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COVID-19 Introduced a Backdrop of Uncertainty, But Also Opportunity: How Businesses Can Navigate International Expansion

expansion

COVID-19 Introduced a Backdrop of Uncertainty, But Also Opportunity: How Businesses Can Navigate International Expansion

The global pandemic has reminded us all of how inter-connected the world is. As countries emerge from the global health crisis, and economies show steady signs of recovery, companies with global exposure are increasingly optimistic about opportunities outside their home markets, despite a number of headwinds. Expanding a business beyond one’s domestic market requires long-term planning, utilization of complex global supply chains, managing risk exposures and being nimble enough to flexibly respond to changing market conditions.

The results of J.P. Morgan’s 2021 Business Leaders Outlook (BLO) survey highlight how leaders are adjusting to this new environment—and finding opportunities to grow globally despite the current challenges.

In the survey, most midsize U.S. businesses are optimistic, even as they plan for continued unpredictability. Having learned in 2020 how to manage well remotely and deal with disrupted supply chains, U.S. business leaders are staying the course; global expansion plans remain at the same levels from pre-pandemic years. Most project continued steady sales growth outside their home market. This indicates the confidence they have gained from pivoting throughout the year, including accelerating technology adoption, increased digitization of core processes and managing global ventures with much less in-person travel.

Ultimately, the rollouts of COVID-19 vaccines continue to be a core component impacting the global growth outlook for businesses. In addition, geopolitical events, new trade and investment policies and continuously changing business regulations will continue to challenge business leaders seeking sustained profitable international growth.

Why Expand Globally in This Climate?

With issues such as labor shortages, severe bottlenecks in global supply chains and evolving customer expectations, it can be discouraging to consider international expansion at this time. However, according to the survey, executives remain optimistic. Those surveyed cited access to new customers/markets (72%), better opportunities to serve domestic customers with global operations (37%) and access to suppliers/materials (34%) as key reasons for expansion.

The pandemic will not deglobalize the business landscape. Business leaders have tried-and-tested remote workforces, seen governments become more flexible with business applications, and they have been leveraging new approaches and technologies to keep their business moving forward. In short, they have experience under their belt, have a long-term vision and see opportunity in international expansion—and are not letting the pandemic stand in the way. After all, adapting is what business is all about – and recognizing that extraordinary environments demand tailored strategies based on an accurate reading of market opportunities.

The World Has Changed: Three Key Strategies For Navigating International Expansion

1. Developing Strategic Partnerships & Understanding Trade Policy

Trade barriers and tariffs were cited as the top international business concern for globally-active middle-market companies in the 2021 Business Leaders Outlook survey. Complying with local regulations and the intricate differences in policy between nations can be overwhelming and time-intensive. Any little error may lead to wasted time or resources, complications, and added expenses. Developing strategic partnerships with businesses, banks, and vendors—those who already have the local intel—goes a long way in effective global expansion.

The many cultural nuances and varying consumer preferences by country also benefit from local expertise. Furthermore, the insight around local competition and market opportunities is more easily obtained through these kinds of partnerships, especially when acting quickly is critical to success.

Increasing global political changes in recent years that are challenging the status quo require extra diligence in this environment.  Additionally, the economic reforms underway in many developing countries are impacting both the volume and direction of foreign investment. We especially see this in China, India, Southeast Asia, Latin America and parts of Europe. For businesses navigating expansion in countries experiencing political and economic reform, it’s important to consider the impact these governments will have on fiscal, monetary, regulatory and foreign policy—and how significantly or quickly this may affect foreign investment opportunities.

As a positive example for businesses in North America, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) brought timely improvements to trade relationships in today’s volatile landscape. The USMCA has the potential to offer more certainty and a stronger safety net for trade and investment by promoting fairer trade and robust economic growth.

2. Investing in Technology & Digitization

Trade finance is the nucleus of the day-to-day global economy. It supports every stage of the global supply chain and ensures that buyers receive their goods and that sellers receive their payments. Yet the world faces a massive and persistent trade finance gap. The World Trade Organization estimated between 80% to 90% of global trade relies on trade finance, yet there was a $1.5 trillion gap between the market demand and supply before the pandemic.  That gap has only increased since 2020.

COVID-19 accelerated a transformative period for trade finance, primarily through digitization. The global challenge with trade finance centers around inflexible business models, paper-based and tedious processes, regulatory constraints, and outdated legacy systems.

Technology can help bring down operational costs while also increasing efficiencies, encouraging new revenue opportunities, optimizing resources, enhancing the recruiting process…the list goes on. Businesses are investing heavily in digital transformation, with cloud-enabled technology becoming the new standard of operation. This brings immense advantages, including the immediate ability to access data and machine learning (ML) with virtually unlimited computing power, in a split second. The value of AI and ML can clearly be seen across business functions including trading, risk management, marketing and operations. It enhances outcomes by streamlining processes and increasing overall efficiency.

Additionally, blockchain—a highly secure, decentralized digital record of transactions—offers a multitude of international trade-related applications, bringing high security, automation and traceability to important finance functions.

3. Streamlining Supply Chains

More than ever, managing global supply chains has become a critical skill for companies expanding internationally. Surging demand with various bottlenecks has disrupted global goods transportation and logistics. Gaining visibility over cross-border supply chains, while meeting profitability goals and evolving needs of customers, is an ongoing obstacle for most business leaders. Streamlining the global supply chain and focusing on visibility can lead to increased efficiencies throughout the entire production/solution life cycle. It entails optimizing processes by improving the accuracy of demand forecasts and schedules and improving production lines to reduce costs. This can help make businesses more agile and profitable. Secure data integration is also critical, so information can be shared across channels swiftly and seamlessly.

While concerns around tariffs and trade barriers again led the list of business leaders’ global concerns in the 2021 survey, managing global supply chains overtook currency risk for the second spot. Instead of focusing on the next crisis scenario—whether it be a pandemic, natural disaster, or cyber attack—business leaders must continue their focus on making global supply chains more resilient for future disruptions.

The Road Ahead: Global Outlook Optimistic for Well-Prepared Business Leaders

The overall global business outlook is optimistic, with 66% of leaders in the 2021 survey expecting their international sales to increase in the next five years. U.S. midsized, multinational businesses know that sustained growth requires access to new customers in new markets. That won’t change. However, today’s increasingly complex landscape will require greater investments in digitized products and processes, more customized local solutions in widely different international markets, and leveraging the expertise of reliable partners to understand the nuances of operating in challenging foreign markets. At the top of the list is having effective market entry and supply chain strategies, supported by a strong understanding of trade and investment policy to help shape your global market expansion.

customer-centric

3 Ways to Take Your Company From Product-Focused to Customer-Centric

The data: Companies that focus on being customer-centric can position themselves better for success than companies that don’t. Research shows that customer-centric companies are 60% more profitable, people will spend 17% more for a good experience, and 76% of customers expect businesses to understand their needs.

The expert’s take: Dr. Debbie Qaqish (www.drdebbieqaqish.com), ForbesBook author of From Backroom to Boardroom: Earn Your Seat With Strategic Marketing Operations, says more CEOs and executive teams must figure out how to transform from being product-centric to being customer-centric in a digital world.

“For decades, companies took a product-focused approach,” says Dr. Qaqish, Partner/Chief Strategy Officer of The Pedowitz Group. “Marketing flooded prospects with product messaging and product conversations. Today, some companies are fleeing from this approach. The conversation is about customer problems and how they can be addressed.

“But many companies still struggle to know how to truly make customers the center of their businesses. It’s essential now in our digital world. CEOs need to realize that the customer is in control, and that companies can no longer win on product strategies alone. Business leaders need to create a corporate capability that allows the company to sense and respond to customer changes in real-time. They must have actionable customer data and use systems that track smart engagement with the customer.”

Dr. Qaqish uses a customer pyramid model to analyze how company leaders can transform their business from being product-centric to customer-centric:

-Change the mindset. To take on a customer-focused viewpoint, Dr. Qaqish says it’s essential that leaders first want to understand the customer. This could entail sitting in on customer service calls. “To get the entire company on board and engaged requires leadership implementing an action plan, including employees being empowered to make decisions geared toward customer satisfaction,” she says.

-Broaden the skill set. Dr. Qaqish lists four capabilities company leaders and employees need to become customer-centric: tech/data/analytics, marketing, business acumen, and customer knowledge and insights. “The shift to a customer focus is about building a strategic capability as a response to new strategic directions,” she says. “One big change is today’s digital customer. With a few clicks or swipes, the digital customer is firmly in control of their own journey with your company. In response, the company’s capability must include mapping, auditing, and optimizing the customer journey.”

-Sharpen the tool set. “The biggest changes in the tool set involve how technology is purchased, managed, integrated and administered,” Dr. Qaqish says. “The way your marketing technology is stacked is a highly visible indicator of your company’s true intentions regarding a customer-centric focus.” She suggests testing the marketing technology to see if it’s aligned to support and enhance the customer journey. “In the middle of a sheet of paper, draw a picture of your customer’s journey from being a prospect to a repeat buyer,” she says. “List the stages of the journey and note all of your technologies around it. Determine how much they support or enhance the stages of the customer journey. A similar exercise can be conducted with data. List the customer data sources and the type of data generated.”

“The digital age has changed the dynamic of the company-customer relationship, and businesses that don’t prioritize more attentive relationships with their customers will likely struggle,” Dr. Qaqish says.

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Dr. Debbie Qaqish (www.drdebbieqaqish.com) is Queen of Revenue Marketing™,  a term she coined in 2011. She is ForbesBook author of From Backroom to Boardroom: Earn Your Seat With Strategic Marketing Operations and Partner/Chief Strategy Officer of The Pedowitz Group, where she manages global client relationships and leads the firm’s thought leadership initiatives. Passionate about marketing’s new role as a revenue creator and growth driver, Dr. Debbie inspires others to embrace revenue accountability in the customer-driven economy. She has been helping B2B companies drive revenue growth for over 35 years and is a motivational speaker, a columnist for numerous marketing publications, host of Get Real with Revenue Marketing, and teaches an MBA class at The College of William & Mary on Revenue Marketing.

servant leadership thought

The Hallmarks And Benefits Of Servant Leadership In Today’s Business World

Traditionally, society hasn’t thought of company leaders as servants. But to deal more effectively with today’s changing business dynamics, more companies are incorporating servant leadership to benefit employees and the community as well as the bottom line.

