Chances are a retail executive is at the podium when he says in the middle of a speech, “We got some good deals going on so be sure to stop in.”
At Thursday’s Wharton Leadership Lecture Ken Hicks, President and Chief Executive Officer of Foot Locker, spoke of his goal to turn a rapidly declining chain of less-than-successful athletic footwear outlets into “the leading global retailer of athletically-inspired shoes and apparel.”
Sporting black Nike sneakers along with creased black slacks and a matching blazer, Hicks proudly presented to an audience of one hundred Foot Locker’s 2008 strategic plan to change its culture from a turnaround corporate entity to one of high performance.
He made clear the value he places on the evolution of a plan, fluid communicative processes and strong, focused leadership.
He emphasized the importance of building on a plan to help build on what he calls “our industry-leading” retail team by constantly upgrading key talent processes, revamping store associate selling skills and developing company values to be delivered in an accessible manner.
To do this, Hicks said, the company recently distributed small booklets on Foot Locker’s strategies, vision and values to all associates.
Several of his district managers, who each had a booklet in hand, got up to speak about the significant steps taken in technology advancement and communicative values at Foot Locker. At the same time, they expressed the need to differentiate banners and diversify marketing strategy to expand sales beyond the classic basketball shoe.
Hicks and his team agreed that a community-focused approach is vital for the continued growth of Foot Locker.
On a recent trip to a Foot Locker store in Alberta, Canada, he asked a one-time store associate turned district manager, “Did you ever think you’d be running a million dollar operation?”
The manager replied, “Back then, I was hoping I wouldn’t go to jail.”
Hicks described the gentleman as a leader. Though he didn’t go to college, the district manager attained leadership skills by working his way up. “Leadership is a practiced skill and you need opportunities,” Hick explained.
What a college education does provide, he added, are opportunities early on so “you don’t have to make mistakes more than once.” It shows what other people have done and where they went wrong, he said.
“It’s about looking at a problem in different ways,” added 1999 Wharton MBA graduate and Vice President of Strategic Planning Natalie Ellis. Having the tools to think systematically about a problem, whether that be looking at trends in the marketplace or analyzing customer feedback can allow one to put together an interesting, dynamic and thoughtful picture, she said.
Although Wharton freshman Saloni Gupta has had little exposure to retail she thought it was especially interesting “to gain a CEO’s perspective.” Gupta said she might now consider the retail industry as a future career path.
“I like how he approached and broke down the problems,” said Wharton sophomore Nico Warden.
Warden, who was not familiar with Ken Hicks or Foot Locker before this lecture, is now looking forward to Foot Locker’s fourth quarter earnings which will be released in two weeks. “I think they are going to do well.”
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