phone call, but the quality of communica- tions can really impact customer and sup- plier relations. Another skill lacking is the ability to collaborate and work through challenges with peers. It’s challenging to get managers comfortable with conflict and to arrive at a good decision that ev- eryone can live with.
What methods have you found to be most successful in motivating employees at every level to strive for continuous improvement—such as traditional chain-of-command reporting, employee ownership, specific types of reward and recognition, etc.? Barsema: We’ve found success in making the morning rounds with GRACE: Greet, Recognize, Ask (a personal ques- tion), Compliment, and Empathize. In other words, take time to be part of an employee’s world and promote an open- door policy regardless of anyone’s title. ESOP or profit-sharing plans help em- ployees feel that their time at work isn’t just for the money but for their and the company’s future; it becomes an invest- ment that will pay above and beyond reg- ular wages, breeding unity, awareness, creativity, comprehension, protection, and a firm course of excellence. de Steiger: Achieving a high level of associate engagement needs to be a con- tinuous process. While walking around our locations, I look for areas where indi- viduals have made improvements and give them a specific compliment, because offering encouragement helps build confi- dence. It’s important to have a sincere interest in the welfare and success of each associate and to express honest apprecia- tion for their efforts. Dungan: Over time we’ve found hon- est, open communication delivered with optimism, passion, and confidence to be a successful formula. All team members want to be assured that they’re important and that they play a role in the greater good of the company. Elliott: First, recognition. Second, compensation for results. Third, helping
without seeking credit. And if someone’s in the wrong place to be successful, don’t hesitate to reassign them to a job they’re better suited for. Henderson: Of course the easy answer is compensation. A good method we’ve found is the use of management objectives, which are weighted to a per- centage of annual compensation and graded annually. These provide direction from upper to lower management regard- ing the objectives to be achieved during a calendar year, a portion of which are also tied to net profit goals. Morlan: In my past I worked in a diverse range of distributorships where many people treated their jobs as a neces- sary evil. From the beginning, one of my goals was to make our company a place where people wanted to work and didn’t wake up every day dreading the day ahead and a place where we helped everyone understand where their job fit in the over- all operation and how doing their job less than perfectly affected others. Stern: Continuous improvement is one of our core values and we’ve found that no one method is the answer—all are part of our culture. In addition to being ISO-9001 certified, which provides a for- mal framework for our continuous im- provement, we use reward and recogni- tion tools to get that culture embedded; these include vehicles like our Gold Medal Customer Service Award, Above & Beyond Award, and Larry’s Loot, an internal mon- etary system of coins that any manager is empowered to give any employee at any time and that can be redeemed for a range of rewards.
How would you describe your own leadership style? Do you feel that younger execu- tives coming up through the ranks will require different traits from their predecessors when they move into leadership roles? Barsema: My leadership style is mixed diplomatic yet authoritative. I’m driven by people and helping them ad- vance their careers by leveraging their strengths, but I’m also committed to mea-
SPECIAL
REPORT/
Q:
“a new brand of leadership” compared with their
predecessors, or are the
traits that make for successful leaders universal
over time?
Haslehurst: I believe
the core skills will remain
fairly consistent, but the
way in which they’re
expressed absolutely
changes. What it takes to
nurture, challenge, and grow
millennial talent—e.g., the
sense of purpose, the desire
to constantly challenge
themselves, the authenticity
of the mission, etc.—is different and today’s leaders
have to adapt to their workforce. That balance of prescient adaptability and decisiveness has fundamentally
become more critical—it’s
not enough to just be
charismatic.
Q: Any words of advice
for both current and/or
future leaders in the electrical distribution industry
regarding strategies for
success?
Haslehurst: Take the
time to learn what’s going
on in the market, what
competitors are doing, and
what others in similar situations are doing and get
into the habit of asking if
there’s something to be
learned for your company.
Always look to learn something new every week, and
then every few months
challenge yourself by asking
how you’ve changed something because the market
demanded it or there was
an opportunity. —S.B.
Q:
