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Logistics Careers and the Recession

OMAHA, NE - Well, freight dawgs, it's here: Warren Buffett's annual letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. While you can read for yourselves Mr. Buffett's sober predictions of the economy being "in shambles throughout 2009 - and, for that matter, probably well beyond," logistics job seekers can learn something about how to create real value for their current and potential employers -- now and forever.

It's no secret that stocks took a severe beating last year, and Mr. Buffett's Berkshire holdings were not immune. Yet according to Mr. Buffett, "In good years and bad, Charlie Munger [his long-time business partner] and I simply focus on four goals:

1. maintaining our company's Gibraltar-like financial position, which features huge amounts of excess liquidity, near-term obligations that are modest, and dozens of sources of earnings and cash;
2. widening the “moats” around our operating businesses that give them durable competitive advantages;
3. acquiring and developing new and varied streams of earnings;
4. expanding and nurturing the cadre of outstanding operating managers who, over the years, have delivered Berkshire exceptional results.

The proof of this approach is in the pudding: Over the last 44 years, Berkshire Hathaway's book value per share has grown from $19 to $70,530, a rate of 20.3% compounded annually.

Question for you logistics job seekers: Specifically, HOW have you done these four things in your previous jobs? Can you quantify your contribution in each of these four areas?

You are making a terrible mistake if you think these things are "too high level and abstract" for you to impact! Over the last five years, I have made a small fortune pulling executives out of Dell Computer.

Why Dell? Because a long time ago, Michael Dell was smart enough to tie every Dell employee's bonus to Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) -- the single metric that mattered most to Dell's customers, and therefore, to its stock holders. By aligning his employee's behavior to the expectations of his customers and stock holders, Mr. Dell created a perpetual motion machine fueled by the self-interests of every single stakeholder. That's not a bad thing. That's a great thing!

According to Mr. Dell's book Direct from Dell [which I strongly endorse] ...

ROIC became a focusing device. We introduced it in 1995 with a company-wide push to educate everyone about the benefits of a positive ROIC, with articles in the company newsletter, posters, talks by managers, and "Messages from Michael" devoted to the topic.

We explained specifically how everyone could contribute: by reducing cycle times, eliminating scrap and waste, selling more, forecasting accurately, scaling operating expenses, increasing inventory turns, collecting accounts receivables efficiently, and doing things right the first time.

And we make it the core of our incentive program for all employees. We decided to to reward employees around a matrix of ROIC and growth and higher performance directly attributed to higher ROIC -- which came back in the form of higher compensation.

BOTTOM LINE: Dell executives know how to create value for ALL company stakeholders -- both internally and externally, up and down the value chain -- and that's what today's employment market will pay for. That's what it needs now more than ever! You can stick a Dell executive in just about any company and they will find a way to organize their teams and activities around those things which create value. Clients LOVE this trait, and I have the check stubs to prove it.

So logistics careerists, here is one job search rule that you must obey:

DO NOT TRY TO SELL ABSTRACTIONS IN A DOWN ECONOMY!!

Your value to employers has to be obvious. It has to be easy to explain, understand, and verify. Trust me, business owners are scared to death. They are afraid of President Obama's approach to taxation, and they have NO idea whether the business environment will recover this year ... or the next ... or ever. Fear, uncertainty, and doubt dominate the current climate. Business owners have a bunker mentality.

Accordingly, you MUST make business owners understand why they are better off investing their hard earned cash in YOU rather than keeping it under a mattress.

You are at great risk if you fight me on this one. This is the new reality. It's a cold as hell world out there, and whether you work for a company or not, you are in business for yourself. It's time you started thinking of yourself as someone else's investment.

Rick Houcek: "How Many Tools Are On Your Peg Board?"

ATLANTA - On Saturday, I was listening to "Costas On The Radio" the weekly program of one of my all-time favorite sportscasters, Bob Costas, who has now ventured into non-sports broadcasting.

He was interviewing Darrell Hammond, long-time cast member of Saturday Night Live. Costas asked Hammond a thought-provoking question that -- as I thought about it -- had implications for leaders everywhere. Costas was discussing Jimmy Fallon, a fellow SNL cast mate of Hammond, having just been named by NBC to replace Conan O'Brien on The Late Show in 2009 when Conan takes over for Leno on the Tonight Show.

"You've worked with Jimmy Fallon for years," Costas said, "Why do you think he's the right choice to host that show?" Hammond didn't miss a beat. "Because he's a total performer," he said. "I'm not. I'm good at a couple things. I can do good sketch comedy with an ensemble team. And I can do impressions. That's it. But Jimmy Fallon -- he can do it all."

Hammond went on to say Fallon can do sketch, he can do impressions, he can do dialects -- young, middle age, and old -- and he can write comedy too.  He simply does it all.  He's multi-dimensional. For a comedian, that list is the full monty.  When you realize the breadth of Fallon's comedic talents, it's no wonder he got the nod over others.

Simply put, he's a safe bet to nail the laughs and reel in the ratings. It reminded me of a corollary in baseball -- the 5-tool player -- a rare bird indeed.  He's the guy who can run, throw, field, hit for average, and hit for power. In the major leagues, he's on the Most Wanted list.  Highest paid too.  There aren't many.

Most players are lucky to have two or three in their bag of tricks.  But to excel at all five is to be the sought-after needle in the haystack. Now ... shift to leaders.  And to you.

How many leadership tools are on your peg board? What Jimmy Fallon is to comedy ... and what a 5-tool player is to baseball ... YOU must be to leadership. Multi-dimensional.  Multi-skilled.  Multi-talented.

Lessons & Actions For You:

Let's say you're highly effective at presentations.  Pretty good at working a room.  And not bad at leading meetings.  But those are pretty much all the arrows in your quiver. You're in trouble.

Or let's say you're the new business closer and exceptionally good at it.  You're a planner and organizer to beat the band.  And you've got a genius for logistics.  But that's it. You're in trouble.

See where I'm going with this? Let me be more specific:  A handful of leadership tools on your peg board ain't gonna cut it. Want proof?  Some of the greatest leaders of all time have spoken out on the subject. John Wooden, famed UCLA men's basketball coach, who still today owns more national championships than any other coach living or dead, diagrams 17 critical leader traits in his success pyramid from his book "Wooden on Leadership".

As you read the book, you then realize he's burrowing down even deeper into mini points that, if you're counting, could tally over 60 or 70. Colin Powell, former secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- in his book "The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell" -- has 16 chapters, each one digging into an important leadership quality.  And inside each chapter, you can flush out more sub-points, for a total of, I'm thinking, maybe 50 to 75 traits.

Jack Welch, legendary CEO of GE, has spoken of more than 30 must-have attributes of effective leaders. In "Robert E. Lee on Leadership", written by H. W. Crocker, there are 11 chapters.  Each one ends with a bullet-point list of "Lee's Lessons" that summarizes the content.  I counted.  Total of 52 behaviors, traits and lessons for leaders.

I could go on, but you get the picture.  There's an endless list of books, CDs, courses, workshops and seminars on leadership -- and every author has his or her list of traits. Go ahead.  Read, listen to, or attend any one of them.  I challenge you to argue with their logic.  They ALL make sense. Watch any sporting event. Then watch the post-game interview with the head coach.

In a 15-second sound bite, the astute viewer/listener can grab two or three tidbits of leadership wisdom -- each one a profound lesson on its own.

Bottom line:  Leadership is multi-dimensional.  And by "multi", I don't mean three or four.  Or eight or nine.  Or 22 or 23. I mean dozens and dozens.  Like courage.  Initiative.  Integrity.  Loyalty.  Enthusiasm.  Vision.  Honor. Serving others first.  Trustworthiness.  Hopefulness.  Goal-oriented.  Inspirer of others. Delegator.  Risk-taker.  And on and on and on.

I've only scratched the surface. If all this scares you -- and it should -- you may want to re-think your leadership role. Make sure you're up to the task, up to the challenge, up to the responsibility. Your followers -- whether they number only one or two -- or as many as 10,000 or a million -- all deserve you to be effective at all the many facets of logistics leadership.

No, not a few. Not just the ones you like. Not just the ones that don't upset you. All of them. And the ones you're not good at?  Work on them until you are. It's not an option to ignore them. The more you study leadership, the longer will grow your list of critically important traits you must embrace.

Leadership is not for everyone.  It's not for the squeamish.  Not for those with wobbly knees. Nor the feint of heart.  And certainly not for those who intend to just eek by with a couple of key skills, and zero interest in developing the rest. If the pressure of having to be proficient at such a long list of attributes troubles you, get out now, before you embarrass yourself and topple the enterprise.

If, on the other hand, you're energized by it all, you seek to learn more every day, and you're on a non-stop quest to improve yourself and acquire the logistics and supplychain knowledge and skills to lead with honor, dignity and daring ... then you are in the rarified air that the world's greatest leaders have breathed.

Which are you?  Let this be your wake-up call to decide. You can't be an effective leader by going at it half-hearted.  Wherever you are on the "leadership continuum", you will always have more to learn. Will you? Will you start today?
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Rick Houcek, President Soar With Eagles, Inc.  To subscribe to his newsletter, please visit Soar with Eagles.com and fill in your name and email address in the upper left of the home page.

Leadership: Declaration of Future Independence

My brother, Eric Joiner is a senior sales executive with a major 3PL and Logistics integrator.  Eric is a regular contributing author to Logistics Recruiter.com.  Eric may be reached at ejoiner2@gmail.com.

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On the internet you find dozens of web sites with helpful advice.  Numerous lists exist of pithy things one should do to be successful. Some I like better than others. You'll find links to those things often in the Clipmarks lists in the margin of this blog.

Every once in awhile though, I find a list that needs to be pulled up and highlighted.  This article is one.  Motivational speaker and business coach Gary Blair runs a website called Goalsguy.com.  He published this list called "Ten Things Every Kid Should Know".   

The best employees and leaders are people whose parents or mentors taught them to be strong, independent people of character while in their youth.   An ability to leverage that background is a clear indicator of future success. Character is fundamental to coachability, personal growth and ultimately of leadership. 

At least in my view, instilling these kinds of values in our children serves as a Declaration of Future Independence.  Resumes are often a reflection of a persons adoption rate of these principles and the corresponding consequential results.

Ten Things Every Kid Should Know

1. Accept Your Power of Choice

Success is the intentional, pre-meditated use of choice and decision. Unless you choose–with certainty–what it is you want, you accept table scraps by default! The quality of your future years is largely determined by the quality of the choices you make when you are young.

2. Respect Reality – Face the Facts

True and accurate information is essential to success. Reality is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Deny reality, and you will soon discover that life is a game of truth or consequences. Tell the truth and demand the truth from others, otherwise you’re toast.

3. Take Responsibility – Make No Excuses

Excuses are convenient, temporary scapegoats. Sometime, somewhere and somehow they will come back and make things very uncomfortable. Dreams die under a burden of excuses; they are a character deficiency, which destroys your potential. Make a no excuses policy and stick to it!

4. Character Counts!

Everything you say, and do complements or compromises your character. Always do the right thing, because having character is much more important than being a character. When all is said and done, all a person has is their character and integrity nothing else really matters.

5. Make Everything Count

Every thought, decision, and action moves you closer to or further from your goals. Look at it this way, if you spend an hour exercising you have just moved north towards a healthier life, if after, you have a greasy cheeseburger and fries you have now gone south – got it?

6. Practice Self-Discipline

If you don’t discipline yourself, you are sure to be disciplined by others. Every act of self-discipline moves you toward your goals, and every exception takes you off course. Don’t believe me, huh? Chew on this, run up your credit cards real high, be late on a few payments and see how quickly those companies are to teach you a thing or two about discipline.

7. Continue Your Education

There will never be a day that will not require dedication, discipline, good judgment, and energy. Life is an ongoing journey, with lots of beginnings and continuations. We get better when we do better and we do better when we know better. Education is the ONLY answer!

8. Commit to Excellence

A commitment to excellence can help you capture true wealth and realize the inherent value of your potential. A lack of commitment devalues potential, credibility, and reputation. Mediocrity is a choice—not always made consciously—but still a choice. Choose excellence!

9. Learn From Failure

Sorry kid, but your not going to win them all. Failure serves an indispensable function in the production of your success. It provides information for you to learn from and apply. So don’t cry and suck your thumb when you lose, get back in the game better prepared to win.

10. Have Fun

Life is short, so enjoy it while you can. You are accountable for all you do as well as for the permitted pleasures that you fail to enjoy during your lifetime. Count the day, week, and life lost if you have not laughed or if you have not played because fun is essential to the good life!

