Leadership isn't just about controlling the marketing message. We can call ourselves thought leaders, but whether we really influence someone else's thoughts probably has more to do with our actions as leaders. Instead, leadership is about doing -- and doing the right thing for the company and the team.
It helps to be in reality and not be too selfish. "Never appear to be warmer than your troops" is one of the main tenets of a good military leader. It means the higher up is aware of what the foot soldiers are going though, and he or she knows that personal actions can have a positive or detrimental effect on the foot soldiers' morale. Also, that the foot soldier is important to the whole effort.
As our career engineer, Ruth Glover, shows in her second post of a two-part blog on leadership, being aware of the troops is only one aspect. Other things like "vision," planning, confidence, and even charisma, come into it. In her post, Glover brings in more quotes from her informal poll -- you'll find each pearl of wisdom adds to the whole picture of how we often think a good leader should behave.
Using a freight train for a supply chain may be normal for the continental US, where passenger trains are delayed by what really has the right-away -- freight. But with the China-to-Europe connection, it surprised our Jennifer Baljko that land travel might be superior to air or sea, as she describes a train service using an ancient trade route in Sending Parts From China to Europe? Try the Trans-Siberian Railway.
Over the past couple of years, I've worked with technology observers from all over the world to help get a better sense of how tech is changing the world around us. Supply chain is no exception. Just think about the journey something as ordinary as an apple takes on its way from a tree to your table. Imagine how much, much more complex it is for electronics coming from a small fab in Asia to a manufacturer in the US.
I'm grateful for this site to help make the picture a little clearer day by day.
Topping the list of the world’s biggest electronics distributors were Avnet and Arrow,followed by WPG Holdings, Future Electronics,
and WT Microelectronics.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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