Jon Dario is an author, speaker, and retail leadership expert who has held leadership roles with some of the top companies in the retail and financial services industries including Macy's, Gap, and Bank of America. He is currently CEO of a real estate company in the metro NY area. Jon is the creator of AIM, a system that turns managers into execution machines and enables them to deliver radically reliable results. His fifth book, AIM, is available for purchase.

In this episode, Jon walks through the Pyramid of Standards, a framework for defining what matters most in your business and making sure your team executes on it every day. He built it in the Gap outlet division after watching managers prioritize the wrong things while customers walked out the door.

Key takeaways:

The Pyramid of Standards creates a hierarchy of what matters most—foundation first, supplemental later.
Observation beats assumption. Walk your jobsites and see the business through the customer's eyes before setting standards.
Follow-up frequency is the difference between standards that stick and standards that slip. Be predictable and relentless.
Great leaders adopt a white belt mentality—they stay learners and unlock answers in their team instead of dictating them.
Consistency and habits drive long-term success, not heroics in the bottom of the ninth.

Connect with Jon Dario:

Website: https://jondario.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jondario/

AIM Book: https://www.amazon.com/Aim-Managers-Radically-Reliable-Results/dp/1966786778/