Advanced Education Session to Teach the Art of “Managing Managers”

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At the Winter Institute 12 advanced education session “Managing Managers,” Business Women’s Circle (BWC) co-founder and CEO Lani Basa will teach bookstore owners and managers some of the best strategies for communicating, delegating, training, and thriving through skillfully empowering managers.

Wi12 logo“One of the big pieces of advice for owners would be to let go,” Basa told Bookselling This Week. “I find this no matter whether you are a bookstore owner or not, the hardest thing to do is to let go of control and managing every aspect of the business.

“To managers, the biggest piece of advice I give is to understand and be clear on what the expectations are — the expectations of you, your role, and the duties you have to perform or what you have to accomplish with the team. Ultimately, you are trying to achieve something for the owner, whether it is doing something specific or just meeting sales goals, and if you are clear on what the expectations are, it will be easier for you to do that.”

Lani Basa
Lani Basa

Basa is chief facilitator for BWC, a group she cofounded with Myrna Marofsky in 2009 to provide a setting for women to improve and grow their businesses with the support of their peers. She previously worked as a business consultant and for 22 years at the Target Corporation in both corporate and store positions.

Basa believes that it is particularly important in smaller work environments, including bookstores, for the manager and the owner to think of one another and to work as partners.

“Obviously, when all is said and done, the owner makes the final decisions, but overall, the key is that the owner and the manager or managers are partners,” she said. “As with any good partnership, each person brings different strengths to the table, so capitalizing on those strengths and allowing people to do what they do best is really a key piece to success in the relationship, as well as success overall as a company.”

“Managing Managers” will take place from 3:50 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 29, in Greenway D/E. This session is open exclusively to preregistered bookstore owners and managers, and preregistration is now closed.

All bookstore attendees will have the opportunity to hear Basa on the panel “Best Practices for First-Time Managers“ in Greenway F/G at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis on Sunday, January 29, from 9:20 a.m. to 10:20 a.m. This session will also feature Cindy Dach, co-owner of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe and Phoenix, Arizona, and moderator Mary Magers, co-owner of Minneapolis’ Magers & Quinn Booksellers. Tools and techniques will be presented to help first-time managers not only survive but also thrive.