High-impact coaches and leaders go far beyond routine management; they fundamentally shape their teams' and stores' success and future. Impactful leaders and coaches instill several crucial elements in their staff engagement daily.

These elements are vital for fostering environments where store/company goals are met, and each team member's personal and professional growth is nurtured.

One could make an exhaustive list of these coaching and leadership elements, but here are five that I find vital to a store's success.

1. Customer Focus: This element separates the best leaders from the others. High-impact coaches and leaders put the customer's service and purchase experience at the center of every conversation, every decision, everything! To me, this is the essence of making a high impact on revenue.
2. Feedback: Daily feedback is vital to an employee's growth and development, keeping complacency at bay. Average managers give feedback to get employees to stop doing something, while high-impact coaches and leaders give feedback that gets employees to start doing something to be more successful.
3. Direction: Employees need to know the plan for the day/week/month, how the team will achieve the plan, and each person's expected contribution to make that happen. This ensures that everyone understands their role and how it fits into the larger goals of the store, promoting teamwork and social accountability.
4. Recognition: It is crucial to recognize team members' efforts and achievements. This is especially important when people stretch themselves and try new things. Never miss the chance to praise employees in front of others.
5. Expectations and Accountability: These two must always go hand in hand. Expectations mean nothing without accountability and vice versa. Most leaders do this with set standards. High-impact leaders do this when helping someone grow and develop to be even better in their role. Remember, people rise to the level of expectation and slide to the level of acceptance. People need that extra nudge to get to a new level of themselves.

Others that are also essential include:

•  Teach by example
•  Empowerment
•  Consistency
•  Inspiration
•  And many more 

So let me ask three questions:

1. Do you ever feel like you’re so busy that the best direction you can give is to open the doors?
2. Do you ever wish you could do a high-five right into the forehead of an employee?
3. Which one of these is your greatest strength, and which one do you know you can improve in? Hit reply and let me know!