The vast majority of us in the retail loss prevention industry started our careers through the back door. By taking jobs as loss prevention managers, store detectives, security guards, or even sales associates while going to college, shortly after high school, or coming out of military service, we were introduced to LP while trying to decide what we were going to do with our careers. And that's if we were even thinking about our long-term careers at that point, which most of us weren't.
But the fact is that we all were bitten by the same bug—the love of retail and the thrill of loss prevention. And shortly into it we found out that it pays more than public law enforcement and, quite frankly, isn't as dangerous. So, unbeknownst to us our careers began and corporate America took control. And indeed, Corporate America does take control of our careers whether we're willing to admit it or not.
Most of us wanted to pursue law enforcement, which is the most common denominator in our industry. But the retail bug and the allure of the next promotion takes hold of us. And our careers begin filled with hope, ambition, idealism, and promises.
Losing Control
The years start to pass by and the thrill of the chase consumes us and fuels us to such a point that many don't even think about their long-term personal goals. Most, I'm reluctant to say, are only focused on that next case or the next shrinkage results. This inevitable and necessary focus drives us to perform and makes us good at what we are expected to do, which brings accolades and promises of what the future holds. For some the promises come true, for others they're one step away, and for many they remain promises of what the future may hold, but only if they deliver today.
This adrenalin, this focus, this pressure-to-deliver-today mentality that exists in retail in actuality becomes a double-edged sword. While increasing performance, it also has a tendency to blind and drain an individual to such a point that they allow their professional goals...for those that have them...to become subservient to the daily demands of the job. Now add in family responsibilities and the speed of our technology-driven society, and what you have is no time to even think about long-term career goals, much less the time to actually apply to them. Whether it is to finish a college degree, read industry-specific books, or to just sit down and develop a career strategy and a plan to reach it, it seems that most just don't have the time or aren't willing to make the time to plan.
Along with these realities comes the human element of fear. As Jim Lee mentioned in his last column ["Parting Words" November/December 2007], fear is why people are resistant to change. The Buddhists take it one step further in saying that overcoming fear of change will free you and allow you to reach your potential.
It is this writer's opinion that fear is what holds executives back and allows corporate America to take control, which ultimately means that your career will be managed by others and influenced by factors that are not related to your performance. This creates a paradox—a career full of uncertainty that, in effect, reinforces the fear. By giving control to corporate America, you lose just a little bit more control over your life.
Taking Control
Therefore, by setting career goals, developing a plan to reach those goals, and having the courage to go after it, then and only then can an individual take control of their journey, eliminate some of the uncertainty, and maybe, just maybe, reach their absolute potential.
After thirty years in this industry, this writer can attest to the fact that every extremely successful loss prevention executive I've had the pleasure of knowing had career goals, a plan to reach them, and had the courage to take a risk. Without the courage to take a risk, many will pass you by leaving you to ask yourself one day, "what if?" And that's the loneliest question of them all.