Servant leadership is especially important and applicable in a post-COVID business world, when millions are quitting their jobs and CEOs are trying to stabilize their work cultures, says Jason Randall, CEO of Questco and ForbesBooks author of Beyond The Superhero: Executive Leadership For The Rest Of Us.

“Servant leadership is leading in a manner that encourages growth and success in others,” Randall says. “By investing in them, you as a leader instill a deeper buy-in.

“Leaders who are comfortable with a commanding style may find servant leadership counterintuitive, as though showing empathy to employees is an invitation to be taken advantage of. But when the servant leader listens with empathy to an employee who is strained by conflicting obligations, that leader is more likely to make accommodations such as flexible work schedules. These accommodations benefit productivity and the culture.”

Randall says that overly controlling leaders shut down their top talent and thus are a hindrance to company progress.

“As Steve Jobs said, ‘It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do,’ ” Randall says. “Getting divergent perspectives, as servant leaders do, is essential for company growth and individual engagement and fulfillment. Leaders who commonly resort to issuing commands are conditioning their people to not take much ownership.

“Employees who believe they are not valued for their minds won’t bother to come up with fresh ideas – or they will take their fresh ideas elsewhere.”

Randall says there are six hallmarks of the servant leader:

Availability. This means making sure there is adequate time in meetings for people to have their say, whether it involves venting frustrations, questioning, or establishing collaboration. “Giving time over to the employees and coaching them is really valuable to their development and contribution,” Randall says. “In too many organizations, senior leaders mostly huddle behind closed doors, and if they claim to have an open-door policy, it becomes a joke.”

Candor. “Because the servant leader is extending a lot of trust in individuals, it’s necessary to address any failures in a straightforward way,” Randall says. “But improving performance is not likely when the leader’s voice is angry or hostile.”

Consistency. Randall says that consistency in meetings and day-to-day procedures can be a challenge in the commotion of a growth organization, but the more consistency, the better the response from the workforce.

Empathy. “Being aware of and sensitive to the feelings, thoughts and experiences of others is a key characteristic of servant leaders,” Randall says. “Nobody can be a truly effective leader without understanding the humanity behind the individuals they are expecting to lead.”

Patience. The starting point for patience, Randall says, is when leaders recognize they can’t do everything themselves. “In the long term, it’s important for leaders to understand that we have to balance our lofty goals with the fact we have fallible human beings who must grow to achieve them,” he says. “The servant leader, who is patient, recognizes that team members are precious, and weathering the peaks and valleys will make everybody stronger.”

Trust. The servant leader encourages a freedom to experiment, which also means a freedom to stumble and learn from it, Randall says. “To delegate responsibilities, to encourage employees to speak up and be creative, leaders must show trust in the whole team,” he says. “Trust is the underpinning of the entire servant leadership approach of building a strong team.”

“Servant leaders get results, and they make everyone’s life better in the process,” Randall says. “They focus not only on business outcomes but also on the humanity of the team.”

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Jason Randall (www.meetjasonrandall.com) is CEO of Questco, an HR outsourcing company, and ForbesBooks author of Beyond The Superhero: Executive Leadership For The Rest Of Us. Formerly he was director of brand marketing for Maritz and vice president/managing director of Insperity. Randall earned his MBA at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School Management.

company culture loyalty

Is Your Company In Culture Shock? How Leaders Can Practice What They Preach.

As many workers flee their current jobs, burnout and lack of growth opportunities are being cited as two of the biggest reasons.

These changing work dynamics and employee perspectives, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, are highlighting the importance of having a strong work culture that’s sustainable, says David Friedman (www.culturewise.com), author of Culture by Design: How to Build a High-Performing Culture Even in the New Remote Work Environment.

But unfortunately, Friedman says, while business leaders often talk about culture, many don’t have a systematic process in place to build and maintain that culture as they do for other important aspects of their business.

Leaders should be as process-oriented about their culture as they are about their sales, finances, and operations.” says Friedman, founder/CEO of CultureWise®.

“Leaders have a responsibility to be intentional and systematic about designing the culture they want, rather than settling for the culture that is created by chance.”

Friedman offers these suggestions for designing and driving company culture: 

-Define employee behaviors that drive company success. Driving culture is mostly a teaching function, Friedman says. It requires building a curriculum around the specific behaviors, or fundamentals, the leadership team wants to teach daily, such as blameless problem-solving, honoring commitments and being a fanatic about response times. “Behaviors, because they’re action-oriented, are clearer than values, which tend to be abstract,” he says.

-Ritualize the practice of your fundamentals. “How many new initiatives have we started at work and in our personal lives, only to see them fall by the wayside as we got busy?” Friedman says. Those failures at work feed employee cynicism, he notes. “But by creating a structured, systematic way to teach winning behaviors repeatedly, they become ingrained in your people,” he says. “Without repetition, nothing lasts.”

-Select people who are the right fit for your culture. A new hire’s value system isn’t likely to change, Friedman says, so it’s vital they have the right values to fulfill the behaviors leadership wants to drive the company.

-Integrate new hires into your culture. A person’s first week on the job is hugely important in the context of culture, Friedman says. “It’s their first impression, and that tends to be lasting and difficult to change,” he says. “It’s remarkable how few companies spend appropriate time and resources orchestrating every aspect of a new hire’s early experience.”

