One of my favorite things to do in life is snorkel. And while I need to be a little bit tipsy before I dive in so the JAWS theme playing in my head doesn’t ruin my swim, I always notice how life down there seems be interacting within their own little communities and teams. I’m often fascinated by the incredibly complex interconnectedness of the ocean. One example I recently read about are the manta rays. When a manta ray gets injured—maybe a shark takes a chunk out of its wing or it picks up parasites—it doesn’t just tough it out alone. It swims to what marine biologists call a “cleaning station,” where smaller fish essentially become its medical team, nibbling away dead tissue and helping it heal so it can get back out there and thrive.
Stay with me here, because this is exactly what loss prevention leaders need to understand as we head into 2026.
We’re staring down a packed year (as always). Social unrest, economic pressure and uncertainty, ever-evolving tech, and smaller budgets just to name a few. And the rules feel like they’re changing faster than we can keep up. And if you think you’re going to navigate all of that without taking some hits, you might still be in the holiday fog.
The question isn’t whether you’ll get wounded this year. The question is: have you built your cleaning station?
I’m talking about the team around you—your direct reports, your cross-functional partners, the people who will help you recover when things go sideways. Because they will go sideways. You’ll make a hire that doesn’t work out. You’ll roll out a program that falls flat. Or something completely outside your control will happen: a violent incident, a budget cut, an ORC strategy that just didn’t work and you’ll need people who can help you process the damage and figure out what’s next.
Here’s what I’ve learned and heard from the LP veterans: the time to build that team is not when you’re bleeding. It’s now. Before the crisis. Before the mistake. Before the thing you didn’t see coming takes a bite out of your plans.
The best leaders I know treat their teams like their cleaning station. They’re intentional about surrounding themselves with people who bring different perspectives, who aren’t afraid to challenge their thinking, who will tell them the truth even when it’s uncomfortable. They create environments where their people feel safe speaking up, pushing back, and being honest about what’s working and what isn’t.
But here’s the catch: you can’t just show up at the cleaning station when you need it. Those relationships have to exist before the injury. The trust has to be built. Your team has to know you’ll actually listen when they tell you something needs attention.
The action: Take stock right now. Who’s in your cleaning station? Do you have people on your team who will tell you when you’re wrong? Do you have cross-functional partners who will help you navigate organizational politics when things get messy? Have you built enough trust that your people will actually speak up when they see you heading toward a mistake?
If the answer is no—or even “I’m not sure”—that’s your work for Q1. Build those relationships now. Create the psychological safety. Prove you’ll listen.
Because when 2026 throws its inevitable punches, you don’t want to hear the ominous JAWS theme song > you’re going to need a team that can help you heal and get back in the fight.