When Leadership Fails: A Store in Decline

Lately, my motivation has been slipping—and I know I’m not the only one. The energy across the team feels heavy. Heads are down, conversations are cautious, and people are second-guessing even the most basic tasks. It’s like we’re all walking on eggshells, asking unnecessary questions just to avoid potential conflict. It’s dehumanizing.

What makes it worse? The person everyone seems to fear is the one making the most mistakes. Not minor slip-ups, but amateur errors that have no place at the General Manager level. It’s frustrating to watch someone project incompetence onto the team while their own actions go unchecked. It’s a twisted narrative—and one that’s damaging morale.

Every day, I walk in and brace myself for what hasn’t been done. The store is falling apart. We’re behind on our workload, and what used to flow smoothly now takes twice as long. People are being shuffled around aimlessly, while others take advantage of the chaos and clock out mentally. Accountability has vanished.

This isn’t just any store to me. I’ve been here since it opened. I helped build its foundation alongside my previous manager—someone who actually knew how to lead. My only ongoing concern was the lack of accountability and the fact that certain managers simply weren’t equipped for the role.

Now, I’m watching my merch leader—someone who knows his job inside and out—being shadowed and questioned about his daily plans. Then, in the same breath, he’s told to “work in the now.” How can anyone plan the spontaneous? It’s contradictory and confusing.

And while we’re being told we can’t manage without extra oversight, the truth is our store functioned better before this new leadership arrived. Now she is staying late, working longer hours, and still falling short—because the system is broken at the top.

People have stopped caring. Trash piles up. Returns sit untouched. No one’s fronting and facing. Cleaning routines are ignored. The most basic expectations are going unmet—not because we can’t, but because we’ve lost faith in who’s leading us.

So how do you fix a culture that’s falling apart when the person in charge refuses to change?

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