The Dress Saga!

On behalf of Jodie -- 

She had her big meeting this week, gave a huge speech......and wore the dress!  It went well -- see her inspiring speech below.  The grand finale -- Jodie in her dress!  The 2nd best part.....our exercise streak was a key part of the inspiration for the speech.  I can only speak for myself -- but that makes me feel pretty damn good!  

Speech…

Hi Everyone,

I am really glad to be here today to speak to you.

I spent a lot of time thinking about my message and decided I would like to speak to you about;

“What “A” Talent means to me”.

I HAVE met many talented associates this year  on the DSM and store manager’s pie trip and I look forward to spending time this week with all the A talent in this room.

When I think about “A talent” at dressbarn certain words come to my mind.  Words like:

 Commitment, passion, focus, determination

That’s when I thought about sharing my dress story with you.  

A couple of weeks ago a friend talked me into a fitness challenge.  This challenge was I had to commit to working out for 5 days a week for 30 minutes a day and then blogabout my experience.   For years I made excuses for why I did not exercise, (I couldn’t fit into my schedule, I travel too much, the weather ) but I told myself this time it was going to be different. 

The first two days of the challenge went well.  I exercised each day for 30 minutes making the time in my schedule.

 By Day 3 all the excuses and self doubt started coming back and of course what did I do, I stopped exercising. 

On Day 4 the excuses and doubts were still there and I was ready to quit the fitness challenge, but then the DRESS came into my life.

On the way home from work that day I stopped by the mall to look for a dress for this meeting, since I knew that none of my dresses in my closet would  fit me.

 I stopped by a couple stores and found the one dress that I really liked.

 It was cream, a color that would make me step out of my comfort  zone of BLACK. I tried it on and couldn’t get the zipper up.  I had a decision to make;

  buy the dress and lose the weight or look for another dress in another size.

 Once I made the decision TO COMMIT AND to BUY the dress my drive and determination kicked into high gear.  I stopped by the gym on the way home that night and started a diet the next day.

 I have continued my commitment to working out 5 days and even walked in 18 inches of snow.  I had to give up many things along the way,

The hardest being my coronas, but most importantly It’s was the excuses I had to give up. 

 There had been many times along my journey when I thought that it would be easier to just buy another dress or get the top half of the dresses altered, especially after the bottom of the dress started fitting better.  But the dress became my motivation to stick to my goal of losing weight and getting fit.

So now I need help from you. 

Tell me about the leadership behaviors you see in my story.    (Ask the audience?) 

 Are these all the behaviors we are looking for in our “A” our player?

In the past couple of years we have been striving to develop and hire “A” players.  This past year we did a talent assessment with our district sales manager in every region. We discussed recruiting and developing “A” talent.  Things that stood out in Jeff’s presentation from last year were words like;

 Energy, Passion, Pushing their limits and game changer.    

We have talked a lot about “A” talent but what does that really mean? 

What I look for in my “A” players is someone who has internal drive and or determination to be successful.

 They are focused, committed and driven to achieve their goals.  They do not make excuses but find solutions to their problems.  When times get tough they keep pushing through what is uncomfortable and safe and try new things and continue to learn. 

They know they need to build relationships with their people, but also know when to draw the line between business and personal.

How many of these “A” players do you have on your team?         

How many of your Managers consistently achieve their business goals year after year? 

Or are you allowing them to get the zipper half way up  and get it altered instead of pushing their limits?  Do you except their excuses? 

How many of your Managers can you count on to get the job done no matter what it takes? 

The real goal in my dress story was to get fit and lose weight.  The dress and the fitness challenge was the solution that would get me to the goal.  It took giving up a lot on my part but mostly the excuses to get the dress to fit.  .

Do you allow your Managers to quit OR BECOME COMPLACENT when it gets too hard or obstacles get in the way?

I could use the weather as my excuse but I got out and walked with 18 inches of snow on the ground.

So how many “A” players do you have on your team? 

Do you have “B” players who can become “A” players?

 How about your “C” players,   are YOU settling?    

It comes down to YOUR expectation for your team and yourself? 

How driven and determined are YOU to be an “A” player?    AND HAVE A DISTRICT OF A PLAYERS?

Back to my Dress story, when you see me Thursday night at the banquet and I can’t breathe or sit in the dress, please come over and tell me it was all worth it!

(Everyone came up to me and told me that the dress looked GREAT)    And Jodie -- they were right!  You look fabulous.  And I think there is no mistake that you are the standout in the group!