Eric

Career Advice: Leadership for Women

My brother, Eric Joiner is a senior sales executive with a major 3PL and Logistics integrator.  Eric is a regular contributing author to Logistics Recruiter.com.  Eric may be reached at ejoiner2@gmail.com.
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My brother Harry posted a great article on marketing headhunter.com about the value of the Boy Scouts Eagle Scout Award.  I couldn't agree more.  What I found interesting was some of the feedback Harry got regarding Girl Scouting and a similar award they have.  What I share below is my personal experience as a former Boy Scout Asst. Scoutmaster and father of 4 children -- 3 of whom are girls.

What I have seen in working with scouting is that it develops specific skills that translate into a lifetime work ethic.  Specifically delayed gratification.  Kids learn that work equals reward.  In an xbox 360 society, thats a rare commodity today.  Not many kids make Eagle for a bunch of reasons, interestingly one of which is a new found interest in GIRLS about age 14.  Those who can multi-task learn that girls and scouting can have limited nexus.  Boy Scouting becomes nerdy when trying to date the high school prom queen.  Nevertheless, those who manage the tasking of scouting and finish to Eagle have a prize worth keeping for life. 

I've attended Eagle award ceremonies, and the closest thing it compares to is a college graduation.  Young men working extremely hard, succeed and are rewarded with a rare symbol of excellence.  That symbol is a token of confidence for these young folks that shows them that they are capable of doing almost anything.   Astronauts, presidents, doctors, lawyers,(Bloggers?), whatever.

I have four kids ranging from sophomore in college to 10 years old. Three of those are girls.

For the person who mentioned Girl Scouts,  I would LOVE it if Girl Scouts offered the same opportunities to young women that boy scouts does.  However...and I say this as an EXPERIENCED parent of daughters...Girl Scouts is about cookies.  At least our experience was.

And that sucks.

There are indeed programs similar to Boy Scouts within Girl Scouts, but most girls don't get that exposure.  Thats not a general indictment of Girl Scouts. It is an indictment of the fact that female business professionals rarely are involved in the leadership of Girl Scout troops, at least in our experience.  What we saw were room mothers, cum troop leaders. My wife was among that group.

They don't know how to camp, they don't teach young women business behavior, and they don't teach girls how to compete! I think generally our young women are under served because of it.  My 3 girls were PISSED they didn't get their brothers experience in scouting.  This problem needs to be fixed!

My girls are extremely smart and able young ladies.

The world should be their oyster. The interesting thing is that I know interesting women.  The wife of one of my good friends and former colleagues is a merchant marine academy graduate, licensed 3rd mate on commercial containerships, a licensed Customs House Broker, and presently a supply chain senior executive at a major retail brand.   This woman is beautiful, mother of three, and extremely coooool.  She knows Supply Chain.  There should be more like her.

Girl Scouts needs to step up.

Step ONE is for FEMALE business professionals to make it their mission to engage in the support and mentoring of girls.  Where is Carly Fiorina in this? Marion Blakey?  Where is Nancy Pelosi? Hillary Clinton?  Barbara Boxer?  Diane Finestein?  All those female politicians who demand equality should be investing in their own sex! 

Teach young women how to compete and win.

Here is a link to female leaders worldwide. I want to know how many support Girl Scouts with their own sweat equity.  There are PLENTY of successful, winning professional women.   I just think they need to get involved in supporting girl scouting the way that Boy Scouting is

Make no mistake.  Girls rock.  I love mine.

Eric

Career Advice: Weight Loss and Your Career

My brother, Eric Joiner is a senior sales executive with a major 3PL and Logistics integrator.  Eric is a regular contributing author to Logistics Recruiter.com.  Eric may be reached at ejoiner2@gmail.com.

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Ok, it’s January.  How many of us will pledge to drop a few pounds (again) as part of our New Years resolutions?  I’m amongst those who will be working on converting the wish to reality.  There are obvious health benefits, but possibly less obvious, are potentially serious career implications as well.

I have a great friend who recently retired after 30 plus years in the airfreight business.  One of the most fantastic human beings I know, and a real genius in our space.  He routinely describes himself as being the ideal weight for someone 6’8”.  Tom uses that as a punch line to the fact that he is about 5’ 9”!  He is, in his mind...not overweight...he is under tall!

