2026 Year in Review – 2026 Leadership Lessons in Bite-Size Nuggets

Every good store director I ever worked with had the same habit at the end of a long day. Before turning out the lights, they walked the store one more time. Not to fix everything, but to see it clearly, remember what went right, and set up tomorrow’s open.

That’s what I want to do with you this December. Over the last eleven months we’ve covered a lot of ground in these pages, from coaching behaviors in January to making leadership visible in November. So for this final issue of 2026, I’ve boiled each month down to one bite-size nugget. Something small enough to remember in the middle of a holiday rush, and strong enough to carry into 2027. Think of it as the sampler tray at the deli counter: one taste of each, and you’ll know which ones you want to take home.

January – Coach to Behaviors, and the Numbers Will Follow

Nugget: “It doesn’t matter what you can do. It matters what you do.”

We started the year by rewriting the old formula. Good numbers alone don’t equal success. Good Values + Good Behaviors = Good Numbers, and that equals success. You can’t coach a number; you can only coach the behavior that produces it. My former district manager, Jimmy Carder, never just told me to “get better labor numbers.” He sat down with me and went over every line of my schedule. Numbers are lagging indicators. Behaviors are leading ones.

February – PrimeTime

Nugget: “The key to a successful PrimeTime happens the night before.”

Every moment is not equal. Weekday PrimeTime typically runs 3–7 p.m. and weekends 11 a.m.–4 p.m., and great leaders manage to the peaks, not the averages. Nothing like a good close for a good open. When the wave hits, shift gears, be on the floor, and call an audible when someone doesn’t show. As my old colleague Tyler Price put it, we’ve been having church for over two thousand years, so why are we surprised we’re busy after church? The question I left you with still stands: are your best team members walking out of the store before PrimeTime even starts?

March – A Dollar Is a Dollar

Nugget: “A dollar is a dollar, no matter who owns it.”

This was part math lesson, part perspective lesson. You don’t take percentages to the bank; you take dollars. Back at our store on I-40, my rule for cashing checks was simple: if you’d pull out your own billfold and cash it, cash it. If not, don’t. The same rule works for buying, for shrink, for margin, and for labor. When a department misses week after week, ask the question that cuts through every excuse: what if this was your money?

April – Lessons from Lou Holtz

Nugget: “Don’t tell me how rocky the sea is. Just bring the ship in.”

We lost Coach Holtz in March, and I’ll always be grateful I got to sit at his table at a conference years ago. His lessons fit the grocery aisle as well as the football field: set clear standards, put people first, create accountability, communicate constantly, develop future leaders, prepare relentlessly, and lead with integrity. And remember the three questions every team member is quietly asking about you: Do you care about me? Are you committed? Can I trust you?

May – Be the Leader People Want to Work For

Nugget: “I follow what I see, not what I hear.”

People don’t follow titles for long. They follow credibility, and trust is built when your walk matches your talk. Use drive-thru communication: have people repeat the assignment back in their own words, because many performance problems are really clarity problems wearing a different outfit. Be a driver, not a passenger. And never forget that raising your hand for help is part of doing your job well.

June – You Win on Execution

Nugget: “Good explanation, good execution. Bad explanation, bad execution.”

That line came from Peyton Manning at a lunch table at the Manning Passing Academy, describing Coach Tony Dungy as “the best at simple teachings.” As Peyton said, you win Super Bowls on execution, and execution starts with clarity. That’s exactly why The 5 Rules work: they’re simple teachings that travel well, from the store to the boardroom to the kitchen table. Miscommunication caught early is coaching. Miscommunication discovered late becomes damage control.

July – Rules That Built the Grocery Industry

Nugget: “The shelves have changed. The rules of success have not.”

For America’s 250th birthday, we walked through the history of the brands that built our industry. Henry Heinz did his job. Asa Candler built Coca-Cola on kindness and relationships. Will Kellogg won on clear, consistent messaging, no surprises. Milton Hershey failed more than once and played the long game with no drama. Campbell’s protected the brand by thinking in decades, not quarters. From the colonial general store to Piggly Wiggly to same-day delivery, the format keeps changing. The fundamentals never do.

August – I Appreciate You

Nugget: “Three words, ‘I appreciate you,’ are a competitive strategy.”

I learned this from Dr. John C. Maxwell years ago: appreciation is almost always received as safe, sincere, and energizing. Make it specific. “I appreciate how you kept your cool with that long line” beats “good job” every time. Aim for a 20-to-1 ratio of “I appreciate you” to “I wish you’d stop,” and say at least three specific appreciations every time you walk the floor. Extend it to customers and vendor partners too. Then ask yourself: is your store more nag-nag-nag or brag-brag-brag?

September – A Call for Civility

Nugget: “Above all else, be kind and coachable.”

If the lack of civility had a child, its name would be drama. I still wish every meeting room had a sign on the door: “You Are Entering a Drama-Free Zone.” Being kind doesn’t mean being a pushover; grace and accountability are not opposites. I can tell you everything I need to know about you by the way you treat the person who can do nothing for you. My wife, Melanie, said it best: “Civility begins with one person, one conversation, one choice at a time.”

October – A Brighter Day on the Other Side

Nugget: “Tough times never last, but tough people do.”

Dr. Robert Schuller’s words to those Iowa farmers fit our industry in 2026: tight margins, unpredictable shrink, staffing that never quite settles. The plan was to lean into all five rules at once for the holidays and deal with drama early, because waiting until December to fix a personality conflict is like trying to change a tire at seventy miles an hour. With one client, our theme became “Finish Strong,” and going into 2027, “Start Stronger.”

November – When Leadership Becomes Visible

Nugget: “We are in the people business; we just happen to sell groceries.”

November is when the work becomes real. Customers aren’t just buying turkeys and pies; they’re buying confidence and making memories around the table, like my momma’s sweet potatoes and her famous cracker pie. Be visible where the work happens. Make recognition a daily discipline, because people repeat what leaders notice. Coach for ownership, not dependence. Protect the standard without losing the heart.

December – Putting It All Together

Nugget: “Set high and honorable goals! Now – lift them up a tad!”

Look back across the year and you’ll see the thread running through every month: Do your job. Be kind. No surprises. No drama. Protect the brand. Whether the lesson came from a football coach, a candy maker, a district manager, or my wife at the kitchen table, it kept pointing back to the same truth John Maxwell taught us: everything rises and falls on leadership.

My December nugget comes from the handwritten note Dr. Schuller slid under my hotel room door back in 1992, the one I framed and hung in my office for years: “Set high and honorable goals! Now – lift them up a tad! No problems today – just decisions waiting to be made!”

So here’s my challenge for 2027. Cut out this list and tape it inside your office door. Pick one nugget each month and teach it in your huddles. Talk about it with your managers. Live it on the sales floor where your team can see it. Twelve months, twelve nuggets, one stronger culture.

Thank you for reading, for leading, and for taking care of the people who take care of our customers. Finish strong. Start stronger. Merry Christmas, and here’s to a brighter day in 2027.