Is Being TL Stressful?

[Havok]

There is a team lead at my store who is pretty much finished with the job. She's been really negative these last few days and has told me that she is done being held accountable for other people's actions and mistakes. She's a really hard worker, I see her sweating and hauling ass all the time. Her team have some bad apples but, what team doesn't? Anyway, I kind of wanted to become a team lead one day, but seeing how she's been behaving recently and seeing how frustrated she's become, I am kind of having second thoughts about ever becoming one.

 

[NKG]

There is a team lead at my store who is pretty much finished with the job. She's been really negative these last few days and has told me that she is done being held accountable for other people's actions and mistakes. She's a really hard worker, I see her sweating and hauling ass all the time. Her team have some bad apples but, what team doesn't? Anyway, I kind of wanted to become a team lead one day, but seeing how she's been behaving recently and seeing how frustrated she's become, I am kind of having second thoughts about ever becoming one.

I mean I'm the worse person to answer this [see NKGrant] but sounds right

 

[sunnydays]

yes, but i dont think theres a management job in retail that isnt

 

[copycopy]

Yes.

 

[Black Sheep 214]

Yes. It goes from stressful and frustrating on a good day to miserable and demoralizing on a bad day. And there are very, very few good days...

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Spot is going after your tl.

 

[Fluttervale]

Depends.

It’s stressful if you have a bad team. If you can’t trust them, if they go behind you to the ETL over nonsense. It’s stressful when it’s fourth quarter and you’re getting bought out faster than you can pull and push.

But most of your stress can be mitigated with a good team. You get a good team when you hold people accountable for their work and give them credit when they do well. Holding people accountable for attendance is huge. Once you get your team where they need to be, it isn’t too stressful. The hardest part is getting your team where they need to be without running them off.

 

[Planosss]

its challenging, but in a good way. Like getting your tongue pierced. It hurts in the beginning, but then you get used to people shoving their cock down your throat everyday. People think you like it, cause why else would you have a tongue ring.

 

[Captain Orca]

Spoken like a true, average mediocre Target team member. And people get ridiculed for using the word Chinese as being racist? Disgusting.

 

[Far from newbie]

Your upper management makes a huge difference in how good/bad being a TL is. I have been through both.
At one time we had a busy body HR with ‘favorites’, if you weren’t in the ‘click’ then you were made miserable. Think Mean Girls, ganging up and ridiculing, embarrassing, micro-managing and finding fault at every turn. Luckily, we also had an STL that completely had your back, would stand up and fight to bring order back. What a mismatched set, but if there were 2 of the same it would have been unbareable.
May be why it is best to be ‘liked’ by ETL, HR, SD, at least respected. There have been tm that are not popular with a member of the upper management that tried to become TL, not a good idea because it can get ugly.
At other times it depends on how good you are. If your dept is doing great that makes them look good and they may be off your back. But as soon as push is behind, data off, backstock clogging the back room, call-outs climbing, compliance violations......look out - you are about to be called on the carpet for any of it and I doubt you will be happy.

 

[Dog]

Yes

 

[happygoth]

I've had good and bad experiences as a retail manager, but they are all stressful to at least some degree. If you have a good SD it's not as bad, but even if they are supportive, the District leader could be an ass or other TLs may speak ill of you. Gossip runs rampant in retail. Everyone thinks they are hardworking and great and that others aren't pulling their weight.

If you are the type that can let that stuff roll off your back, you may be ok, especially if the money is good. But it won't be easy.

 

[Cinnamon2005]

Yes

 

[commiecorvus]

Spoken like a true, average mediocre Target team member. And people get ridiculed for using the word Chinese as being racist? Disgusting.

His comment was visceral and crude but certainly heartfelt, in a Hunter Thompson kind of way.
It was neither mediocre or racist.
Certainly not to everyone's taste but disgusting is always personal and not something for me to judge.
Sorry you were offended.