-Communicate your culture throughout the organization. Too often, Friedman says, company leadership displays inspirational messages and posters on the office walls that are inconsistent with the way people behave in the work culture. “We talk about teamwork, but then people work and think in silos,” he says. “Or we talk about quality, but our people are forced to produce at warp speed and without the proper tools. If our culture is authentic, the more we see images and reminders of it all around us, the better.”

-Coach to reinforce your culture. “Coaching sessions by managers and supervisors are critical opportunities to teach and reinforce your culture,” Friedman says. “Using the specific language of the culture in the coaching session shows staff that the words on the wall are meaningful.”

“Most leaders think of culture as something that happens on its own,” Friedman says. “It’s never occurred to them that they can be as intentional and systematic about culture as they can about the rest of their business. And in these changing, challenging times, more are beginning to see how important it is.”

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David Friedman (www.culturewise.com) is author of Culture by Design: How to Build a High-Performing Culture Even in the New Remote Work Environment. He also is founder/CEO of CultureWise®, a turnkey operating system for small to midsize businesses to create and sustain a high-performing culture. He is the former president of RSI, an award-winning employee benefits brokerage and consulting firm that was named one of the best places to work in the Philadelphia region seven times. Friedman has taught more than 6,000 CEOs about work culture and led more than 500 workshops on the subject. With Sean Sweeney, Friedman formed High Performing Culture, LLC, based on the culture methodology Friedman created at RSI.

leadership

TOP 10 WOMEN IN LOGISTICS 2021: MEET THE NATURAL BORN LEADERS WHO ARE REDEFINING THE INDUSTRY

It is hard to believe that it’s been an entire year since our previous annual Women in Logistics spotlight. As the industry continues to break boundaries in resiliency and innovation, what better way to honor the leading ladies behind the companies that not only made it through the pandemic but who continue to grow and redefine greatness in operations, company culture, and transformation? 

Here are our top 10 picks for this year’s Women in Logistics and why they made our special list:

1. Sandra McQuain
Executive Director
England Economic & Industrial Development District 

Topping the list is the first female leader in England Economic & Industrial Development District’s 25-year history. Sandra, who first joined the “England Airpark” in 2018, is also the only female to manage one of the seven commercial airports in the state of Louisiana.

England Airpark is a 3,600-acre economic and industrial development district serving as a home to a Part 139 Commercial Airport (AEX), a staging base for military training and transfer operations, manufacturing, and warehouse facilities, and more. 

Sandra’s primary focus is to provide critical strategic, financial and operational leadership that is driven by more than 25 years of experience working with businesses, government agencies and elected officials. 

Beyond England Airpark, Sandra was appointed by Louisiana’s Governor John Bel Edwards and Secretary of Transportation and Development Shawn Wilson to serve as a member of the Resilient Louisiana Commission’s Transportation and Infrastructure Task Force. She also serves on the Transportation Policy Committee and Beltway Committee for the Rapides (Parish) Area Planning Commission and is also a Board Member of Fort Polk Progress. 

Additionally, Sandra works closely with the MORE Initiative of the Association for the Improvement of America’s Infrastructure (AIAI), which recruits women for the transportation and logistics industries.

2. Deidre “Dee” Cusack
Senior Vice President of Global Products and Solutions
Dematic

According to her colleagues, Dee is a prime example of a natural-born leader who challenges her team of more than 1,200 to think differently and push boundaries for greatness. 

Dee currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Global Products and Solutions at Dematic, a STEM-focused company that has undergone significant growth and transformation thanks to her leadership and strategic commitment to innovation. 

She was appointed top her SVP role mid-pandemic, and yet her company successfully released 18 new products in strategic areas, increased Build with Standards orders by more than $300 million and generated more than 200 new patents.

As if this was not enough, Dee holds recognition for the following awards:

– CEO Award for International Trade, given by Joe Hogan, the former CEO at ABB 

– 7-time winner of the Customer Focus Award, granted by Roger Bailey, President of Power Products at ABB 

– CEO Award for Collaboration, given by Hasan Dandashly, CEO at Dematic 

Speaking of awards, Dee was awarded the largest customer purchase order in history at Ametek Aerospace and five U.S. and international patents.

 

3. Alexi Cashen
Co-Founder and CEO
Elenteny Imports 

Alexi is known for seeking out leadership rather than waiting for it to find her. This approach has served her well throughout her career as an entrepreneur, even amid the 2010 financial crisis. 

It was after Alexi moved to New York City from a small town in Colorado that she partnered with Tim Elenteny and co-founded Elenteny Imports, an alcohol logistics company. Since its launch, Elenteny represents more than 1 million cases annually and works with over 400 global clients while supporting alcohol brands as they navigate the U.S. three-tier system.

It would only make sense that given her history in thriving during a crisis that she would expand her professional horizons in 2020. Elenteny launched their Less than Container Load (LCL) route into Seattle during the global pandemic. 

Furthermore, Alexi started a mentoring-focused podcast just for entrepreneurs in the sparkling spiked beverage industry in 2020 as well.

4. Hima Bindu Challa
Co-founder
limbiq

Hima was born and raised in India, where she completed her Master’s in Computer Applications and began her career. Fast forward to 2009 and she officially pivoted her career focus to the logistics and supply chain industry in the United States, where she would remain for the next 10 years. 

Hima then moved to Germany, where she co-founded limbiq with the sole intention of providing a simple and complete solution to supply chain partners. 

She and her team focused on SMEs as their first target group.  

