If you haven’t noticed, Dr. Frank Morgan says we are living in a VUCA world.
Don’t know VUCA? Morgan says it stands for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous.
During a presentation Tuesday at the Young Leaders Forum at the 2017 VIPAR Heavy Duty Annual Business Conference in Orlando, Morgan offered aftermarket youth guidance and advice for navigating their businesses through wildly trying times.
His first piece of advice: Make sure the thoughts and opinions that you believe define yourself are true to your actual personality. Anyone can claim to be open minded and appreciative of new ideas, but unless they’re also willing to accept them and implement change, that open mindedness is lip service.
Morgan also says our VUCA world requires the ability to prioritize, and accurately discern which challenges facing your business are the most threatening. He says challenges can vary business to business and year to year. Aftermarket distributors need to remain focused on their operation, and not get hung up on fleeting issues that appear more dire than they are in reality.
“We focus too much on the urgent but unimportant,” he says.
Once major challenges are identified, Morgan says it is best to remember Occam’s Razor: the simplest explanation and solution is typically the best.
Finally, Morgan says there’s no shame in asking for help. American culture may be competitive, but Morgan says that doesn’t mean every relationship with a fellow distributor should be a contentious one.
He recommends becoming active within the industry, cultivating and nurturing relationships as much as possible and actively seeking out advice when possible. He mentions mentor programs as “one of best, cheapest ways to learn to lead,” and says when attending an event such as this week’s conference, it’s best to search for and leave with useful takeaways.
“Take something you learn this week and make a personal commitment to take it to practice,” he says.
