become a Professor of Convenience Store Retail Operations and give back to the industry by helping to develop talent for it. I learned that you cannot grow your business until you stop being the most important person in the building. You have to start building people who are better than you are. Also, text the letters A I to 9 5 6 - 8 9 7 - 9 1 9 2 if you would like to learn more about how you can practically use artificial intelligence at work. Execution is universal.
Happy Learning. Remember, learning shouldn't feel like punishment. It should feel like a possibility.