“We felt that SMEs are the ones with the biggest problems in collaborating with different partners because of their size,” she explains. “We eventually learned that irrespective of size, it’s a problem everywhere.” 

5. Gerri Commodore
Senior Vice President of New Business Implementation
GEODIS Americas

Gerri’s success goes well beyond the numbers and global impact of GEODIS, which ranks among the top supply chain operators in Europe and the world. Her accomplishments have been achieved during more than 20 years in the industry, from operations management, inventory and omnichannel fulfillment strategies to warehouse management systems and supply chain optimization. 

Her current role supports the successful integration of new clients for the company’s North Americans and South American networks–critical to ensuring operations are launched in a timely manner and within budget, according to client goals. 

She is the driving force behind GEODIS’ Women’s Network–focusing on recruiting, retaining and growing female professionals while continuing to improve the industry’s gender balance. Since becoming the network’s chairperson, membership has grown by more than 500 percent—pandemic and all.

Additionally, Gerri was part of the team that was responsible for growing GEODIS’ worldwide female leadership roles from 13% in 2017 to 18% and has pledged to reach 25% by 2023.

6. Darlene Wolf
Senior Vice President, Strategic Partners
Arrive Logistics 

Darlene focuses on utilizing her expertise and experience to support partners from managing network relationships to navigating business challenges with shippers at the top of mind. 

Part of what makes Darlene’s role so impactful is the level of accountability she holds for herself and for her team. Whatever a shipper needs, her team is standing by to deliver successful and smooth operations. 

“I’m so honored to be spotlighted as a distinguished woman in the logistics industry,” Darlene says. “When our industry faces disruptions or challenges, I pride myself on being a leader who consistently promotes innovative solutions.”

7. Cheryl Emery
Director of Field Resources
Penske Logistics 

Cheryl brings more than 30 years of experience to the logistics sector. Prior to her role as an HR director for the company, she took charge as an operator for the business. 

Her time as an operator further supports her current role in talent management, performance, recruiting and retention. 

Cheryl’s skills as an HR business partner goes beyond supporting the growth of Penske’s business as she is now designing policies and procedures focused on operator needs. In doing this, operator needs are clearly outlined so workers know exactly what it takes for policy implementation while meeting the needs of the business. 

8. Yamini Vellore
Chief Information Officer
Blume Global

Yamini’s 30-year career started off strong with Manhattan Associates, where she focused on developing solutions as the VP of Global Research and Development. Fast forward to 2010, and she joined the Hewlett-Packard team in developing and maintaining global IT architecture. 

She did not stop there as she continues breaking barriers for females in the logistics and technology sectors as CIO at Blume Global, where her primary focus is on infrastructure architecture and DevOps.

Yamini strives to ensure Blume’s solutions are available 24x7x365 to a global customer base. Her leadership role redefines standards in diverse hiring practices. 

Blume’s use of Google Cloud Platform services and customer transition heavily rely on expertise that Yamini’s colleagues have cited as “instrumental” to the company’s architecture. 

9. Elise Le
Head of Customer Experience
ClearMetal 

For ClearMetal’s Fortune 1000 customer base, complex supply chains are a given. When it comes to making sure customers have the best experience regardless of their supply chain complexities, ClearMetal calls on Elise.

Known as a distinguished professional in the logistics field, Elisa is cited by colleagues as possessing exceptional skills, high credibility and ongoing persistence in maintaining customer expectations–something that she seems to accomplish with ease.

“Her work distinguishes her in logistics not only as a woman but as an individual,” says one ClearMetal colleague.

The increase in efficiency, growth, and success for ClearMetal is the overarching theme for initiatives spearheaded by Elise and include Repeatable & Scalable Engine, Value Framework, Deployment Efficiency, Upsell Ratio and Revenue, and Employee Development Process. 

10. Elizabeth Kauchak
Chief Operating Officer
Dermody Properties

Elizabeth has been involved in industrial real estate for more than 20 years. During this time, she has worked with countless companies in fulfilling their supply chain and logistics needs. 

Prior to joining Dermody Properties, she was the Market Leader in Northern California for Prologis. 

She has a wealth of knowledge that she has always been happy to share. This goes for both the people she works alongside and especially to her customers. She has fostered a spirit of diversity and inclusion since joining Dermody Properties.

learning

How Lifelong Learning Is Becoming A New Version Of The MBA

When higher education looks back on 2020 in decades to come, the year of the pandemic could be viewed as a turning point for MBAs and other advanced degrees.

COVID-19 forced a nationwide experiment in online learning, and one lesson stemming from that experiment maybe that furthering your education doesn’t necessarily need to mean paying high tuition to earn a formal post-graduate degree.

“We all need to be lifelong learners if we hope to achieve our goals and lead a fulfilling life,” says Kimberly Roush, founder of All-Star Executive Coaching (www.allstarexecutivecoaching.com) and co-author of Who Are You… When You Are Big?

“But that can mean many things, and because of the pandemic I think it’s become even more clear that the ways we approach educating ourselves don’t need to be stuck in the notions from the past of how learning takes place.”

Harvard’s and Columbia’s business schools are already adding certificates and lifelong learning to their programs. Instead of immersing themselves in a degree program for a compact period of time, students have the option to stretch their learning out over years, latching on to what meets their current needs.

