Distribution Executives Rethink Innovate Leadership Strategies

SURVEY RESPONDENT FROM STAFF REPORTS

Distribution executives must reimagine leadership and put people and purpose first when facing negative forces affecting the market, according to a recent report from UnleashWD.

Design, innovation, and strategy firm UnleashWD surveyed 232 executives in the spring of 2022 about the changing nature of leadership in a post-pandemic world. Those executives shared their thoughts on why the art and science of leadership is changing—and also shared growing concerns for those who do not adapt to change.

“What’s worked in the past definitely doesn’t apply anymore,” responded one executive. “People need guidance and support now more than ever, and negative market change needs to be outpaced by positive change from true leaders.”

The report showed companies that have the best odds of winning the war for talent and long-term growth also recognize the dangers of holding onto old paradigms of leadership. “We are in danger of becoming extinct if management philosophies continue to remain archaic,” said another survey respondent.

The pandemic for many individuals has forced a re-examination of life and work. Work-life balance and meaningful work have become central. If employees feel they aren’t aligned with the values of the companies they work for, they know they have other options. “If your organization is not a people-first organization, your people will find one,” said one respondent.

A staggering 93% of executives indicated leaders must focus not just on the job to be done but on the individual. The respondents made it clear that their employees want to feel valued, and a company’s ability to grow and develop the individual employee is critical to the company’s success.

Respondents agreed that nothing in anyone’s experience prepared them for the period in which we live and will live for the foreseeable future. Over three-fourths of respondents say they feel the pressure of the world around them to adapt to a new way of leadership required by their people. s p

SURVEY RESPONDENT • 8 out of 10 distribution executives believe we must be different leaders coming out of the pandemic than going in. • 53% said that how distributors are currently leading puts them in danger. • 93% of executives say the human element will play a bigger role in leadership going forward. • 78% of leaders believe the nature of leadership is changing as a result of COVID and other disruptive forces.

Visit www.unleashwd.com/fod-reimagining-leadership for more information or to download the complete report.

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