I was reading the current issue of Harvard Business Review this weekend which has a must read article.
The Biology of Corporate Survival articulates a fundamental challenge that leaders in distribution must immediately address:
Companies have ever shorter life spans because they are failing to adapt to the increasing complexity of the business environment. Too often they pursue approaches to strategy that emphasize short-term performance over long-term robustness.
No doubt like other business leaders you are navigating the complex business environment that HBR reminds us, has become more diverse, dynamic, and interconnected than ever before …
And far less predictable.
In my research for the National Association of of Wholesaler-Distributors Institute for Distribution Excellence, this increased complexity came to the forefront when we found that …
85% of distributors feel the need to reinvent their business before someone else does.
Every distributor, from the family owned to the Fortune 500, and every leader within distribution, from the C-Suite to the functional leaders throughout the business feel something is shifting. They may not be able to articulate the shift…
But that feeling of uncertainty is there.
One distribution CEO recently said to me:
“We continue to do our job. We’re adding value. Working hard. Managing our piece of the channel and then some. We have relationships up and down the channel.
Yet something just doesn’t feel right.”
I suspect that this feeling could very well have been voiced by you or the other leaders throughout your business.
Think about it.
Beyond the macro and systemic shifts our society is experiencing – from the geopolitical turmoil and economic uncertainty to the liberalization of public policy – there are dynamics closer to home colliding with the very business models that have generated our success.
- Disruptive technologies
- Changing customer requirements
- Intensified traditional and non-traditional competition
- Alternative channels
- Commoditization
- Transfer of power from seller to buyer
- And of course compressed margins
This very topic … making sense of the rapidly changing world, connecting the dots and developing a compelling vision for the future…
To obliterate that feeling that “something just doesn’t feel right” …
While creating an optimistic and relevant path forward …
I believe, is job one for you and me.
If you agree, I’d love to invite you to attend a free webinar that I will be presenting for my friends at Handshake. Here are the details:
Innovate or Die:
How to Stay Ahead of the Competition
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
10 am PST / 1 pm EST
I know your time is valuable so here is my promise to you. Join me for this webinar and I guarantee:
- A massive amount of actionable information, that will inform your path forward
- A fast paced and energizing 60 minutes
- Case studies from within distribution and beyond that will clarify your strategies
- A framework that you’ll want to hang on your wall to keep you focused on the leadership priorities demanded by the changing dynamics of our complex business environment
- Five specific actions you can immediately take to turbo charge your change and innovation efforts.
- And … we’ll have fun in the process
One final note, the last line of my manifesto reads:
We own our future. If not us, who?
Join me on this webinar and you’ll be taking a significant step to own your future – no matter, as Harvard Business Review reminded us, the complexities of the business environment.
Here are the details again:
Innovate or Die:
How to Stay Ahead of the Competition
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
10 am PST / 1 pm EST
Looking forward to tackling the future with you!
Dirk
PS: If you want a copy of my manifesto (it’s currently hanging on the office walls of hundreds of leaders) you can download it here.
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