The real irony is that all the CxO’s I ever knew, especially growing up in the ocean freight business in the 80’s and 90’s, had several things in common.  They were all tall (over 6 feet), lean, white and male.  I mean…universally so.  Diversity programs have broadened the sex and race spectrum somewhat, but one thing hasn’t changed:  If you are overweight your chances of getting to the boardroom are “slim”.  (Sorry for the pun…)

For job candidates being considered for internal positions, as well as those looking for new positions, this is a serious issue.  In a culture where “thin is in,” getting a promotion or getting that next job can be difficult for an overweight candidate.  As Sharon Voros highlights in this article in Career Journal, in companies where image is important, such as fashion and retail, or in key sales positions, there is an association between personal appearance and success; therefore candidates who are significantly overweight may not fit well within the corporate culture of a company despite an otherwise good fit.

Image is one angle, but the hard reality is that HR departments in most industries are increasingly focusing on wellness of employees.  This is for both quality of life as well as hard financial reasons.  Lean employees take less sick time, tend to have fewer accidents, and are less likely to suffer from mental illness, depression and alcoholism.  In industries, like logistics, where margins are always tight, boards are demanding aggressive control of health costs as a way to improve overall financial performance.

I know in the case of my company, our HR group works hard at overall employee health by providing proactive health screening, personal health coaching, and benefit choices driven by individual needs.  These factors help employees who have a desire to improve their health find a way to do it.

In these days of political correctness, most hiring managers won’t mention health or weight as an issue in the course of an interview for fear of possible legal implications.  Nevertheless, the issue while unsaid, will be there as a concern.

Several years ago, I remember interviewing an overweight job candidate who volunteered in the course of our talk that he had had three heart surgeries.  That immediately gave me concern for this gentleman’s energy level and ability to handle a stressful, fast paced work environment.  What eliminated him from job consideration in my mind though, wasn’t the weight or even the heart condition.  It was the fact that the guy also volunteered that he was a 3 pack a day smoker.  Frankly I wondered whether he had the critical ability to link cause and effect.  That’s what cost him the job opportunity.

People will assume a linkage between image and performance.  Therefore, if you have an image liability, to the extent you can control it, by losing weight etc., you should.  In the meantime, focus on a resume with high concentration on performance, dress professionally and do your homework on the company you are interviewing with.  Know their business style well enough to understand whether you and they will be happy together.

In the meantime, remember that you aren’t overweight … You are under tall!

Happy New Year.
-Eric

Career Advice: Dream Sheets

My brother, Eric Joiner is a senior sales executive with a major 3PL and Logistics integrator.  Eric is a regular contributing author to Logistics Recruiter.com.  Eric may be reached at ejoiner2@gmail.com. 

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I don’t know how it is at your house, but I am always thankful when Christmas is over. The kids have their toys and life starts back into its normal rhythmic beat. The week between Christmas and New Years is a time when my company headquarters is closed, so it’s also a great time for me to catch up on “administrivia” and to think hard both about my own new year, and those of my team.

Our HR department sends out employee evaluation documents, which are used by management to measure 2006 performance. We evaluate folks regularly and coach them during the year. The HR evaluation docs however, are used to judge bonuses and pay raises for the year coming.

Human Resources also sends out another document for individual completion.  It’s what the military calls “The Dream Sheet”. It’s where you post for management review, the jobs you are interested in, what direction you would like your career to take, and where you discuss your job satisfaction and motivational needs. It also addresses training needs to help you get where you want to go.

The Dream Sheet is a serious document. I have seen people go in whole new directions based on what they put down. I always use this week as a quiet time to think hard on this subject for myself and for my team.

"Before You Apply for Your Next Job..."

My brother Harry wrote an article for the  Marketing Headhunter.com site earlier in 2006 that was geared toward “what to think about” before applying for a new job. He focused on 10 issues or questions that you should ask yourself. These are about self-reflection on accomplishments, and direction for your life and career. It’s one of the better “life” type essays I have ever read. I myself have read it several times.

I urge you to read it as well, but with a slightly different twist. Think of your current job in your current company. What could you be doing differently that would make your position more satisfying, or at least prepare you clearly for doing the “next right thing” for your career?

Believe me...this is as important for your boss as it is for you.   If you have done a lot of things in your career, but you don't know how to position that experience, your boss and even your company may not know exactly what job you might be best at.    As I told my youngest daughter the other day, Santa Claus isn't a mind reader.  You rarely get the present that is left unasked for.

Enter 2007 with a focus. Start with this hour, then this day, then this week. Only then will you be ready for the Dream Sheet discussion. Either way, you become a more focused employee or a job candidate who knows what she wants out of life.   

Happy New Year!

Eric