What I learned from spending an hour a week on the frontline…

“Why don’t you have anything for infants,” said the doting grandfather as he walked around the store.

“What do you mean,” I responded, rather perplexed.

“We’ve been life-long fans of the club and now that we have just had our first grandson and we’d like to get him something.”

“Frankly, it never crossed my mind,” I apologised. “But I assure you, we will, very, very soon.”

This conversation occurred more than a decade ago in a sporting franchise’s merchandise store. It was in the early years of my time in sports management, an industry I was then relatively new to.

On commencement I spent my first year in every department, performing every role: from stacking drinks, to selling memberships, setting up venues and packing them down. I even apprenticed as an assistant coach for a local team to genuinely learn the game.

Spending time on the frontline is a practice I started very early in my career in management - both internally and as a consultant. For unless you intrinsically understand the or…