Last night over dinner I was asked by a client CEO, “What stops execution of strategy, plans and initiatives.” 

Distribution is dead.

OK, I don’t want to be hyperbolic. So, let’s try this: Distribution “as we know it and we’ve relied in the past doesn’t exist anymore.”

Here is a counterintuitive thought … surround yourself with like-minded individuals.

As we ring in the New Year, the math tells us there will be 31,536,000 seconds 2020.

Roughly 72% of distribution leaders believe the pace of change is too slow in their business. Leaders in distribution must define their “next.” 

UnleashWD Innovation Summit 2019 has wrapped up and once again, I’m bouncing off the walls with the energy created by all the smart, engaged, creative people I met.

Our relevancy is not guaranteed. When you think of what happened to powerhouse businesses such as Kodak, Blockbuster, Sears, Toys R Us, BlackBerry, RadioShack, Nokia and others … it is a cold sense of reality that our business model of the past is no guarantee of relevance and profitability tomorrow.

Over the last 36 months, I had the opportunity to lead strategic planning workshops for associations, buying groups, independent distributors and one manufacturer.

Without vision there is no change, transformation and innovation.  Sam Walton, the iconic founder of Walmart Stores once said, “Capital isn’t scarce, vision is.”

Distribution leaders find themselves in a once-in-a-career opportunity to create a culture of change, transformation and innovation.