The Retail Leadership Lens

Stepping into a new leadership role often feels like being pushed on stage halfway through a play. The house lights are up, everyone’s watching, and they’re all expecting you to know your lines. The pressure is immense. There’s that constant pull between the urge to prove yourself with quick, decisive action and the critical need to avoid alienating the very people whose support you need to succeed.

Your company’s AI strategy will likely fail. So what separates that successful minority from everyone else? It often comes down to a new type of leader: the "Head of AI." From my conversations with boards, it’s clear this leader’s success depends less on their technical skills and more on their ability to operate as a true business leader. This is especially true as powerful new tools like Agentic AI, which can automate entire workflows, raise the stakes even higher.

The most powerful person in the room is rarely the one speaking the most. We call this quality ‘gravitas’. It’s a word that can feel a bit old-fashioned, but it’s the defining factor in moments that truly matter: navigating a difficult turnaround, steering a major transformation, or holding the line in a tense board negotiation. In a world saturated with noise, gravitas is what gives your voice weight. So, how do we cultivate it?

As we hit the halfway mark of 2025, the UK hiring landscape looks noticeably more cautious than it did this time last year.

I sometimes feel like I'm stuck in a retail conference groundhog day. The same panels, the same presentations, the same soundbites about AI, customer experience, and the need for experiential stores.  It's all becoming a bit… predictable, don't you think? Like that broken record stuck on repeat, but it just keeps going around. We all know the script by now, but are we actually doing anything differently? I hear a lot of talk, but I'm not seeing enough action.

Hiring a leader is a bit like captaining a ship. You can have the most advanced vessel in the world, equipped with the latest technology, but without a skilled and visionary captain at the helm, you're just drifting aimlessly. You want someone who can navigate turbulent waters, inspire the crew, and ultimately, steer the ship towards its destination. I've seen plenty of retailers hire passengers when they needed a captain. It is time to make a change and hire the best for the

In the executive search business, you see things unfolding on the horizon long before they hit the headlines. I’ve talked about this topic quite a lot over the last few years, but right now, I’m witnessing a full-blown tech tsunami crashing into the retail landscape. The question isn't if it will change things, but how profoundly things will change. Most importantly, are the leaders in place ready to navigate the storm?

Let’s dive into how you can keep your momentum strong, understand what’s shaping the retail landscape, and position yourself as a winner.

Artificial Intelligence is reshaping retail, making operations smoother, customer experiences more personal, supply chains more efficient.