Retail needs to celebrate a more human way of doing business, writes Rita Clifton.

Alongside the usual stuff of life and business recently, I also beamed into an Oxford Union debate (black tie, debating chamber et al) and, randomly, stumbled upon a bit of the film Greed, starring Steve Coogan. The latter is allegedly based on a certain retail mogul.

Contrasting experiences on the surface, but for different reasons they got me thinking again about how Brand Business has got such a challenge on its hands and why Brand Retail has a unique role in shaping perceptions of business for good or ill.

The reason all this is important is that, while politicians feel they can get more votes (or at least not lose any) by giving business a good kicking and that they can extract more and more revenue from businesses even as they make it more difficult for them to operate, then everyone in business and everyone who benefits from business will suffer (which basically means all of us, because business pays for civil society and our way of life).

“We need many more very human business leaders stepping forward and talking about good business on a consistent basis. Retail leaders can make a huge difference”

What is to be done? Acting like responsible businesses that genuinely care about doing a great job for customers, employees and society as a whole obviously helps. It was really uplifting to hear some of the stories of dedication and heroism during the darkest times of the pandemic at the Retail Week Awards last week.

But we also need many more very human business leaders stepping forward and talking about good business on a consistent basis. Retail leaders can make a huge difference.

Not a happy union…

The Oxford Union debate featured the motion: ‘This house does not believe that business will adapt in time to address the social and environmental sustainability crises facing our world.’

I should mention that I argued against this. Frankly, in terms of ‘adapt or die’, if business does not adapt, we are all dead. So, erm, that is quite a strong motivation to adapt, I argued.

If I also mention that the audience was mainly MBA students, you may be surprised to hear that most did not seem to believe business would adapt in time. Clearly not a great vote of confidence in themselves as future business leaders…

One reason for bringing this up is that it was the first time I had voluntarily experienced this particular brand of ‘yah boo sucks’ debating atmosphere. Rowdiness, interruptions and even booing were actually encouraged, and the MBA students duly got stuck into this combination of intellectual performance art and pantomime.

Not dissimilar to pantomime, business programmes like Dragons’ Den and The Apprentice  also do much to make people think that being successful in business tends to favour the mean, arrogant and obsessive. It was honestly a bit depressing.

Greed is… not good

Greed continued the pantomime theme of where arrogance and meanness can take you – and the anti-hero is, of course, a retailer.

I suppose it makes a change from evil bankers and oil executives but, nevertheless, the caricature of the wheeling and dealing merchant king, screwing suppliers and employees, was annoying to say the least.  

In his recent book, The Nine Types of Leader, former City editor James Ashton tops and tails the types from his study with ‘alpha’ and ‘human’ leaders, describing the latter as: “Someone with a large dose of emotional intelligence. Humans listen carefully, admit mistakes, communicate authentically and take seriously their duty of care to colleagues and other stakeholders.”

Alpha leaders not so much, but the image of the hard-driving, ‘command and control’ retail trader lives on in the business. Just three retail leaders made it into the top 50 chief executives in Glassdoor’s Employees’ Choice Awards this year.

Business in kind

If sustainable retail success is as much about truly understanding customers, their lives and the services they need, nurturing colleagues and building trusted relationships with communities, even when difficult decisions have to be taken, as it is about buying stuff and operating logistics, then that is the very human balance that needs to be struck at the top.

At the Retail Week Awards, I was also struck by the Retail Trust presentation, during which chief executive Chris Brook-Carter talked about its mission of “hope, help and happiness”. The winners’ stories illustrated so much common good and great leadership.

Let’s have more of this kind and human approach – and more in public, please. We all need public and political opinion on our side. Business and retail needs it.

Accelerating out of crisis, transforming the future

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