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Sara Weith: ‘Soft Skills’ Dominate as New Generation Enters the Distribution Work Force
By Mitchell Beer
May 28, 2024 11:57 pm EDT
With “soft skills” like situational leadership and emotional intelligence moving to the forefront in business theory, Sara Weith’s nine presentations at TUG Connects 2024 are very much a reflection of her own path as a change management specialist—and the evolution of the distribution industry itself.
“Those two skills are now becoming the frontrunners. You want to see if a person embodies those qualities when you’re looking for a leader,” says Weith, director of leadership and professional development at ASW Global Consulting.”
It used to be about commanding attention,” she adds. “But really, what you see today with a successful leader is someone who can read the room and see what people are presenting with. You need to be self-aware about how you lead, then also be able to see how someone needs to be led.”
Over the course of the conference, Weith will deliver presentations on emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, change management, leadership skills, and resilient organizational cultures, then showing as a panelist for a Friday afternoon session on women in distribution. She pointed to some of the takeaways from her conflict resolution session as important lessons learned across the entire series.
“No one really wants to argue. But when you have two opposing sides, that’s your opportunity to understand peoples’ underlying frustrations, then figure out how everyone can leave that table feeling that they’re not defeated.” Ultimately, “it’s not just about what we think we should do. It’s about the organization, what we think we can do to help, and how we get people onboard.”
Those insights are particularly important as the TUG community goes through a generational shift.
“There’s more influx of new faces, new names, which often means younger generations, while a lot of the people we saw 10 years ago start to retire or phase out,” Weith says. “Now we’re seeing this new demographic where people are the focus for how to get the work done, more than the project.” For those new team members, “flexibility and self-awareness and adaptability are really important, and that comes into play when we talk about workplace culture.”
While the ASW Global Consulting team is known for its warehouse management expertise, Weith says the wider focus has always been part of the mix. “It always comes down to the same things: people, process, and communications,” she says. “We can learn a new skill or trade or technology, but the culture in an organization still needs to be strong. If it’s not, you’re going to see employee turnover, and satisfaction goes down.”
Ironically, it’s when companies shift some of their emphasis away from measures like productivity and return on investment that “you see that people are more engaged, they’re happier, they’re more likely to stay longer, and they’re also likely to be a little bit more flexible and resilient” when the company runs into unforeseen challenges, she says.