That kind of approach fits well with the goals and lifestyles of many business leaders, says Roush. She offers a three-month group-coaching program for executives in transition called “Back In the Game,” which provides business leaders with a chance to continue learning and honing skills to help reignite careers thrown off track by the pandemic.

Roush has advice for those who want to keep adding to their knowledge base throughout their careers, whether that’s done through a certificate program, a one-time online class, coaching sessions, or a more formal degree:

Think deeply about yourself and your goals. Allow yourself the time and space to reflect and get off autopilot so you can be deliberate and intentional as you move forward, Roush says. “We tend to be all about drive and action,” she says. “Reflecting on ourselves is something that often gets overlooked. In some cases, people don’t have the tools to do it effectively.”

Strive to be a learner, not a knower. Some people are “knowers” and others are “learners,“ Roush says. “Knowers feel compelled to know the answer, a sign of an insecure ego,” she says. “In today’s world, of course, it’s impossible for any one person, or any one leader, to know it all. Knowers operate more out of control than out of curiosity. They do not really lead so much as they manage.” Lifelong learners, on the other hand, have a predisposition to be curious. “They have a healthy ego,” she says, “so they have no problem saying, ‘I don’t know the answer, but let’s figure it out.’ ”

Recognize that your joy for learning can impact others. When business leaders are learners, this creates more of a partnership approach with employees, who feel empowered as a result. “The focus is on working together,” Roush says. “It all stems from that natural curiosity. By asking ‘what’ and ‘how,’ leaders encourage more conversation—and more learning by everyone.”

Understand that self-improvement doesn’t always involve major change. Roush has worked with many executives who made adjustments in their careers, but those adjustments need not be dramatic.  “Often, people have been deliberate about their career choice and love their field; they just have gotten caught up in a part of it that they don’t like,” she says. “Sometimes, it’s just a matter of getting back to their roots and remembering what they love about their job and allowing themselves to focus far more on that. You don’t necessarily have to make the big right turn and completely change what you’re doing. You’re not necessarily on the wrong path; you may just have hit a rough stretch or don’t know exactly where you are.”

“Great coaches are always still learning too,” Roush says. “I’m constantly looking for new opportunities to learn and grow and I get to learn from every person I coach – we learn together.  One thing I always want to do is spread the word about the power that resides within each of us if we reach for our potential.”

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Kimberly Roush is the founder of All-Star Executive Coaching (www.allstarexecutivecoaching.com), which specializes in coaching C-level and VP-level executives from Fortune 100 companies to solo entrepreneurs. She also is co-author of Who Are You… When You Are Big? Roush, a former national partner with a “Big 4” public accounting firm, brings more than 30 years of business experience to her coaching including extensive work with C-suite executives, boards of directors, and audit committees. She offers a program called Back In the Game (BIG), which is a three-month group coaching program for executives in transition. Roush also is a keynote speaker and leadership facilitator, and is a Charter Member of ForbesSpeakers.

2021

Winning The Future: What Businesses Must Do To Prepare For 2021

Businesses bolted into 2020 with firm plans and optimistic outlooks.

All that evaporated by mid-March as the focus turned from thriving to surviving for most companies. Now, as this turbulent year enters its final months, a new question lies just over the horizon.

What will 2021 bring and how can businesses be ready?

“The future still seems so uncertain and the end of the pandemic still feels a long way off, but despite that there is a lot businesses can do to prepare for success in 2021,” says Adam Witty, a successful entrepreneur and the ForbesBooks co-author of Authority Marketing: Your Blueprint to Build Thought Leadership That Grows Business, Attracts Opportunity, and Makes Competition Irrelevant.

“I’m sure 2021 will come with its own unexpected twists and turns, but I am also confident there will be potential.”

All the unknowns make planning a challenge, but Witty says it’s possible to begin gathering hints about how the world will operate going forward.

“You just have to know where to look,” says Witty, who also is the founder and CEO of Advantage|ForbesBooks (www.advantagefamily.com).

He suggests business leaders should:

Review what you learned in 2020. Think about what you did this year to maneuver through the hazards that came your way, Witty says. What worked? What didn’t? What would you do differently? “Use what you’ve learned to get your ducks in order to manage your business in a manner that meets both your and your customers’ needs,” Witty says. “Then, ask yourself what the future may hold and how you would handle whatever comes up.”

Talk to your best customers. Find out what they want and need, and how they anticipate their lives – or businesses – will look in 2021, especially post-pandemic. “Learn how your product or service will fit into the flow,” Witty says. “Do they want you to continue delivering your product line in some virtual way, or is it important for them to be able to come into your facility for a real sit-down to discuss what they need and view the options in person? Does your solution lie in providing the best of both worlds, offering virtual visits alongside opportunities for physical interaction? Or is the right option something you haven’t yet explored?”

 

 

Look at what your competitors are doing. Review how they are reaching customers and clients today – and whether you can glean any insights about what they may do tomorrow, Witty says.

Rethink how to use your marketing dollars. In-person events, such as speaking engagements, trade shows, or conferences where you could network with potential customers were put on hold because of the pandemic. They might not return all that soon in 2021, so Witty suggests exploring other options for getting the best use out of the dollars that would have been budgeted for those events. That might mean pitching the media more to land radio or TV interviews or publishing a book that tells your personal or company story and can be given to current or potential clients.

