Retail | Area Manager leadership development | 40+ leaders nationally
Beyond the day-to-day
In fast-paced retail operations, Area Managers face a constant stream of competing demands. Keeping stores running, supporting teams and delivering results today can easily consume the time and attention needed to develop Store Managers and improve performance for tomorrow.
For BWS, this challenge had become particularly relevant.
Following a period of organisational change and new leadership appointments, the business wanted to reset expectations for its Area Managers and begin a new phase in their development as leaders of leaders.
The opportunity was to help Area Managers move beyond responding to immediate operational demands towards leading more intentionally, thinking more broadly and achieving results through others.
Making the most of a moment that already mattered
Each year, BWS brings its Area Managers together for the Summer Summit, an annual forum designed to focus, inform and energise the team ahead of its most important trading period.
With more than 40 Area Managers gathering in Sydney, the Summit presented a valuable opportunity. Rather than creating a separate leadership development event, we used an established business rhythm to introduce new thinking, strengthen connections, and build shared expectations for leadership.
Working closely with the Senior Capability & Team Experience Partner and GM of Store Operations, I co-designed and facilitated a leadership 'Summer Sesh' that would feel unmistakably BWS while addressing a meaningful leadership challenge.
We focused on one central idea: knowing the difference between a problem to solve and a tension to balance.
Problems can be solved. Tensions arise when two equally important goals appear to compete and can’t be resolved by choosing one side at the expense of the other. They require ongoing attention and adjustment.
For Area Managers, these tensions are everywhere: delivering today's results while building tomorrow's capability, balancing time on task with time spent supporting teams, providing clarity on what needs to be done while connecting people to why it matters, and prioritising individual areas while contributing to BWS's overall success.
Treating these tensions as problems to solve can leave leaders repeatedly fighting the same fires, rather than making meaningful progress on both goals.
A serious leadership lesson, delivered with a little playfulness
Inviting moments of play is part of the BWS brand. Rather than treating this as separate from leadership development, we made it central to the learning experience.
Enter Blocks & Balloons.
Working in teams, Area Managers were challenged to build the tallest freestanding tower using wooden blocks while simultaneously keeping a balloon in the air. Both goals mattered. Dropping the balloon cost the tower, and additional constraints added midway made coordination even harder.
What followed was energetic, competitive and entertaining. But beneath the laughter was a practical demonstration of what happens when two important objectives demand attention at the same time.
The activity created a shared experience that made an otherwise abstract leadership concept immediately tangible.
From there, we explored how the same dynamic plays out in the Area Manager role.
Leaders reflected on their natural preferences, identified tensions they found difficult to balance, and shared real examples of focusing too heavily on one goal coming at the expense of another.
They also explored a simple process for recognising and managing tensions: distinguish a tension from a problem, name the competing goals, and identify the deliberate adjustments needed to achieve progress on both.
This wasn’t about giving Area Managers another model to remember. It was about giving them a different way to interpret the challenges they were already facing, and a practical approach they could apply in everyday decisions.
Leadership intentions, modelled from the top
A second important design decision was to make senior leadership sponsorship part of the experience, rather than simply endorsing it.
The GM of Store Operations helped shape the session and opened and closed the Summer Sesh, reinforcing the importance of leading intentionally through the critical summer trading period.
He also shared his own leadership intentions, accompanied by a powerful personal story about making moments matter. At its heart was a reminder that someone's presence can be one of the most meaningful gifts we offer others. For Area Managers leading through other leaders, the message was particularly relevant.
This was more than an opening or closing address. The GM modelled the reflection and personal commitment the group was being asked to make.
Area Managers then worked in peer coaching trios to identify their own leadership intentions for summer, considering the tensions they needed to manage differently and the specific behaviours they wanted to demonstrate.
When invited to share, many volunteered to read their intentions aloud to the GM and their colleagues.
The willingness to make these commitments publicly was an encouraging sign of engagement and ownership, particularly at the beginning of a new phase of leadership development.
Designing for life beyond summer
A single session can introduce new thinking and kickstart momentum. Sustaining behaviour change requires opportunities to revisit, apply and reinforce that thinking in the flow of work.
This shaped another important decision: to connect the Summer Sesh to the Area Managers' existing operating rhythm.
BWS recently introduced monthly Area Manager connection meetings, creating a natural opportunity to continue peer coaching, revisit leadership intentions and share experiences of balancing competing demands.
With ongoing support from the Senior Capability & Team Experience Partner, these conversations were intended to become part of the regular cadence rather than an additional development activity competing for time.
The business was also experimenting with ways to create better conditions for Area Managers to lead effectively, including protecting time on Thursdays and Fridays for store engagement without interruptions from Operations or Support teams.
These changes recognised that leadership development isn't simply about asking leaders to behave differently. It also involves considering the organisational practices that enable or constrain those behaviours.
The aim was to give the ideas introduced during the Summer Sesh somewhere to take hold beyond the session itself.
What changed, and what remains to be seen
The immediate outcomes were visible in the room.
Area Managers engaged with a shared leadership challenge through a practical, memorable experience. They explored how competing goals influenced their day-to-day decisions, exchanged strategies with peers and translated their reflections into specific leadership intentions for the summer.
The GM's personal contribution underscored the importance of these commitments, while many Area Managers' willingness to publicly share their intentions was an encouraging sign of ownership.
The session also established a common language for recognising and discussing organisational tensions, giving the group a starting point for future conversations.
Importantly, the design created a pathway for continued development through monthly meetings and peer coaching, supported by an internal capability partner.
Whether these foundations translate into sustained changes in leadership behaviour and operational performance will depend on how consistently they are used and reinforced over time.
While these longer-term outcomes have not yet been evaluated, the experience demonstrated the value of connecting a targeted leadership intervention to the organisation's culture, senior leadership expectations, and established ways of working.
More than a moment in summer
The Summer Sesh illustrated what becomes possible when leadership development is designed around the opportunities already present within an organisation. The Summit provided the moment, the BWS culture shaped the experience, senior sponsorship gave it weight, and the monthly meeting rhythm created a way to keep it going.
The opportunity wasn't simply to make the most of a few hours together. It was to make those hours matter long after summer.