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After NRF: Decide the Real Problem (Part 1 of 4)

Most conferences don’t fail because the ideas are bad.
They fail because leaders come back with volume instead of judgment.

NRF expands what feels possible. Leadership is deciding what actually matters.

In Part 1 of this four-part series, Steve Worthy focuses on the first and most important post-conference decision: deciding the real problem you’re solving this year.

NRF pushes solutions. Vendors do their job well. The risk for leaders is acting before reality is clearly defined.

This episode explores:

• Why conference energy fades faster than leaders expect
• How “presenting problems” distract from the real work
• The hidden problem stack inside every organization
• Why structure, relationships, decision rights, capacity, and culture quietly block progress
• How solving the wrong layer creates motion without outcomes

This isn’t about doing more after NRF.
It’s about deciding better before momentum turns into noise.

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There were years when things looked fine from the outside, but they weren’t fine.

Professionally, I was doing the work. Personally, I was carrying more than I should have. I had a coach, a tighter inner circle, and the right intentions, but I still found myself drifting. New ideas kept pulling at me. New opportunities kept showing up. And I didn’t have a reliable way to decide what deserved my energy and what didn’t.

That’s when I started using a Word of the Year.

Not because I needed inspiration. I needed something stable. Something I could come back to when everything felt urgent and nothing felt anchored.

Over time, that one-word constraint became a way to frame my decisions, my behavior, and how I showed up as a leader. It helped me see where I was overextending, where I was hesitating, and where I was misaligned without realizing it.

In this episode, I share my word for 2026, Steadfast, and why it emerged after several years of intentionality, growth, and momentum. At this stage, staying the course, preparing deliberately, and building patiently matters more than acceleration.

I also walk through how I choose a word using a gap analysis, why most senior leaders resist the discipline this requires, and how pressure-testing the word with people who know you well makes all the difference.

This isn’t a tactic. It’s a way to lead with more consistency when the environment keeps changing.

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Learn More:
2026 Survey Is Live - Add Your Voice - Click to take survey

DOWNLOAD - The Campus 2025 Retail Leadership Development Report, HERE.

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If you’re a founder trying to sell into retail, this episode may save you months of missteps. If you’re a retail leader evaluating new technology, it’ll reflect what you often wish vendors understood.

In this conversation with Ang Nayyar from StrutFit, we get into the realities of how retailers think, decide, and evaluate solutions — far beyond what’s visible from the outside.

This episode is especially for:

• Founders and product teams trying to land their first or fifth retail partner
• Retail innovation leaders who want tech partners that understand operations
• VCs and advisors evaluating retail-tech readiness
• Operators trying to understand why tech adoption stalls

Ang explains why retailers say no even when the idea is strong and why pilots die even when the results are good. His breakdown of the internal politics, operational constraints, and hidden decision drivers is one of the clearest you’ll hear.

You’ll learn:

• What retail executives look for before they trust a founder
• Why solving a real problem isn’t enough if the rollout creates friction
• How to avoid becoming “extra work” for stores
• The signals that show you’re ready for a scaled retail partnership
• Why timing and operational fit matter more than innovation
  
  

This episode will tighten your pitch, raise your bar for product readiness, and help you understand the mindset of the people you’re trying to win over.

If you want a more honest, grounded look inside retail decision-making, this conversation gives you exactly that.

Listen now. This episode will reshape how you approach retail.

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Nexlytix

_________________________

2026 Survey Is Live - Add Your Voice - Click to take survey

DOWNLOAD - The Campus 2025 Retail Leadership Development Report, HERE.

________________________

JOIN THE CAMPUS

________________________

READ OUR RETAIL LEADER NEWSLETTER

MEET STEVE!

BOOK A CLARITY CALL!