“Can your business handle the unexpected if something you couldn’t possibly anticipate were to arise, as happened in 2020?” Witty asks. “If the answer is yes, chances are you’re ready to play in a post-pandemic world.”

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Adam Witty, co-author with Rusty Shelton of Authority Marketing: Your Blueprint to Build Thought Leadership That Grows Business, Attracts Opportunity, and Makes Competition Irrelevant, is the CEO of Advantage |ForbesBooks (www.advantagefamily.com). Witty started Advantage in 2005 in a spare bedroom of his home. The company helps busy professionals become the authority in their field through publishing and marketing. In 2016, Advantage launched a partnership with Forbes to create ForbesBooks, a business book publisher for top business leaders. Witty is the author of seven books, and is also a sought-after speaker, teacher and consultant on marketing and business growth techniques for entrepreneurs and authors. He has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily and USA Today, and has appeared on ABC and Fox.

leaders

Crisis Management: How Business Leaders Lead During COVID-19

COVID-19 has changed, at least temporarily, the world of work for many people as employees hunkered down at home instead of commuting to an office.

As a result, a lot of businesses are finding out just how strong their corporate culture is and how resourceful their employees are when managers aren’t hovering nearby, says Shawn Burcham (www.shawnburcham.com), author of Keeping Score with GRITT: Straight Talk Strategies for Success, and founder and CEO of PFSbrands, the parent company of Champs Chicken, Cooper’s Express and BluTaco.

“One thing my company has always done that I believe is beneficial in times like these is to help employees develop an ownership mentality,” Burcham says. “Ownership thinking means taking accountability for the quality and success of your work, and it comes from actively encouraging a culture that promotes trust, communication, objectivity, and gives employees a stake in the outcome.”

By necessity, many companies are now communicating by phone or video chats, which means having employees who take responsibility for their actions is more important than ever. Yet at the same time, the business’s leaders still have decisions to make and orders to give to those employees.

That means, Burcham says, that it’s also more important than ever for a company’s leadership – and everyone who reports to them – to band together as one strong team.

“Fortunately, many of the things that make for a good leadership team in the best of times are the same ones that help the company successfully maneuver through more challenging times,” he says.

Some of those include:

Promote transparency. Mistakes happen when people don’t have the information they need to do their jobs. When something affects others in the organization, Burcham says, make sure you put it on the “team table” so that everyone can understand what is happening and provide input.

Don’t undercut others to make yourself look good. Disagreements can happen anytime people gather to discuss problems and solutions, but it’s important to keep things civil. “Attack the issues, not the person,” Burcham says. “Work through appropriate channels and be conscious of what your fellow leaders are trying to accomplish.”

Make sure meetings are well organized. Everyone has endured meetings that took too long and got off track. Burcham certainly has and at one time he would have labeled himself anti-meeting. “I felt that meetings were a waste of time. because most of the meetings I’d been in were a waste of time,” he says. Eventually, Burcham grudgingly accepted that some meetings are necessary, but he says it’s important that they have an agenda, a start and end time, no sidebar conversation, and that next steps and accountabilities are created at the meeting’s close.

Accept that a decision is a decision. It’s all right for people to debate and offer differing opinions during the decision-making process, but once a decision is made everyone needs to support it, Burcham says. “You don’t want situations where people continually reopen discussions about decisions that have already been made,” he says. “And passive disagreement is not an option.”

Know that calm is contagious – relax, look around, make a call. Several years ago Burcham adopted this mentality and worked to make it part of his personal mission statement. When faced with situations or conversations that may not be going his way, he mentally takes his brain to this personal mission statement. Burcham says, “I’m naturally a very impatient person and always will be. My personal mission statement has helped me to better control my emotions and it’s been a critical model as all of our companies work to navigate through these challenging times.”

“In the best of times, successful company growth is dependent on the capabilities of its leaders,” Burcham says. “As times grow difficult, how well the business fares also comes down to how well those leaders are able to rise to the occasion.”

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Shawn Burcham (www.shawnburcham.com), author of Keeping Score with GRITT: Straight Talk Strategies for Success, is the founder & CEO of PFSbrands, which he and his wife, Julie, started out of their home in 1998. The company has over 1,500 branded foodservice locations across 40 states and is best known for their Champs Chicken franchise brand which was started in 1999. Prior to starting PFSbrands, Burcham spent five years with a Fortune 100 company, Mid-America Dairymen (now Dairy Farmers of America). He also worked for three years as a Regional Sales Manager for a midwest Chester’s Fried chicken distributor.

pandemic

How ‘No-Excuse’ Leadership Can Help Businesses Succeed After the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic slowdown created an uncertain future for businesses across the country.

Regardless of this rocky situation, though, the best business leaders will make sure they don’t allow the pandemic to become an excuse for failure, says Troy Nix (www.troynix.com), a motivational speaker, businessman and author of Eternal Impact: Inspire Greatness in Yourself and Others.

“I admire leaders who don’t complain about circumstances or point the finger at someone or something else,” says Nix, founder and CEO of First Resource Inc., an association management company specializing in manufacturing networks.

No, business leaders didn’t create the circumstances that led to the pandemic and its aftermath, but it is their responsibility to get their businesses and their people through the challenges they now face, he says.

“Whenever you’re leading an organization, the ultimate responsibility for any failure is yours,” Nix says. “It may be because you failed to train people properly or because you failed to hire the right person. It may be because you failed to develop a proper strategy or because you failed to develop the right culture. It’s ultimately your failure, and no excuse can ever absolve you of the responsibility of personal ownership.”

This is a mindset Nix learned in his days as a West Point cadet, where excuses were not allowed. To be successful in the coming months, he says, business leaders need to:

Set an example. Ultimately, you would like everyone in your organization to take responsibility and refuse to make excuses. “But you can’t expect that if you aren’t willing to set the example and claim responsibility for any failures yourself,” Nix says. “The best leaders take the high road and there’s no throwing anyone under the bus. Setting an example will have a constant impact on your employees, and they will know they can rely on you and depend on you.”

Do a little introspection. Nix says that, if you feel the urge to make an excuse for any failed business performance, look inward instead and ask yourself the following questions: Could I have acted differently to prevent this outcome? What could I have done to better improve the end result? How did my actions or inactions play a part in the failure? “I guarantee that if you do this and are honest with yourself, you will inevitably find a linkage for errors, disappointments, and fiascos directly back to yourself,” he says.

Take ownership. People don’t understand just how much they affect others when they make the decision to take responsibility for any and all actions. “We must own what we do, and we have to own what others under our command or influence do, even though it might be miles away from us and somebody else is executing the plan,” Nix says. “When you get up every morning and look at yourself in the mirror, are you owning what you are doing, or are you making excuses?”

“Making excuses – whether it’s in the crisis we now face or some other situation – will lead to dead ends,” Nix says. “I’ve seen time and time again that when people take control of their lives and eliminate the excuses, a life of excellence and fulfillment is the end result.”

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Troy Nix (www.troynix.com), author of Eternal Impact: Inspire Greatness in Yourself and Others, is the founder, president, and CEO of First Resource, Inc., an innovative association management company for America’s manufacturers. Nix, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, served in the armed forces for a decade before moving into the business world.

history factory

History Factory Launches COVID-19 Corporate Memory Project

Collaborative resource collects, curates and preserves the corporate response to COVID-19 to inform future crisis response

The COVID-19 pandemic has required that corporations respond, adapt, lead, and serve others with greater urgency than any other global event since World War II. As a result, corporations are making history and learning lessons in real-time that can inform a stronger corporate response to the next major global disruption. To make those lessons more readily available, History Factory is launching the COVID-19 Corporate Memory Project, a living archival resource to which business leaders can turn for a greater understanding of the corporate response to the current crisis as well as for insight and guidance for how to prepare for and respond effectively to the next crisis.

The COVID-19 Corporate Memory Project is a free and collaborative resource designed to collect, curate, and preserve the real-time history of the pandemic as it is being made by corporations who are responding to the crisis and influencing its outcome.

At c19corporatememory.org, History Factory is combining crowdsourced content from corporate contributors with publicly available media coverage, press releases, social media posts and statements, documents, photography, video and a range of other digital materials related to the pandemic’s impact on the business world. The material is organized in four categories that reflect the realms in which corporations are responding to the pandemic, listed here with an example from each:

-The Changing Nature of Work: Ford engineers continue to work on the new Mustang in their home garages.

-Fighting the Pandemic: New Balance pivots to produce a general-use face mask.

-Leading in a Crisis:  Land O’Lakes CEO Beth Ford confident of food production but warns of distribution issues.

-Service and Community: Starbucks fights hunger.

The Project’s primary focus is on collecting content from large corporations and has already curated more than 300 assets from such corporations as Airbnb, Kimberly-Clark, Marriott, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, Uber, and The Walt Disney Company. How these enterprises respond and adapt to the global pandemic will be critical to shaping its outcome, politically, technologically, and socially. The goal is to extract learning from their experiences.

Laurie Barnett, Southwest Airlines’ Managing Director, Communications & Outreach, said:

“By contributing to the COVID-19 Corporate Memory Project we can help other corporate executives learn from our experience of the pandemic. And we hope that many other corporations will participate so that we can learn from them. It would be a shame for us as leaders to work so hard to overcome this unprecedented moment without capturing – in a way that can benefit us all – the real-time decisions, innovations and contributions we are making as we rise to meet this challenge.”

Eliot Mizrachi, Vice President, Communications & Content at Page, said:

“Communication leaders on the front lines of their organizations’ pandemic response are hungry for best practices. The COVID-19 Corporate Memory Project is a unique sharing platform that can help corporate leaders find out how others are navigating this historic crisis. I encourage communicators to contribute.”

Jason Dressel, Managing Director at History Factory, said:

“History Factory decided to create the COVID-19 Corporate Memory Project as a pro bono service to provide leaders, corporate communicators, and journalists with easy access to a real-time archive of content focused solely on how corporations are responding to one of the greatest challenges in modern history. With forty years in the business of collecting, curating, and communicating corporate experience, we understand how a resource that showcases lessons learned from this pandemic can help business leaders drive strategy and business planning going forward. We will continue to add to this Project as long as COVID-19 is driving corporate behavior. We hope that it will become an important source of study for years to come.”

History Factory welcomes submissions from all corners of the media and business world. Visit c19corporatememory.org and click SUBMIT to contribute content to the archive or to contact History Factory regarding bulk submissions or very large files.

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Founded in 1979, History Factory is an agency that helps corporations employ their most underused assets – their history and heritage – to enhance and transform strategy, brand positioning, marketing, and communications that drive measurable results.