GOOD QUESTION | What is the best piece of leadership advice you ever received?
Treat ’em like family.
Sean Ford
Operations Manager
Home Depot
Stay humble and lead by example. Never ask members of your team to perform any task that you would not perform yourself, and remember that your plans, actions, and decisions have a direct effect on the team members that you depend on.
Tom Poduch
Director of Logistics Design
Transervice Logistics
Praise in public; criticize in private.
Kelly Clark
Account Manager
Davidson Surface Air
Always under-promise and over-deliver. This is especially true for the logistics world, where the margin of error is minimal, some factors are out of our control, and we all want our clients to be extremely satisfied.
Tommaso Tamburnotti
Co-Founder, Easyship
In any given week, you will have more than 200 hours of things that should be done. A week contains 168 hours. Choose wisely. The to-do list of a logistics professional is infinite. The best decision makers know which improvements have the best return, but more importantly, who is best suited to execute the change.
Peter Shin
Director of Pre-Sales,
North America, Quintiq
In whatever you do, focus on what your audience needs (whether it’s your customers, prospects, or even your internal audience such as executive management). Do not focus on what you have to sell. If you focus on their needs, it naturally can lead back to what you have to offer.
Brian Everett
CEO
Transportation Marketing and Sales Association
My father was the best manager I ever saw. I learned an important lesson from him: Always treat others as you would want to be treated. He was a great leader and looked at management as a privilege.
Glenn P. Clinger III
Co-Owner
Clinger Group
Midcareer at Baxter Healthcare, I got a new boss. We did not hit it off from the beginning. When I complained to a mentor about the new boss and the little new rules and restrictions, the mentor said: "If you think this is chicken-[bleep] stuff, it is. Don’t worry about it. Look forward and continue to use your instincts that have made your work successful."
Don Kirchenberg
Principal
QUALOGISTICS
Surround yourself with outstanding individuals and then give them all of the support they need to succeed in their jobs and to reach their own goals.
Noah Wilmot
President
MESCA Freight Services,
An Ascent Global Logistics Company
From Jim Rohn: Always do a little more than you are compensated for. It’s an investment in your future. From Orrin Woodward: We don’t wait until we need water to dig a well. We dig a well in anticipation that water will be needed. At some point, we will all be called to lead. We must make sure we are prepared to answer when our name is called.
Carolyn Huff
Office Manager
Value Added Resources
Hire people smarter and more talented than you. And: You never get what you don’t ask for. Both are simple statements, but they are often ignored in favor of the comfort found in maintaining the status quo.
Andrew Gulovsen, MBA
Director of Business Development
TranStrategy Partners
As taught to me in the Army, by example you shall lead. Look after your guys and your guys will look after you.
Peter Addis
Truck Driver
Lynx Creek Steaming & Oilfield Services Ltd.
Very few issues require immediate response. Take 24 hours to review your options.
Shawn (Marie) Paul, M.S.
Senior Process Engineer
McLeod Software
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