 

[Havok]

I think the TL gave up today. I started my shift before her and got to overhear her huddle today in the morning. She at some point sighed and just told the team, "do whatever you want." I barely heard her on the walkie to check on her team today. I'm kind of worried if maybe she is bringing stress from home. She seems really depressed. I hope things get better for her. She's a hard worker and has been here since before I even started working here. Do you guys have these kind of days where you just kind of throw your hands up and day screw it? I know someone mentioned how demoralizing the job can be but, is it really that bad?

 

[Havok]

Spot is going after your tl.

I don't see why they would though.

Yes. It goes from stressful and frustrating on a good day to miserable and demoralizing on a bad day. And there are very, very few good days...

That's rough. I like to think I have pretty thick skin but, if i had to walk into that every day, I would probably explode.

 

[HardlinesGuy]

I’m not going to lie, I was pretty unhappy as an APTL. However, that was due to a combination of factors ranging from an APBP that micromanaged with very high expectations and a lack of support and camaraderie from other leadership in the building. Ultimately, if I knew then what I know now, I would have remained a TPS.

 

[Rastaman]

Yes, and gets more stressful every year

 

[Far from newbie]

Back in the day.....when I first became a TL, all new TL had to take a full days class at a local hotel conference center.
The class was run by the DTL. My biggest take-away from that day was this statement:

“As a leader you are NOT responsible for doing anything, BUT, you WILL be held ACCOUNTABLE for ALL results “.

Meaning :
YOU won’t be doing any of the work but YOU will be the one in trouble if the work isn’t done well.

We were told our main objective is to GET good metrics by getting the team members to deliver good metrics.
There are to be no excuses or scapegoats. Metrics good, you’re doing great. Metrics failing - fix it !
Your team can MAKE or BREAK you cause you cannot do all the work yourself.

 

[Ringwraith917]

Is grass green?
Do birds have feathers?
Is the answer to Life the Universe and Everthing 42?

 

[redeye58]

Is the answer to Life the Universe and Everthing 42?

Don't forget your towel.

 

[Black Sheep 214]

 

[Havok]

Sounds rough being an actual TL. I've been given TL duties in the past and have been told I have leadership qualities in me, which made me excited about being a TL sometime in the future, but, I don't think I want it. Especially after seeing what some of you either went through or are currently going through. The TL I told you all about has left the store. I got to talk and hang with her before she left. She was in a rough place. She was really beating herself up. She blamed her team here and there but, I can tell that it was just the frustration talking because, she told me how much she cared for them all, but, how she kept failing to drive them to their full potential. Every problem she brought up began with "I" or "me". At some point, I actually wanted to hug her and tell her that she wasn't the problem, but, she probably wouldn't have listened if I did. Before she left, she said that she hopes that the next person who leads them treats them with respect and has the drive to push the team to their best.

I didn't know a job could do that to you. It made her feel like she wasn't worth anything and convinced her that she was the problem. I felt so goddamn bad when we spoke. I'm actually angry for her. I want to go up to her team and tell them that they suck so fucking much that the hardest working part of their team called it quits. That's scary, leadership, at least at Target, sounds like a real drag.

 

[Captain Orca]

If you have a good team with brains and energy it can be ok. Not great. Ok. If your team has no brains and is lazy it blows.

 

[Black Sheep 214]

How miserable your life Is as a TL depends a lot more on the quality of your leadership than the quality of your team. The worst team can be made into a great team over time, but if your leadership is poor or bad there is really nothing you can do about it. Spot has no working mechanism for holding leaders accountable for the way they treat their underlings unless there is provable harassment or discrimination, and they are notoriously hard to prove. There is nothing to protect the TL from the ETL, no complaint system, and the hotline is there to protect Spot, not the rank and file. If you happen to get a vindictive micromanager, your life will be Hell, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Not only will your life be Hell, no matter how well you perform or how good your metrics are, if your ETL wants you gone, one way or another you will be gone. I would not recommend becoming a Spot TL to anyone, it’s not worth it.

Edit: Spelling. Lost a couple of letters somewhere...