Leaders and Strategies in Real Life: 10/15/19

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Instead of studying leadership, why not spend some time studying leaders and strategies in the wild? You can learn a lot from leadership experts, but you always see the leader and what he or she does through the expert’s personal lens. Supplement that learning with studying real leaders in real life situations and draw your own conclusions. The posts in this series will help you.

Every week I’ll point you to articles by and about real leaders in real situations and to articles about how real companies are faring in the marketplace. Read them. Think about them. Draw your own lessons and conclusions from them. Then try to apply those lessons in your own real life.

This week I’m pointing you to articles about Haystack, Kohl’s, Amazon, Target, Costco, and Cliff’s Variety.

From Kellogg Insight: Uber and Airbnb Outpaced Regulators by Becoming Indispensable. Parking App Haystack Met a Very Different Fate

“In mid-2014, entrepreneur Eric Meyer launched a new parking app, Haystack, that intended to do for parking what Airbnb has done for lodging or Lyft has done for catching a ride. The idea was to take people who were about to leave a parking spot on a city street (it was piloted in Boston and Baltimore) and, for a small fee, match them with people who were looking for parking in the area.”

From Anne Stych: Amazon returns drive increased foot traffic for Kohl’s

“No bubble wrap? No problem. You just take whatever it is you want to send back to the designated Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) return desk at your local Kohl’s store, and, bam, they package it up, label it and send it on its way. For free. And Kohl’s has already benefitted greatly from the partnership, which started in July. According to Business Insider, citing data from inMarket, shopper visits to Kohl’s were up almost one-fourth (24 percent) in the three weeks after the program started.”

From Phil Wahba: How Target Managed a Big-Box Turnaround

“In 2017, the struggling megachain spooked Wall Street and earned mockery in the retail world by committing billions to revamping its stores. Today, more-inviting shopping floors and smoother e-commerce have turned Target into a winner again.”

From Zachary Crockett: How Costco gained a cult following — by breaking every rule of retail

“Costco has found immense success by prioritizing the interests of its customers and employees over those of its shareholders.”

From Leigh Buchanan: Need Some Fake Eyelashes Along With Your Light Bulbs? This San Francisco Store Has Been Stocking It All for 83 Years

“Cliff’s Variety is locally famous for its Halloween window displays and drag queen accessories. It is also a testament to survival.”

For some ideas about how to get more from this series of posts, check out “Studying Leaders in the Wild.

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