We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • Parcel Forum 2022
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • Parcel Forum 2022
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
Home » When being smart is not enough
outbound

When being smart is not enough

September 13, 2013
Mitch Mac Donald
No Comments

Smart leaders in the logistics and supply chain business are not hard to find. We report almost daily on cutting-edge operational advances that are led by very smart professionals.

Yet being smart, in and of itself, does not guarantee success. According to author Patrick Lencioni, companies must go beyond "smart" to truly reach their full market potential.

Speaking at Dematic's annual Material Handling and Logistics Conference, held earlier this week in Park City, Utah, Lencioni identified two characteristics that he considers hallmarks of a successful business. "There are two requirements for success today," he said. "Companies must be smart, but they must also be healthy." In fact, in his new book, The Advantage, Lencioni writes that organizational health "will surpass all other disciplines in business as the greatest opportunity for improvement and competitive advantage."

Some definitions are in order here. As for what defines a "smart" company, an organization obviously needs a good strategy, sound marketing that links to its strategy, a solid understanding of enabling technologies and how to put them to the best use, and, of course, a solid financial plan and management.

Really nothing new here, but what of the issue of an organization's health? "Healthy companies have some common attributes," Lencioni said. "They have minimal politics, minimal confusion, high morals, high productivity, and low turnover."

To get (and stay) healthy, companies must do four things, he said. First, they must build and maintain a cohesive management team. "The leaders must work together well," he said.

Second, those leaders must create clarity. "The goals must be clear and properly aligned," he noted. "There can be no ambiguity in the answers they give their employees."

The third requirement on Lencioni's list is communication—or what he likes to call "over-communication." "Research tells us that people need to hear things a minimum of seven times in order to believe it," Lencioni said. "[So you] need to say it again and again. The best CEO also needs to be the CRO, the Chief Reminding Officer. Employees want and need to know you are sticking to the company's message."

The fourth thing is essentially an extension of the third. "You need to not only over-communicate, but also reinforce it in all things you do. There can be no ambiguity at all, at any time," he said.

Making all this happen requires leaders to master several important behaviors and then see that they're engrained in the corporate culture, Lencioni maintains. First, there must be an extremely high level of trust among the management team members. "To get there, you must all be willing to be wrong and to be vulnerable," he explained. "If you are not humble enough to accept you will be wrong and to accept that other members of your team can be smarter on particular topics, then you are an insecure leader and you must change that behavior."

Second, you need to embrace conflict. "Conflict can be great," said Lencioni, who contends that if there is no conflict in an organization, then someone is holding back. Think of a boardroom filled with "yes men" who agree with everything the CEO says. "When you have trust, conflict is really just the pursuit of truth." Employees won't weigh in with their ideas if conflict is not an accepted and valued component of a company's behavior, according to Lencioni. And "if people won't weigh in, people won't buy in" to the company's goals and objectives.

And if employees and managers don't buy in? Then implementing the tactics that support your company's strategy will be like pushing a string up a flagpole.

Business Management & Finance
KEYWORDS Dematic
  • Related Articles

    if once is not enough

    When failure is really not an option

Mitchmacdonald
Mitch Mac Donald has more than 30 years of experience in both the newspaper and magazine businesses. He has covered the logistics and supply chain fields since 1988. Twice named one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the U.S., he has served in a multitude of editorial and publishing roles. The leading force behind the launch of Supply Chain Management Review, he was that brand's founding publisher and editorial director from 1997 to 2000. Additionally, he has served as news editor, chief editor, publisher and editorial director of Logistics Management, as well as publisher of Modern Materials Handling. Mitch is also the president and CEO of Agile Business Media, LLC, the parent company of DC VELOCITY and CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly.

Recent Articles by Mitch Mac Donald

20 years later, the question remains the same: Are you up to SPEED?

Hail and farewell: interview with Gail Rutkowski

Thought I’d something more to say …

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Schneider welcomes first battery-electric truck

  • Fred Smith is not worried about Amazon

  • RJW LOGISTICS GROUP EXPANDS RETAIL LOGISTICS OPERATION TO DALLAS

  • Maersk deploys indoor drones for warehouse inventory counts

  • Outlook 2023: What’s in store for logistics/supply chain?

Now Playing on DCV-TV

5afe63a5 7125 4318 b851 1e5738df1c91

Patterson Fan Co. | HVLS V-Series Ceiling Fan | Staging Area Air Movement

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
The Patterson V-Series is a high-volume, low-speed industrial ceiling fan that is designed to circulate a lot of air at a very low speed. These fans, ranging in diameters of 8’ all the way to 24’, are perfect for large, open spaces such as staging and shipping areas. One 24’ fan can generate a cooling effect of 6 –...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • The five best applications for robotic lift trucks in warehouse environments

  • Fulfillment Facility Improved Efficiencies by 4x

  • 3PLs: Complete Orders Faster with Flexible Automation

  • Reusable Packaging for the New Wave of Supply Chain Automation

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2023. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing