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December 19, 2025 | S2 EP 7
What 600 Retail Leaders Need But Aren’t Getting
Steve Worthy | Founder & CEO | Worthy Retail
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SHOW NOTES

The biggest gap in retail leadership today isn’t talent or ambition — it’s the pressure to lead without the tools, support, or space to grow.

In this episode of FRONTLINE FRIDAYS, host Ron Thurston sits down with Steve Worthy, founder of Worthy Retail and creator of one of the most comprehensive global leadership studies in retail today. Together, they unpack the realities behind leadership readiness, the rise of burnout, and the paradox every frontline leader feels: being expected to know everything while rarely being asked what they actually need.

With decades of experience coaching leaders at every level — and fresh data gathered from hundreds of retail respondents worldwide — Steve breaks down the deeper leadership capabilities today’s teams are craving. Not more routines. Not more checklists. But real coaching, emotional intelligence, psychological safety, and development that matches the pace of store life.

Ron and Steve explore why only a small fraction of leaders feel fully prepared, why retainability now matters as much as retention, and how AI will reshape decision-making, confidence, and leadership growth over the next few years. They also dig into what organisations get wrong about leadership training, and what it looks like to build cultures where people feel seen, supported, and able to lead with clarity.

If you’ve ever stepped into a leadership role and felt the weight of expectation before the training arrived, or wondered why so many new managers burn out, this conversation offers the roadmap.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

  • (02:07) Why Steve launched a global retail leadership study and the early signals that pushed him to do it
  • (05:22) Leaders don’t want more routine training — they want depth, emotional intelligence, and self-awareness
  • (07:22) The moment retailers realised the development gap: frontline leaders are asking for C-suite-level skills
  • (09:06) The Retail Leader Paradox: expected to know everything with nowhere safe to ask for help
  • (10:02) Why only a small fraction of leaders feel prepared and how culture and fear widen the gap
  • (14:56) How AI changes leadership confidence and decision-making — and why leaders need clarity before tools
  • (17:29) Why 85% of AI projects fail and how retailers often solve the wrong problem first
  • (19:17) Retention vs. retainability: why people stay when they see themselves in the company’s long-term vision
  • (21:40) The first move every organisation should make: get an outside perspective to uncover the real leadership gaps
  • (32:14) Steve’s two-minute self-reflection exercise that reveals the number one thing holding leaders back

BONUS CONTENT

GUEST BIO

Steve Worthy believes a leader’s first job is to define reality – to understand the specific problem their leadership and their business exist to solve. Without that clarity, leaders and organizations fail to progress.

As Founder and CEO of Worthy Retail Global, Steve helps senior retail leaders step out of noise, see what truly matters, and lead with grounded confidence. Over his career, he has worked for and alongside some of the largest brands in retail. What I’ve learned is clarity scales. Teams don’t follow energy – they follow clarity. When leaders get clear, everything starts to move.

Through The Campus, our membership community, Steve provides a practical environment where leaders learn to simplify decisions, align their teams, and communicate expectations. Leaders come away with clarity that improves conversations, strengthens culture, and moves the business in a direction everyone understands.

ABOUT FRONTLINE FRIDAYS

Your store teams feel it: more pressure, more change, less time to get it right. FRONTLINE FRIDAYS helps you turn that pressure into impact.

Built for senior retail + hospitality field leaders, each episode features candid conversations with execs from iconic brands, sharing tactics you can use today.

HOSTED BY RON THURSTON. Ron is a global retail leadership expert and two-time bestselling author of RETAIL PRIDE (2020) and HUMAN PRIDE (2025).