In 1998, I was working in retail and was becoming increasingly aware of varying management styles.
Back in those days, we often saw managers come-and-go. It wasn't unusual to have several different managers within a short space of time. It was at this point that I started to take notice of the impact that these key stakeholders had on the store, both operationally and culturally.
It soon became clear that whilst everyone was trying to arrive the same goal, there were many different approaches towards the journey of getting there.
I began to realise that everyone was aiming for perfection.
The perfect shop floor standards, the perfect customer experience, the perfect stock management routines, the perfect set of KPI (Key Performance Indicator) results.
But, as anyone who has ever worked in the retail industry will know, perfection is very rarely achieved. This often led to a team with a closed mindset ("what's the point in trying, it never makes a difference") and expectation of failure.
That's when I realised that this strive for 'perfection' was unsustainable. Instead, I became focused on setting personal and team goals which led to real transformation, fulfilment and engagement.
By setting myself simple, achievable targets I found that I was able to see improvements in my work and home life within a short space of time.
I encouraged those around me to to do the same and collectively we drove performance. We consistently pushed expectations of what we wanted to achieve and found that we would make incremental improvements. We never said we were going to be perfect; but we did say that we could be better.
This is where I Am The Standard was born.
It became a mindset that represented being the best that you could be at any given moment in time. Whether at work, at home, in relationships or any other situation you found yourself in.