This summer has been very hectic.   Lots of things happening around here both personally and professionally with River Heights Consulting.   Here are the cliff notes: Personally: My first major (25-30 mile) bike ride of the summer season during the Memorial Day Weekend resulted in a broken shoulder and a severely banged-up body.  I could barely type for three weeks but got to spend a lot of time talking on the phone.  The good news is the Doc says I am “good as new,” whatever that means.  Professionally: When you can’t type, talking on the phone is about the only possible business activity.  We interviewed over 50 distributors in the automation, electrical, fluid power, and related spaces.  Distributors love to share.  We have a very strong understanding of current market conditions, what is working, what is not, and the state of what seems like a global supply chain interruption.      NOW – The Six Things   Re...

After the Pandemic – Working Remotely First in a Series on Planning for the New Normal We have been thinking a lot about life after the Pandemic and the reality of the new normal.  One thing that keeps surfacing is working remotely.  For instance, a recent post by famed CRM provider Salesforce stated, “The 9-5 workday is dead.”  Office buildings will no longer house the thousands of workers once important to maintaining operations.  Salesforce categorized the future of their workers this way: ·          Flex : When it is safe to return to the office, employees around the globe will work flex. This means they will be in the office one to three days per week for team collaboration, customer meetings, and presentations. ·          Fully Remote : For employees who do not live near an office or have roles that don’t require an office, they will work remotely full-time. ·    ...

Recently, happenstance dealt me a blow. Late one night, I received this quote along with a rather detailed email from a friend who found themselves working for a newly appointed boss: Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. Not that Abraham Lincoln was a distribution expert, but in this case, he had a great point. Allow me to share a few of the observations from the email and follow-up conversation. The long-term and well-liked company President had finally retired. His successor was unanimously selected by the company leadership and was, by all accounts, a team player with charm and charisma. Under the guidance and tutelage of the former boss, things progressed remarkably well. The leadership team and employees alike felt good about the new president. Then tragedy struck. The former boss, who had served as the Chairman of the Company, was struck with a mighty and fatal illness. The passing was unexpected and quick. Wit...