Leadership, COVID-19 Recovery Readiness and Wellness

Welcome to this week's Retail Resources, which features a curated list of the best content and resources I've found for you over the past week. This week, I offer information and resources about leadership, COVID-19 recovery readiness as stores and offices begin to slowly open, and wellness. As always, if there's anything you would like me to share in a future post, let me know by dropping me a line at mcampanelli@napco.com.

Leadership

• For the past few months, Total Retail and its sister brand, Women in Retail Leadership Circle, have hosted monthly virtual exchange events featuring live interviews with leading retail executives to give attendees both a way to connect with and gain vital insight into the state of our industry from top leaders, especially in the challenging times in which we’re now operating. Our next Women in Retail and Total Retail Virtual Exchange will take place this Wednesday, June 24 from 11:00 a.m. ET until 2:00 p.m. E.T. During these interactive events, attendees have the ability to ask these expert speakers questions in real time. Click here to register, and we’ll “see” you on Wednesday.
• In this well-written and thought-provoking Harvard Business Review article, the authors argue that in the current work environment, leaders need to be good at both traditional (telling their team what to do) and emerging (asking their team open-ended questions) leadership styles. In surveys and interviews with hundreds of leaders worldwide, the authors uncovered seven core tensions between traditional and emerging leadership approaches, and noted that these tensions create stress for leaders, as they're often unsure of what competencies, skills and behaviors to use in a particular context. The article identifies the tensions, outlines the dangers in ignoring them, and suggests coping strategies for balancing the two approaches.

Recovery Readiness

• This Cushman & Wakefield guide, titled “Recovery Readiness: A How-to Guide for Reopening Your Workplace,” is designed to help organizations bring workers back into the physical workplace safely and efficiently as the country stabilizes from the COVID-19 pandemic and as stay-at-home restrictions are lifted. The recommended practices and protocols featured in the guide have already have been implemented at locations across the globe with tremendous success, according to the company.
• Cushman & Wakefield has also put together a guide specifically for retailers as they start to open up stores around the country. For best practices there, check out this guide, titled "Recovery Readiness: Restoring Retail Confidence."

Wellness

• Check out this Spotify playlist, which is specifically designed to calm you down. It features calming, gentle instrumental covers of songs you already know and love. (Don't miss the gentle version of "Stairway to Heaven.")
• This is a great article that features a list of the 10 best podcasts about mental health. The podcasts run the gamut from personal stories to candid advice. One thing they have in common? They’re all designed to remind you you’re not alone. Give them a listen.
• This article from an old favorite magazine of mine (Good Housekeeping!) features 15 mindfulness activities, such as the "Deep Breathing Exercise (practice deep breathing through the diaphragm), the "Berry Challenge" (where you try to eat a strawberry as slow as possible), and the "Gratitude List Exercise" (where, either after you wake up in the morning or before you go to bed at night, write down five to 10 things you're grateful for). If you’re feeling stressed or anxious, you might find something on this list that can help ground you.
• This fabulous New York Times article features 10 simple yoga poses that anyone can do, but still create a complete yoga workout. Check out the article: it features step-by-step instructions and even video clips so you can follow along. It's like a free workout video!