When I speak with prospective clients, we spend a fair amount of time talking about BlueShip 3.0. It’s the software I use and one of several that has transformed the shipping and logistics industry.
Then we get to the really important subject: people.
Because with all the change, one fact remains. Good, committed people are more valuable than ever. In my experience, they’re the difference between okay results and great results.
Software floods us with data, information and options. In reality, all the data is meaningless unless someone can interpret and apply it.
Even today, a small experienced and professional team continues to outperform vast offices of newbies given raw data and a flow-chart driven process. For as much as software improves process, you need knowledge and expertise to make it useful.
So how do I find good people? Well, here’s four qualities I always look for, in order of importance to me.
- You might think experience would be number one, but it’s not. Commitment trumps experience. In fact, experience doesn’t even make the list. Instead, I look for the man or woman who’s committed to their career and learning, and will commit to be a part of a team.
- Positive attitude. I look for people who see challenges, problems, and mistakes as opportunities rather than road-blocks.
- Let’s face it, logistics moves at the speed of business. And technology makes information available to us in real-time, so it’s simply not possible to drag. High energy people make it possible for the team to meet the needs of all our customers.
- I want people who look at data, and problems too, from a variety of different angles. This allows my team to create more options to save my customers time, money and headaches. This may be one of the most overlooked qualities in the market today.
After these four, I’ll entertain experience and technical-savvy. But when it comes to building a strong team that can support my customers and handle the speed of the logistics industry, these four are where I start. Remember, anyone can buy a technology, but it’s people that make the difference.