Retail Execs Discuss Leading In A Recession

At the National Retail Foundation Convention, a panel of of retail senior execs discussed leadership in tough economic times: Kip Tindell, CEO and Co-Chairman of The Container Store, Roger Farah, President, Chief Operating Officer of Polo, and Burton Tansky, Chairman, President and CEO of Neiman Marcus Group.

Their observations were straightforward:

• Don’t panic
• Communicate
• Be flexible
• Remember who you are
• Put your employees first
• Bring in outsiders…when it makes sense.
• Guide your employees
• Cultivate trust

My take: These retail execs echoed advice that I’ve talked about in previous posts about managing in a recession. There’s no magic bullet in these tough economic times; firms just a need to remain focused on the fundamentals: customers, employees, and brands. I particularly liked this quote from Neiman Marcus’ Tansky: 

You don’t spend that much time developing a brand and let it drop or change because of a crisis, it just can’t be. We have no intention in making any changes of our brand. There is absolutely no groundswell, no discussion, about changing who we are.

If companies start cutting costs without a keen focus on their brand, then there’s no telling what type of firm they’ll be left with.

The bottom line: Don’t forget to lead through a recession.