Every four years, I watch the Olympics for two weeks. I love seeing the best-of-the-best vie for medals, for records, and for national glory.
Sometimes what is even more compelling than the world-class athletic feats themselves are the human-interest backstories. These personal histories are eye-openers for me. They force me to put aside my preconceived notion that all Olympic athletes are born talented, and that their achievements come to them naturally. Instead, like hurdles in a track competition, many—if not most—Olympic participants have had obstacles to overcome.
Two examples come quickly to mind. The first is Oscar Pistorius, the South African paraplegic. Because of a medical condition, his legs were amputated halfway between his knees and ankles when he was 11 months old. He runs on specially designed blades. Clearly, he had much to overcome, not the least of which was getting the South African Olympic Committee to allow him to participate alongside the "able bodied."
The second example is Katie Bell. In 2007 at the U.S. College Big Ten Championships, the 4-foot-11-inch, 95-pound platform diver got "lost" in a handstand dive off the 10-meter platform and landed flat on her stomach, dislocating some of her ribs and collapsing a lung. Thanks to therapy (both physical and psychological), she made it back onto the diving platform and eventually to the 2012 Olympic Games. She did not let her injuries or her fear stop her from achieving her best.
We are not all Olympic athletes, but each of us wants to excel in our chosen area of expertise. But we also have obstacles, preferences, likes, dislikes, and sometimes even fears. Think about these factors in relation to your job performance. Are they silently holding you back from what you want? Are they keeping you from taking your game to its highest level? It's time to identify these obstacles and deal with them, rather than allow your preferences and fears to dictate your career path.
Commit to change
In our heart of hearts, we know what our obstacles and fears are. Maybe it is public speaking, giving criticism, confronting co-workers or suppliers, or dealing with dissention. These are the things that keep us up at night, that make our pulse race, that make our mouths dry. These are the things we need to do but don't do (or don't do well) because they make us uncomfortable or fearful.
Or we may be doing the correct thing but are doing it in the wrong way because of individual preferences, likes, and dislikes. An example would be speaking too bluntly ("We are all adults; she should be able to deal with it.") or carrying out a task but not following the rules ("Who has time for all that paperwork?").
These shortcomings are hard to detect because they don't bother us like they do others. They are insidious that way. If you are prone to such problems, hopefully they will be highlighted in your annual review or will be brought to your attention in candid conversations with co-workers. Take this feedback to heart. It is a gift, and you need to make constructive use of it.
Like New Year's resolutions, you need to commit to goals and put them on paper (or computer screen, as the case may be). Write down the top two or three things that you believe are holding you back. Only select two or three, at most. That is all a person can effectively work on at one time.
Bear in mind that the list will **italic{never} be finished. Once you are satisfied that one of the obstacles on the list has been conquered, another one will almost certainly pop up to replace it. Your process should reflect the philosophy of kaizen, or constant, continuous improvement. With time, the items on your list will be more about refining a skill rather than conquering a fear.
Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, said, "Do one thing every day that scares you." By doing so, she believed, people could overcome their fears and gain confidence in themselves. In our context, that means applying yourself daily to tackling your issues. With your list in mind, marshal your resources. If your fear of public speaking is limiting your career, enroll in Toastmasters. If your difficulty giving criticism is holding you back, find a book about providing constructive feedback. Other possible learning resources include community colleges, online courses, libraries, and firms that offer training or management seminars.
Some companies have a training and development budget that could cover classes that may help you to address your issues. Explore this option. It shows that you are interested in improving your skills and contributing more to the company.
Stay on track
It also helps to apply the old supply chain axiom, "If it can be measured, it can be improved." Track your efforts so you can see your progress. Unfortunately, many of the issues you may be tackling will be of a qualitative nature, which are not easy to quantify. Regardless, you need to record your efforts and your progress—and sometimes the lack thereof.
As an executive coach, I help my clients refine their skills and overcome their obstacles. Part of that process is holding them accountable for the progress they commit to make. I cannot over-emphasize how much being accountable to another person will positively affect your outcomes. Tell someone—a friend, spouse, co-worker, or online support group—about your goals and ask them to hold you to them. Just as having an exercise partner makes you go to the gym regularly, having a support person will provide an incentive for you to follow through on your self-improvement plan.
Most importantly, do not allow yourself to become daunted by your personal weaknesses or past mistakes. Olympian Oscar Pistorius' sporting motto is: "You're not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have." Use your abilities to overcome what is holding you back.
We may be living in a world full of technology, but strategy and focus remain the top priorities when it comes to managing a business and its supply chains. So says Roberto Isaias, executive vice president and chief supply chain officer for toy manufacturing and entertainment company Mattel.
Isaias emphasized the point during his keynote presentation on day two of EDGE 2024, a supply chain conference sponsored by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), being held in Nashville this week. He described Mattel’s journey to transform its business and its supply chain amid surging demand for Barbie-branded items following the success of the Barbie movie last year.
Isaias discussed the transformation on two fronts: Commercially, through the revitalization of its brands that began years ago, and logistically, through a supply chain strategy focused on effectiveness and cost leadership.
Today, Mattel makes millions of toys and is steadily moving beyond the toy aisle with its franchise mindset, becoming a major entertainment company as well. Isaias told the audience Mattel currently has two films in production and 14 others in development, and its television studios business has 13 series’ in production with more than 35 in development.
And as for those supply chain gains? The company has saved millions, increased productivity, and improved profit margins—even amid cost increases and inflation. For the full story on Mattel’s transformation, see our feature story from this past summer.
And Isaias left the EDGE audience with five lessons he learned from his experience in leading change:
The business is our boss;
Don’t delegate complexity;
Take bad news well;
Be fair and take care of people;
Lead the execution.
CSCMP’s EDGE 2024 conference runs through Wednesday, October 2, at Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland Hotel & Convention Center.
Confronted with the closed ports, most companies can either route their imports to standard East Coast destinations and wait for the strike to clear, or else re-route those containers to West Coast sites, incurring a three week delay for extra sailing time plus another week required to truck those goods back east, Ron said in an interview at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP)’s EDGE Conference in Nashville.
However, Uber Freight says its latest platform updates offer a series of mitigation options, including alternative routings, pre-booked allocation and volume during peak season, and providing daily visibility reports on shipments impacted by routings via U.S. east and gulf coast ports. And Ron said the company can also leverage its pool of some 2.3 million truck drivers who have downloaded its smartphone app, targeting them with freight hauling opportunities in the affected regions by pricing those loads “appropriately” through its surge-pricing model.
“If this [strike] continues a month, we will see severe disruptions,” Ron said. “So we can offer them alternatives. We say, if one door is closed, we can open another door? But even with that, there are no magic solutions.”
Turning around a failing warehouse operation demands a similar methodology to how emergency room doctors triage troubled patients at the hospital, a speaker said today in a session at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP)’s EDGE Conference in Nashville.
There are many reasons that a warehouse might start to miss its targets, such as a sudden volume increase or a new IT system implementation gone wrong, said Adri McCaskill, general manager for iPlan’s Warehouse Management business unit. But whatever the cause, the basic rescue strategy is the same: “Just like medicine, you do triage,” she said. “The most life-threatening problem we try to solve first. And only then, once we’ve stopped the bleeding, we can move on.”
In McCaskill’s comparison, just as a doctor might have to break some ribs through energetic CPR to get a patient’s heart beating again, a failing warehouse might need to recover by “breaking some ribs” in a business sense, such as making management changes or stock write-downs.
Once the business has made some stopgap solutions to “stop the bleeding,” it can proceed to a disciplined recovery, she said. And to reach their final goal, managers can use the classic tools of people, process, and technology to improve what she called the three most important key performance indicators (KPIs): on time in full (OTIF), inventory accuracy, and staff turnover.
CSCMP EDGE attendees gathered Tuesday afternoon for an update and outlook on the truckload (TL) market, which is on the upswing following the longest down cycle in recorded history. Kevin Adamik of RXO (formerly Coyote Logistics), offered an overview of truckload market cycles, highlighting major trends from the recent freight recession and providing an update on where the TL cycle is now.
EDGE 2024, sponsored by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), is taking place this week in Nashville.
Citing data from the Coyote Curve index (which measures year-over-year changes in spot market rates) and other sources, Adamik outlined the dynamics of the TL market. He explained that the last cycle—which lasted from about 2019 to 2024—was longer than the typical three to four-year market cycle, marked by volatile conditions spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic. That cycle is behind us now, he said, adding that the market has reached equilibrium and is headed toward an inflationary environment.
Adamik also told attendees that he expects the new TL cycle to be marked by far less volatility, with a return to more typical conditions. And he offered a slate of supply and demand trends to note as the industry moves into the new cycle.
Supply trends include:
Carrier operating authorities are declining;
Employment in the trucking industry is declining;
Private fleets have expanded, but the expansion has stopped;
Truckload orders are falling.
Demand trends include:
Consumer spending is stable, but is still more service-centric and less goods-intensive;
After a steep decline, imports are on the rise;
Freight volumes have been sluggish but are showing signs of life.
CSCMP EDGE runs through Wednesday, October 2, at Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland Hotel & Resort.
The relationship between shippers and third-party logistics services providers (3PLs) is at the core of successful supply chain management—so getting that relationship right is vital. A panel of industry experts from both sides of the aisle weighed in on what it takes to create strong 3PL/shipper partnerships on day two of the CSCMP EDGE conference, being held this week in Nashville.
Trust, empathy, and transparency ranked high on the list of key elements required for success in all aspects of the partnership, but there are some specifics for each step of the journey. The panel recommended a handful of actions that should take place early on, including:
Establish relationships.
For 3PLs, understand and get to the heart of the shipper’s data.
Also for 3PLs: Understand the shipper’s reason for outsourcing to a 3PL, along with the shipper’s ultimate goals.
Understand company cultures and be sure they align.
Nurture long-term relationships with good communication.
For shippers, be transparent so that the 3PL fully understands your business.
And there are also some “non-negotiables” when it comes to managing the relationship:
3PLs must demonstrate their commitment to engaging with the shipper’s personnel.
3PLs must also demonstrate their commitment to process discipline, continuous improvement, and innovation.
Shippers should ensure that they understand the 3PL’s demonstrated implementation capabilities—ask to visit established clients.
Trust—which takes longer to establish than both sides may expect.
EDGE 2024 is sponsored by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) and runs through Wednesday, October 2, at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville.