Listen as Scott Luton and Greg White welcome Rocky Romanella to the SCNR Studio.

[00:00:05] It’s time for Supply Chain Now Radio Broadcasting Life Supply chain capital of the country, Atlanta, Georgia. Supply Chain Now Radio spotlights the best in all things supply chain the people, the technology’s the best practices and the critical issues of the day. And now here are your hosts.

[00:00:29] Hey, good morning. Scott Luton here with you live once again on Supply Chain Now Radio. Welcome back to the show. On this episode, we’re excited to be interviewing Rockey Roman L-A, a proven SUPPLY CHAIN leader and author of the recently published book Tighten the Lug Nuts The Principles of Balanced Leadership. So stay tuned for a lively and enlightening discussion. A quick programing note. Like all of our series on Supply Chain Now Radio, you can find our replays on a variety of channels Apple podcast, SoundCloud, YouTube, really wherever you get your podcast from. We’d love to have you subscribe so you go missing thing. Big thanks to all of our sponsors. Allow us to bring these best practices and innovative ideas to you, our audience. Those include Apex, Atlanta, the Effective syndicate, ProPurchaser.com, Talentstream and many more. You can check out each of our sponsors on the show notes of this episode. All right. Let’s welcome in my fearless co-host here today. Greg White serial supply chain, tech entrepreneur, chronic disruptor, trusted advisor and hard core chiefs fan Agent Gray, too, and great, especially after last night.

[00:01:32] It’s always good to stomp the guts out of the Raiders. Big guy, big a big weekend full of gains, but we won’t date that show, so we’ll keep on drag in there. So how are you doing? I’m doing great. Yeah, it’s great to be back in studio. Yes. Not to date us, but we’ve been on taking a little bit of of holiday respite here. Yeah, but one hundred and eighty two family members I think. Come visit the abode. Six trips to the Atlanta airport. That’s that’s 13 hours of driving. Well, great to be back.

[00:02:03] And great to be back with a.. What’s going be a home run? Yeah. Yeah. LaRocco, it comes highly recommended by several great friends of the show. Let’s welcome in our featured guest today, Rocky Roman Nela, CEO and founder of 360 Management Services, former CEO of Unitech Global Services and former president u._p._s.

[00:02:21] Rocky, how you doing? Well, thanks. Pleasure to be here. And let me tell you what, that many trips to the airport. That’s Logistics.

[00:02:27] That is Logistics. Yes. So what?

[00:02:31] Yeah, some of it was some of it was really late. Late order or deliveries, you know, just the. Oh dad can’t take him. Yeah.

[00:02:40] Well that’s you know, if you look at the skill Logistics, the number one that no one ever really talks a lot about is flexibility.

[00:02:46] That’s right. Yes. To be able to walk that line of scrimmage, you call it audible.

[00:02:51] Will it be for long be drones. Right. Drones back and forth. Airport.

[00:02:56] And you know, I can’t picture grandma hanging from a drawer. And I had this my say and I don’t know, grandma. I have Liegghio on the way to go. I can’t see that area. Right. FAA might not. I did not know that. Yeah. Personally, I like the show.

[00:03:10] So if our audience cain’t can’t tell where we’re in for a very lively conversation here today were me picking Rocky’s brain on a variety of insights and from leadership to supply chain to Logistics to M&A activity. So if your company is, you know, acquiring other organizations in the in a in the Logistics space, which is very prevalent these days, you’re going to hear some best practices from Rockys background. So looking forward to that before we dove into all that, Greg. Let’s get the latest from Supply Chain Now Radio newsdesk.

[00:03:39] So what are you. Yeah, I’m in the team up to the man. Here’s some interesting stuff that you need to know. So Dollar Tree. Thanks. I’m sure that the Rite Aid executives and real estate team are thankful for Dollar Tree for picking up all of their empty stores. But not only is Dollar Tree taken over a lot of Rite Aid real estate, they have just hired a new executive to help them with something I don’t think we talk enough about in Supply chain shrink, which is basically the goods exiting the store without going past the register. However that happens, you know that I’m talking to SFL that this could be it could be theft, it could be loss, it could be store use an undocumented, it could be damaged packaging. It could be any number of things in a number of ways. But, you know, having come from retail myself, that was always a big issue. And you always had a target to keep it under 2 percent in any way that it must be a big issue for them. And so they’ve brought in a new SVP, Robert oberholtzer Roesler, who was with Rite Aid prior to that. And he’s going to take a look at Family Dollar and Dollar Tree, the two brands that this company manages. And it’s it’s a big issue in them in their. Isation shrink increased fifteen percentage points in the third quarter after jumping forty five points in the second quarter. So obviously they need to do something about it. This is not unique to dollar stores. It’s not unique to Dollar Tree. It’s common in in retail. It’s common also in distribution. Right. I mean, if a forklift runs into a case of oil, you know those bottles. You know, those those units are our shrink. But Gary Philbin’s seems to be on the on the on the game here. But get this number here in our NRF did a study shrink in 2018 for four retailers, fifty point six billion dollars. So DLT initial. Yeah. An issue that we need to we need to tackle.

[00:05:50] You know, it’s interesting, though, when you you know, you think about that and how much money is associated with that. And I know in the introduction when you talked about the show and you talk about peace that people first. Which is it really is about people. It’s always people that are executing your brand. You know, I’m thinking that here we have the shrink problem.

[00:06:08] But the first thing a company is going to do to send out a memo, stop spending money, no more travel every pencil. We’re gonna we’re gonna get down to that to save money. Meanwhile, we got shrink over here. That’s just disappeared. Yeah. Yeah. No, without that right now. But you just drove someplace and you fly away. You went a long way. Is that a year g._p._s. We gonna talk about your act 40-mile. Yeah.

[00:06:30] I mean so there are so many of those opportunities, whether it’s from a health and safety point of view. Yes. You know them the amount of money that’s held, you know, aside for your health and safety and you practices as well as the shrink it. So it’s amazing to me the opportunities that are out there besides the obvious efficiencies that that and the fifty point six billion dollars.

[00:06:52] I wonder how that impacts the pricing that all of all of us.

[00:06:55] Oh, it definitely got X. Every single penny of that is paid for by the consumer. And every penny of that comes off the bottom line of of the retailer. And and the issue with it is they don’t know that it’s lost until after they can do anything about it. So many retailers do an annual physical inventory, and that’s when they discovered that’s when they discover they’ve got issues in there in their perpetual inventory system that keeps count of what’s in the stores. And that’s when they discover, you know, you open 50 boxes of rubber gloves to nail, you know, look in these work in the auto parts department, right? Mm hmm.

[00:07:38] So clearly shrink is on the minds of many retailers. What what else is on the minds of the news team? Supply Chain Now Radio.

[00:07:52] Clearly, Sriskandarajah, there is no doubt about this man. Oh, damn it. I feel pretty strongly about this. Yeah. I’m a little choked up.

[00:08:02] So this is interesting. So Amazon is trying to buy its way into other markets than they have in India. They just bought a very small percentage of future future retail in India. And that was proved by their. Effectively the same as their it’s their Federal Trade Commission. So now they own a small portion of a future retail along with a couple of other chains in India in order to try and expand their footprint outside of the U.S.. And, of course, to combat the largest online retailer in the world, Alibaba. You know, it’s funny that we talk about Amazon so much like they’re ubiquitous. They’re not even second in terms of of online retailers in the world. That’s good point. You know, so it’s it’s an important thing for them to do. It’s a relatively small stake. But knowing their strategy and I’ve worked with them enough to know their strategy, it is land and expand. And like your username and emanate got rocky. So you know how this works. You start with a small stake and you just continue to add additional stake in in a company or you use that as leverage point to find an, you know, an adjacent company to to help you expand.

[00:09:14] So these guys are like they show Christmas, Carol, right there.

[00:09:17] Retailers past like, oh, yeah, they get rid of the Amazon. They got rid of that wall. Will Woolworths insiders at a world. And other retailers of President Ali wanted a rete future retailer. So they’re all three of the girls credit from the Christmas Carol. Right. And that’s a great market.

[00:09:33] I mean, look, it’s inevitable that India and China will become the two leading in at least marketplaces, if not economies in the world. It’s inevitable that China will become just because of the size of their population. But so getting to those those markets is really helpful. And so, you know, it’s a long range plan. Everything that Amazon does, they’re looking 15, 20 years down the road. Interesting.

[00:10:01] Ok. And then to wrap up the news items. This is my neighbors.

[00:10:05] This is my favorite. This has very little to do with Supply chain, but it’s fast and it’s a fascinating story in the last week. Two major, this is this is my Ocean’s Eleven moment. Two major thefts in Germany, both on the in the former East Germany, the former German Democratic Republic and one in Berlin at the Stasi Museum. The Stasi, if you’re not familiar with, that’s their secret police. They were disappearing and exiling and offing people during the communist socialist days of Germany. And some precious items were taken there. And that’s just about six days after someone bought us bought stole almost a billion dollars worth of jewels in Dresden, which is in a section called Saxony of Germany. By starting a fire in an Lu in an electrical plant and little diversion. Yeah. And also it also cut off all the electricity and then they busted in and stole about a billion dollars worth of jewels. So obviously some security issues in Germany. I got to say, I studied Soviet politics from college, so I’m laughing a little bit that the order of Karl Marx and the order of Lenin were part of the things stolen, not laughing so much at the forty nine carat diamond that was stolen from the museums in Saxony. But clearly, these and those and those, I don’t know what you know about the geography of Germany. Those cities are only about two and a half hours apart. About 120 miles apart. So it could be the same group of people.

[00:11:47] Wow. So look for the movie. Yeah.

[00:11:53] I don’t know if that’s a fun tidbit or what. Interesting. Anyway.

[00:11:56] Well, exciting times. Supply chain, appreciate you and Malcolm and the whole team putting on that report together. So we’ve got a great guest here today. And if you can already tell, weighed in on several news stories. Rocky Roman L.A. So really looking forward to picking your brain. I really enjoyed the prep car too. We had there’s so many different directions we can take this interview in. But we’ve got, I think, a neat conversation kind of mapped out based on a lot of feedback we get on our shows from our audience and what their interests are and what they they’ll find helpful in industry. Interesting. But for starters, let’s get now you look better. So where did you grow up and tell us about your upbringing a little bit.

[00:12:35] Well, thank you for asking. It’s a pleasure meeting you and look forward to speaking with your audience. And so the news was unbelievable.

[00:12:43] I was like, oh, yeah, to my seat. Oh, stop. Else we got company. And it’s pretty good there, you know? So grew up in Jersey.

[00:12:50] Jersey guy. My dad came from Italy and we. I was born in Manhattan, but my dad said we’re going into the country. So really early on, we moved to Jersey.

[00:12:58] So that was it, which was the country was a country for him in 1957.

[00:13:02] I guess know, but grew up in Jersey and started working at u._p._s as a part time or loan trailers. My dad said that one of my four kids is going to college. You’re the oldest who looked at me but got no money, so he had to figure this out. So U.P.S. afforded me opportunity, worked my way through college. Jerai. I actually went to school to be a high school history teacher and a baseball coach. And then as I’m working my way through U.P.S. as a part time, are realizing that the best supervisors are managers and leaders were those people who get their people to connect the dots. And so for me, I never gave up my teaching coaching passion.

[00:13:34] I just did the coaching and teaching in a different classroom and in a different field. It was just inside of business. And so I always felt like if I was if you were going to be a good leader, you had to find a way to get your people understand where you’re going in and you know, how how can they connect the dots and what role they play. And so graduated St. John’s universities or Red Storm? Yeah. All my kids went to Seton Hall now. So we got a lot of competition.

[00:14:00] How do you live a lie? Yeah.

[00:14:02] So they’re all over the seat hall and then. So. Biggest fan right now. But so it was a nice way for me to work my way through school. Kim Driver in Plainfield, New Jersey. UBS had a promotion from within policy, which I took advantage of. And then my dad told me two things that stuck with me throughout my whole career. The first thing is I’m getting the job. U.P.S. and a guy with to, you know, one of the guys on a baseball team, Mike Coffee, got the job first, then the rest of us all. You know, it’s like the whole high school class was there for a while. And then my dad told me two things. The first thing he told me was, whatever they ask you to do. Say yes and thank you. And then learn your job and learn some more. When did the day you think, you know, everything is a day someone just passed right by? Yeah. Don’t ever think you know everything. And those two those two things that he told me stuck with me throughout my life and career. And it really helped me as I was growing in u._p._s. Because, you know, U.P.S. would tap me on the shoulder and say, hey, we got this new opportunity for you. And I may not have felt ready. You or I may not have had the confidence. But what I learned to that was as a leader, you’re going to have to believe in your people at times until they’re ready to believe in themselves. Yeah, right. And so you know that, you know, you get that job somewhat tap on your shoulder.

[00:15:10] And I think and yeah, I remember when when we purchased mailbox, etc. and they called me the Alanda, hey, we want you to, you know, can’t you’re gonna run this on behalf of U.P.S.. I’m looking at Jim Kelly was our CEO at the time.

[00:15:21] Like you got to have somebody smarter than this. We really found the guy. You think you do this, right?

[00:15:27] And he’s like, rock, you got this, you know. And so you’re just you’re describing the beauty of volunteers that we need within organizations to do big and bold things. You have to have new volunteer leaders. Right. They’re willing to get their comfort zone, I believe. Well, I think that’s the key. Well, to get your comfort zone. And then I think as the leader, clearly they believed in me when I wasn’t ready to believe in myself and then eat. So as you’re growing and developing in that job and someone’s believing in you, you kind of get to that break, even point where your confidence, you feel good about yourself and you start to think, well, maybe I can do this right. Then you have that kind of break even point. Then the next transition, I think, is what really defines a good leader is the fact that now you step back. So, yeah, I was helping you. I was kind of believing in you until your right to believe in yourself. But now do you believe in yourself? I got to, you know, not not overmanaged. I got to run down you. Now, you don’t need me behind you every five minutes asking questions. What you need is you got this. I have complete confidence in me. Go run, you know, fly kind of idea. So I think that that to me was a great lesson that I saw, that I that I realized that, hey, as leaders, we’ve got to believe often. Oftentimes we have to believe in our people until they’re ready to believe in themselves. And you help them transition into that new role, a new responsibility.

[00:16:41] When do you think you’ve reached that point? I’m just curious, when do you think you believed in yourself enough? You know, that you didn’t need you need your leaders believe it.

[00:16:53] I don’t think I ever stopped that feeling that, you know, because the biggest thing so was always as me, like, what do you think your biggest strength is? My biggest strength is I you know, I know the things I don’t know. And I’m not afraid to ask for help. I mean, I don’t feel that that’s a sign of weakness. And so I think even as I was transitioning and took on my 2nd district. So I I was a district manager. So I kind of knew what my second district was going to be like, but it was a bigger district. So you always try to find those individuals that you can talk to. And, you know, when I became a CEO, the chairman of the board at the time, Mike was wonderful. And he said to me, look, I’ve got this individual for you. It’s someone that, you know, I think is a good person to be your mentor. You’re going to need somebody to have those conversation with. And I think that I was always very open to that. So I I don’t know if I was ever 100 percent where I was, like, you know, I going too far. Now I know, you know, we got it. But I think as time goes on, your confidence in the fact that you’ve done it before kind of helps you through that. But, you know, I never wanted to embarrass myself or my family or let you know. Let it get too much. Yeah, let people down. So I think I always start out a little bit hesitant. And then, you know, I always like to believe that there’s so much more for me to learn. So I don’t think I ever got to that point where I ever thought I had it now.

[00:18:08] I think that’s an important lesson for our listeners, as you may never be comfortable with next to your job when you get it right. You might not feel worthy, but I think part of the lesson is knowing that someone does have the confidence in you ought to give you at least enough confidence to give it a try. And if you, as you said. Right, give it your best shot. You know, and you you keep that learning mentality, then you you’ll be successful. Yeah.

[00:18:34] Well, you know, it’s funny. There’s a there’s a great book out there. I mean, I think there’s so many great books out there to read. But to me, some of the best books you can read are children’s books. Right. So the books I read My Kids when very young and there’s one great book is called Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. Right. And and so, of course, you know, quickly, the pigeon, you know, the buster hit.

[00:18:53] Why lots of the pigeon, keep saying.

[00:18:56] So the bus driver turns to the people on the bus and says, hey, don’t let the pigeon drive the bus. Right. So he got the bus driver or the people on the bus. And of course, the pigeon pigeon shows up. Hey, I want to drive the bus. I need to drive the bus on the best bus driver. And, of course, you know, they got a candidate, but pigeon drive the bus. And so as I tell people all the time, on any one given day, you could be all three of those people. You know, you could be the bus driver. You could be the people on the bus. You know, as a CEO, people think you must be the bus driver. Right. Well, until you’re talking to the Sheer owners and the board and dalva started, you’re the pigeon. Hey, let me run the company. I got this. You got to help me out here. Right. And then that moment after the Vester call, you go from being the bus driver. You go being the patient to the bus driver. Here’s what we’re gonna do. And then when you’re sitting on the board as a member of the board, you’re you’re people on the bus. So on any one given day, you’re all three of those individuals. And you know it or not, you know it or not. And in understanding that and understanding what role and responsibility you have, I think this is so important now. You know, I think that’s that’s the interesting part. Everybody thinks all you’re the CEO.

[00:19:58] You’ve got to. You know, it’s great for you or you’re the you know, you’re the pigeon or, you know, look, there’s no easy jobs in any company. Yeah. And so you have to respect everyone and every job that they’re doing because there are no easy jobs.

[00:20:10] Yeah. So let’s talk about some that professional journey you’ve alluded to already. Cup Thompson, the interview thus far, you know, from u._p._s through through a very successful career. u._p._s. Were your last role was President Ryder of one of the markets and then to CEO of Unitech Global Services to what you’re doing now? CARR And a Reader’s Digest in a nutshell. Tell us about that journey.

[00:20:33] Waldor My U.P.S. tenure and I know you’ve met many great U.P.S. routes, great company, great people. I was I was my U.P.S. background’s interesting in the sense that I did in some of the nontraditional things that u._p._s or for example, we purchased mailbox, et cetera, and then rebranded to the U.P.S. store that I had that was during import. And so learned franchising got a chance to meet some wonderful people, truly. You know, some of the, you know, inside of a large organization, you believe you have a Peno responsibility. No one really understands PNL until you’re a business owner. And I have such great respect for small business owners, because if you think about a small business owner is all in. They take everything they own in life, slide it across the table and they’re all in it. At the end of the day, they hit the cash register to draw up and they pay their people, they pay their vendors. And what’s left in that cartridge is what they bring home for the family. That’s all in. Could have Peno responsibilities inside a large organization, but. But that big elephant behind you. Got a backstop, right? So working with the answer with these franchisees taught me so much. Great respect for them, great respect for the network. And so I learned and look, I I’ve never really been an entrepreneur like them, and I don’t assume that I could be until I’ve really done it.

[00:21:45] And great respect for the entrepreneurial spirit. And then we put we had over 20 acquisitions that we built, U.P.S. supply chain solutions today, which is today a global entity and you side U.P.S.. And had had decide the hemisphere for U.P.S. and and, you know, very proud of the fact that really helped build that the health care side of you because of that piece of business. And so just so those were all nontraditional things and ran the southeast and central region for U.P.S. around the traditional parts of u._p._s. So then retired, recruited to be a CEO of a telecom company, we built cell towers to create its own towers. Did the 3G to 4G. It’s a simple matatus installation of cable and direct TV had a sale there. So while we were always on the buyside at U.P.S., integrate those companies, you know, got the feeling of what it’s like to be bought. Yeah, those at the table and then retired from there. And then after the sale and start his company, 360 Management Services, where we we are three legs of our store. Keynote speaking, which I do. And then we have the training piece that we have the process improvement piece. So I guess in hindsight, the thing I failed miserably at is retirement.

[00:23:00] There’s still time to change.

[00:23:01] So every time I retire, I see w-. What are we going to do when you guys do not follow me around top? Right. I figure out something that we’re pretty quick. So I mean, I’m working hard to be success. Yeah. Yeah. There you go. Yeah.

[00:23:13] So throughout all those experiences you just described, one of things we were talking about before we went live was all the differentiation in the Logistics space.

[00:23:22] I mean, you know, to your point earlier, when you go to the hefty trade shows, which were big fan, that organization, which is now part of the borders. Yeah, I just saw that organization. That’s great. Or any of the trade shows, industry association meetings. You see all the big players, you know, the u._p._s is and many other name brands. But what speak to the differentiation in 2019 and beyond that you see being the important component of differentiation and the Logistics space.

[00:23:50] Well, I think the first thing that I think is, is something that I think everyone should pay attention to. And I don’t say that in a preachy way. I just think that when you look at it, the demise of a Supply chain company or Logistics company is come out as being commoditized and getting down to the complete, complete price. And it’s difficult, especially if you’re that small, medium, you know, operator and you’re sitting there and it cuts out the price. And so Froome, I think the key to moving out of that commodity space is your ability to move from being an approved vendor for an organization to a trusted adviser. Once you when you’re an approved vendor, you’re you’re going to always get forced into the commodity side of pricing. You’re on the list. Yeah, you’re on the list of approved Ryder. You know, accounting is driving everything at that point. Yeah, we can use them because they’re approved. But when you get to be that trusted advisor, think you’re so much farther off steam. So, for example, you know, I may have a client that, you know, I’m handling two or three lines of their products and now they’re going into a fourth line.

[00:24:50] Well, if they’re calling me early in this process and Asten and talking to me about the distribution channel and how they’re going to go to market before they even go to. Market will now my trusted advisor. I mean, sitting at that conference table as if I’m part of that organization, if you can get to that point now, you’re out of the commodity space. Now you’re the trusted advisor. Now all of a sudden there’s value in your mind. There’s value in in in Europe. You know, the things that you’re talking to them about. And they can’t they can’t visualize not using you because they need you for more than just the movement of goods and services. You’re not selling copier paper. You bring in an enhanced value as they solve problems so they can grow right. And get better or deliver better service. Well, and I think the other thing you’re doing is you’re you’re providing the ability to handle a complex problem, but still be a small business owner because they don’t look at you as a small business owner any longer.

[00:25:44] They kind of look at a hit. You’re my trusted advisor. You’re my Logistics consultant. Right. And so that I think, you know, kind of changes that, you know, dynamic so that because what’s the big you know, if you think about it, what’s the strength of a large organization? You know, well-capitalized. You know, they have a foot, a very large footprint. They have success. They have a brand name. Less risk than doing business with the right Albus brand. What’s what’s the downside of a large organization? Well, come out at that.

[00:26:11] You know, they’re well-capitalized, big company, lots of people. Well, you get loyalty, you get lost. So if you can, as a small business owner, if you if you can, you know, portray yourself as that company that’s flexible, I’m going to going to help you grow and and grow your business. I’m a partner. I’m a trusted advisor. But yet I you know, I am well-capitalized. You know, I’m going to be in business for the long haul. I’m here for you. You kind of take the best of both worlds and you and you and you’re able to show that or, you know, we’re going to cause if you think about it, your handle and the inventory of a company that’s the lifeblood of their company. So that’s their fear.

[00:26:49] Yeah. And in the end, you’ve got to humanize that relationship. Look, people people who come to you to give you opportunity, because you were that guy, right? They came to you because they knew that Rockie got stuff done. And it’s the same when you have that that trusted advisor relationship. It’s it’s it becomes very human. You know, it’s interesting.

[00:27:09] The the number one, you know, the example I always think about. And one of the ones I’m most proud of and today, I mean, obviously, you know, things that U.P.S. does and it’s just amazing. It’s there. This is a great company because it’s sold out to people. And so I think about so we get into the hot healthcare side of the business and we’re winning our first flagship customer. And we’re sitting in Louisville, Kentucky, in this new, you know, health care warehouse we’ve just opened up. And. And he in there, they’re our first customer. And I won’t go through names, stuff, but. So he looks at me and he says to me, Gary says to me, you know, Rockit, we’re ready. We’re just we’re just about ready to go.

[00:27:48] He said, but here’s my concern. He said, my concern is that my eighteen hundred packages a day, we’re going to get lost in your 40 million packages a day. And today he looked he looked at me and I said, You know, Gary, I said, that won’t happen. And he said to me, Who are you? How can you guarantee that? I said, Because these are packages to us. These are patients. Now, today, that’s a monster inside u._p._s. Healthcare is not a package is the patient. Sure. But I believe that so sincerely. And the way we executed that is as we started to onboard health care patients, we we would take the three day or two day orientation of the health care company and actually give that to our people. And then we actually had up. We actually spoke with these companies and said, look, you know, do you for example, if it’s a class B product or it’s a, you know, diabetes pump or whatever that product was, do you have people that inside your organization that use those products, would you have customers that used a product that would be willing to talk to our people and we’d bring them in and they would address our people? Because the goal was, how do I get a person to pick that product and have the face of the patient? Because if you think about it, ninety nine point one percent on time, the c_v_s_ or Walgreens or Rite Aid. Right. Is a good number. But you don’t want to be the one customer, didn’t you? Um, patient didn’t get their product, right. Right. So you got to get that line of sight. So I think that’s what’s so important. Yeah.

[00:29:10] Well, and U.P.S. is ranked like many companies are ramping up their services in the healthcare space with U.P.S. premier, which have made a big splash here not just long ago. Okay. So let’s talk about let’s all go back to the U.P.S. store because you kind of glazed over your neck, deep roll and a lot of that of that or you know, and I got to tell you, being a small business at 2013 with my own business, we’ve leaned heavily on the U.P.S. store in Walton County, a big shout out to those groups over the incredible customer service. And, you know, we we used to run training classes, so we owed all of our folks that completed the training certificates. So there. Tom, do I’ll take hundreds of packages to the EPA store and they’ll be, you know, instead of instead of making me feel. Everything out and spend three hours there just sent there, we got you covered.

[00:30:02] And as a small business person that values that time, I can use those two hours somewhere else. I mean, it really they do. Lu home-run work there. So tell me. Tell us more about, you know, U.P.S. purchasing and acquiring mailboxes, et cetera, and then how your re-branded that rocky.

[00:30:20] So by the way, you just described a trusted adviser that Rod the difference between a commodity where you’re shopping. What’s my best shipping rates to the trusted advisor? So now so. So. Well we purchased mailboxes etc at the time. The problem we had at U.P.S. at that time was we were we were like, you know, everybody. Everybody got a package from U.P.S. in those days, but nobody knew how to put a package into u._p._s. Right. So if you think about it, you got packages like how stuff get in there. You know, you get a sense of people. And so we didn’t really have all access channels or access channels were really the U.P.S. customer counters and all of our facilities. So mail box will MBT Was that access channel opportunity for us? But we quickly realized that the UPDF MBBS last U.P.S. store at the time was really a outstanding arm of our Logistics piece of business that was going to be a great place for for return. It was going to be an alternate delivery location. It was had the opportunity to be in today. We talk about it all the time there.

[00:31:22] So it really was the chance for small businesses to help other small businesses, small businesses supporting small businesses. And if you think about it as a small business owner, that small business owner inside the U.P.S. store was supporting you as a small business owner. Absolutely. Now, what are the things that we realized early on, too, was that the entrepreneurial spirit was magic, you know.

[00:31:44] And from that, you know, I clearly realized early on that that was the magic in it. And and having independent business owners was really gonna be such an important part of that network. So today it’s it’s one of and I don’t know if this is exactly true or not. So don’t quote me. Exactly. But it is probably one of the few franchise networks that’s 100 percent franchisee. So there’s no corporate owned stores and u._p._s store network. And that was my plan because we knew that we wanted to capture the magic of the entrepreneurial spirit. Now, today, you know that McDonald’s has X percent of McDonald’s that they own. And a lot of times you do that as corporate owned stores because you want to test different products. We felt like we had that relationship with the franchisees that they would be willing to do that. So then we we we were looking at and said, well, you know, what do we do from a rib? From a branding point of view. And so we tested three brand scenarios. We tested M.B.A with sort of a U.P.S. support, again, mailboxes, cetera. Yeah, I mean, I’m sorry. And then we tested a co-branded look. Right. And then we tested the U.P.S. store brand. So we had these test markets running to decide what the what the ultimate brand would be. The NBC kind of supported by U.P.S..

[00:33:01] If you if you look today, Hallmark has stores and then they have what they call the golden crown. But nobody really knows what that means. So we were gonna do something like that. We’re gonna have like A and B, what, a gold shield and think that that was it. But people were so confused. And what differentiates your NDB? That’s not one with another one. So that didn’t really have the lift that we thought. And then we liked the co-branded look. We liked the MBP with the U.P.S. store logo. The problem was when you’re in a shopping mall or in a strip mall, that they’re very strict on their marks. So somewhat allow you to have the NBC logo, but not the U.P.S. store, MBBS logo, someone that you can have the U.P.S. logo, but not the the. So, yeah, you were disadvantaging someone who was who depending on the, you know, the requirements of the the strip mall. And so the you end the U.P.S. store actually won in the test with the biggest lift. So we we rebranded to the u._p._n store and then that became what’s today, the U.P.S.

[00:33:59] store now. Now there, over 5000 stores today were close to thirty five hundred is not what it was. Yeah. And then a trick for us was we did something very unique at the time. We did not mandate the conversion. And so it’s still today the largest rebranding of a franchise network in franchise history. And it’s and what we did is we went out did road shows from January till about the middle of March and visited with all of the areas, all the franchisees. And then they they voted, you know, to become the U.P.S. store. So so it really was a remarkable undertake in a short amount of time. If you you could liken it to a roadshow in an IPO kind of idea. The difference is you went out and visited all your store owners. So love. Yeah. It was just a great group of people. And, you know, today it’s just, you know, every time I drive by a store, is it just great pride? And they’re such a great representation of the area’s brand. Absolutely.

[00:34:53] And they’re bought in. And that’s not easy to do. So I had a friend who worked for Duncan. Knutsen his. He was a franchise consultant. And that’s what he was. He would try to get them to convert to the newest concept store, which always resulted in an increase of sales. But it’s hard to get a franchisee to invest in that because as you told a start earlier, they’re taking their money out of the register to pay themselves, right?

[00:35:20] Yeah. It’s scary to any other thing as you bought an MBA EA at the time. Now today, you know, you’re buying a U.P.S. store, but now those day you bought an MBA. Right. So now the question is, you know, should I shouldn’t I am I advantage or disadvantage? You know, and it’s funny.

[00:35:35] A quick story. So I told you, I’m from Jersey right away. My cousin Joe is great. That great guy Zadok. So we’re running these these meetings all over the place. And so this guy goes in, see my cousin Joey and my guys.

[00:35:49] Cause what’s going on is I’m feeling good. You know, I’m under a lot of stress, too. Q What do you do? He goes, I own an MBA. He goes, Really? Go, Yay! Looks at he looks at my cousin’s name. Go. Wait a minute. Joe Rogan. Are you like Rocky? That’s my cousin. He’s the guy making me make this decision.

[00:36:06] Did you always like icon? I think I can help you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shah, what I was sure was going on over there.

[00:36:13] Hey, it’s OK. It’s a business decision. You shouldn’t wear. So it’s is interesting. So you have any Cousin Vinny stories you can share with?

[00:36:19] No. Come on. That’s a stereotype. I can go off on it. I would go off for a while. I know that one of our favorite movies of all time.

[00:36:28] All right. So let’s talk about we’re going to move ahead before before talk about your book. I want to get you tell us where you’re spending your time here today.

[00:36:37] Well, I live in Jersey now with a 360 management services. I do about 15 or 20 keynote speech is a day a year. I do a lot of breakout sessions. I enjoy the breakout sessions.

[00:36:48] For me, the breakout and the training are the most fun because you’re you’re really seeing a man love, you know, keynotes are great. You meet wonderful people, but you really see that people connect the dots. The other thing on the break down the keynote that I like to do is all. So, for example, a few guys signed me up for a keynote speech. Hypothetically, I did the the dental labs. You know, it’s beats. So I said, you know, I’ll go out, visit four or five dental labs.

[00:37:13] Yeah, I did the you know, the association of Corgi get box. So I went out visit Court Harvath box people. So I enjoy that part of it cause you get to see different people in different industries. And I never like sitting at a keynote. Well, you know, when all the conferences and I attended as an attendee, you know, somebody rolls over 45 minutes, doesn’t, you know, Willie bag rolls in. Does your speech leave? Right. I I want to use my examples to be relevant to their industry. So for me, it’s a lot of fun. Can I get a chance in this point in my life and career to meet different people, see different industries? And what I will tell you what you come to find out. There’s a common denominator of issues in almost every industry, whether it’s dental labs, corrugated box, you know, trucking, Logistics, pick one, you know, have to market, you know, products. It really comes down to people. It’s your ability as a small business to retain and attract top talent. And how do you compete against the, you know, Amazon’s Googles of the world? And we talk about that all the time. There’s a succession planning piece that large companies talk about, but think about if you’re a third generation company. What’s your succession plan? Yeah. As Junior gonna run this thing or not, you know, does Junior want to run this thing or not, you know, kind of idea. And so I think that, you know, those are, you know, kind of issues that are not just reserved for large corporations. You know, how do I retain attract the best talent? You know, succession planning, the training and developing of our people inside our organization. But I think it’s the same in small businesses. How do I retain the best talent and how do I understand, you know, what does the next three to five years look like? Mm hmm.

[00:38:52] So much there. We could die, but for the second time we’ll keep dropping because I’m really excited that get some questions out about this book that’s been so well received. Tighten the lug nuts. The principles of balanced leadership that that you can get. Our listeners can get a variety of places, including Amazon. But, Greg, I know you had some specific questions that we want to kind of pose to Rocky. Yeah.

[00:39:12] Yeah. I like the idea of you having a book because as you described, you are more of a interactive type leader, whatever idea. Sheer. I can see it. Yeah, right. And I like the idea. I liked the idea of you being able to interact with people. So I think that format is fantastic. And I agree with you. Sometimes those keynotes can be a little bit generic. But you know, when you when you think about your book, what prompted you to share what you shared in there? And I mean and tell us a little bit about what you do share in the book. Right, for those of those who haven’t read it. But what prompted you to do that?

[00:39:51] Well, it’s really to kind of concepts. The first is this concept, the Lu legacy. So I believe the the two evaluation. A person as a leader is what’s their legacy. And for me, legacy is do you leave things a little better and you found them. Are people better because of their time with you or your customers? Better because of their interaction with your company? So for me, this book just gave me a chance to sort of put down some of the greats, you know, great lessons I learned from other people and maybe leave some of those lessons behind as sort of my legacy or people better, you know, because they read the book and they feel better about themselves or where they have a few A-ha moments. So for me, I thought, you know, that was sort of the the theory behind it. And then and then I also think that, you know, it’s interesting, you know, when you think about all of the opportunities you had, it gave me a chance to thank two very special people with my dad, who was a big influence in my life growing up and some great lessons there. I mean, you know, we talked about two of them. Yeah. You know. Yes. And thank you. And whatever they asked. You know, learn your job. Yes. More. Well, the third one was. It’s what you do when no one’s watching that counts. You know, and by the way, I’m I’m sort of paraphrasing these by my brothers. My sister always laugh because you knew my dad.

[00:41:03] You wouldn’t be articulating exactly like this would be an attack to be in a time. Probably. But but, you know, and he said, you know, if you think about that, I’m ever saying to him what he said to me. It’s what you do when no one’s watching accounts. My dad just ruined it. Nobody was watching. It’s kind of the best part of the whole thing. You know, and he looked at me and he said to me, I never forget. He said, you know, there’s always two people watching the man upstairs and you looking in a mirror. And that was a thing. So I always felt like I had to look myself in the mirror every day and said, look, maybe I didn’t make all the best right decisions.

[00:41:32] You know, maybe I didn’t, you know, attain all the goals I wanted, but no one outworked me. And I did the best job I could every day. And that to me, what was so important. So we talked a lot about that in the book and in my wife, Debbie, who’s been such a huge influence in my adult, my adult life thing. And I would say my greatest management lesson comes from Debbie Rowe Mainella. So I know if we have a minute, I can share with her. So we go out to dinner one night, you know, so. So, you know, I get it.

[00:42:00] You can imagine. Nice and Catholic kid. So, you know, Chris, when you go to a Catholic church, you think you own the pew. If you’re in the same pew every day, just watching that pew.

[00:42:07] Why is that? Only the Catholic Church. I think we feel that ever out. I know it’s like when you’re at my like, you walk in, like, who’s in my spot here? Right.

[00:42:16] Then, of course, she got through to and take a piece and like, you know. So you do that. So we meet these new couple who’s in somebody else’s spot that day. Oh, yeah. So we meet a couple. And long story short. You know, Debbie’s very friendly. And so we we got to dinner with them one night. And so she. We have four four kids, three girls, two boys and two girls. And so she looks at Debbie and says that Debbie. So who’s your favorite? And then says what he means goes, who’s your favorite? I don’t have any favorites or all my favorite. So the woman goes. Come on. One has to be your favorite. Jean Maureen, Nicole Rocky. And you know, they’re all my favorites. So now I kind of push back why we’re here, how she answers this one. How could that be? And she goes and this is the lesson that I thought was so insightful and so thoughtful. She said to me, she said to her, because each of them gets what they need when they need it. I think about that. Each of them gets what they need when they need it. So they all feel like they’re the favorite. And from that moment forward, that’s how I manage my own all my responsibilities. So if I had a staff and I had a seasoned controller, they didn’t need me to overmanaged. What they needed me was let them go, go support me.

[00:43:20] And so they felt like their favorite because Rocky did bother me. Rocky, let me do my job. If I had a new director of sales who may need me to help him or her close a deal, spend more time with them. Go with them on up on a visit. Well, then they felt special because, look, he’s taking time out of his schedule to come with me and do that. So I think to me, that was my that to me was that thoughtful, insightful lesson that I got from dad that basically was give your peop each person should get what they need when they needed it. And if you manage that way, you’re really going to you’re going to be the most effective manager or leader you can be. And everyone’s going to feel pretty good about themselves. J.A. jati management styles kind of will not want what you need when you need. Yeah, that’s exactly right. I mean, so that so the book gave me the chance to recognize two various important people. And then as you guys can tell now, everything has a story. And then years ago, I was sitting at a meeting and somebody brought, you know, someone to bring an idea. And I hated hated the feeling of saying, hey, Scott, well, what if this. And so Joe Carphone was created.

[00:44:24] I would say, hey, I think that’s a good idea. But you think Joe’s carphone thinks that’s a good idea. And so people like. Right. So that was my way of challenging them in a positive way, because I think one of the mistakes that supervisors make is it managers, leaders. They stop at the first right answer. So how do y in a positive way have moved past that first? Right. Don’t start. Because if you go past that first right answer, you may find oh, arteries deeper, wider. You may start to uncover unintended consequences. So by way of challenging you not to stop at the first right answer was to say, hey, I think it’s a good idea. But you think, Joseph, I’ll think. Good idea.

[00:44:58] And we’re we’re gonna talk more about that, the same joke jokes Giffen, a character in a second.

[00:45:04] That’s a. That is a really valuable lesson. Don’t stop at the first right answer, man. That is huge. I think you’re right. People do that too often. Well, because we’re here that I have an aha.

[00:45:16] Moment like that here, but that that’s big. But it’s a right answer. That’s why they stop. Yeah. But you have to find a positive way to push it past that first, right. Yeah.

[00:45:24] It’s like an inverse of the 5y. You know. But, but rather than stopping at the first successful you get the answer you’re looking for. Right. You keep kind of continuing to validate that answer. And wow, what I’m hearing at least while uncovering the blind spot around that maybe you’re not considering. Yes. Because you’ve gotten the you know, the answer that we’re all looking for. Right.

[00:45:47] Yeah. Yeah. So you mentioned you’re quite the storyteller, obviously.

[00:45:54] Well, it depends if you like the story. Everything. Yeah. Everything. All right. Stories is a pain in the neck. Stop talking. If everything is a story.

[00:46:01] So I grew up in the Midwest and I’ve always been convinced that my family’s related to Mark Twain because everything we do is a story. Birthday was just here recently. Yeah. So you must get feedback from folks who’ve read the book. So of the, you know, the stories or the you know, the lessons in the book. What? What do you get the most feedback from?

[00:46:23] The most feedback is, is that people will tell will send me a nice email and basically say, you know, I thought a lot about the book, but I realize now that I really did learn a lot from my parents because they have that aha moment that, yeah, my dad taught told me a lot of things, too. My mom told me a lot of things. So for me, that’s the that’s the unexpected, really cool thing that happened with the book. Yeah. I think the thing that most people, though, from a kind of a leadership book that I wrote the book because I think we’re all leaders at one time or another.

[00:46:54] I think the mistake that people make is their concept of leadership is a title. It’s not. I mean, we’re all leaders, whether and I believe there’s individual contributors who are leaders, by the way, they do their work the way people come and talk to them about different things.

[00:47:07] And so for me, from a from the practicality of why you wrote the book, you know, it’s the fact that people will stop and say, you know, wow, I really understand that I am a leader and and I like the fact that you gave me different ways of looking at things and know. I’ll give you a quick example. I mean, if we were in a keynote speech right now, there’s 350 people sitting in the room. And I said to those individuals, who’s your state senator? Who’s your local representative? Most people couldn’t answer that question. But if I ask the question, who’s that teacher that made a difference in your life? Everybody stops. Fifth grade, Mrs. So-and-so. Fourth grade. Mr. So-and-so will their leader them because they have a legacy. They left things a little better than they found them. And so that’s what leadership’s all about. And so I think people start to look at leadership differently. They don’t look at it as on the CEO of Jack Welch or I’m so-and-so, right? No, I’m a leader because I influence people. I make things a little better and I found them. I’m a difference maker and I can do it as an individual contributor or in a more traditional sense as as a manager, supervisor, CEO, whatever that title you have. But we all lead, whether it’s, you know, on the PTA, the soccer team, whatever it is, we’re leaders. And I think that to me has been the most rewarding part of the of the journey with the book is that people look at themselves differently and now they feel good about themselves. Well, wait a second. I mean, I yeah, maybe I didn’t retire as a CEO, but I’m making a difference at that frontline level as that sort of person who can help others and make leave a positive impact.

[00:48:39] So tighten the lug nuts. Right. Clearly, this is about leadership. When you wrote the book, did you targeted at leaders or did you targeted at people who ought to recognize that they actually were both?

[00:48:51] Look, both. But more more the latter than The View, because I really think that I used to always believe that people it’s like small business owners.

[00:48:59] They say to me, well, you know, how do I can. How do I attract the best talent? The first thing you do is don’t apologize for being a small business owner. Like how many times they’ll sit across from someone or say we were just a small business? No, that’s your best attribute. People think, you know, people still love working for. For the person whose names on the outside. Yeah. You think Jeff Bezos is walking around, walking around Amazon warehouses, talking to people? I mean, you can’t be on the cover, boss, because you’re walking the floor if your company. Right. And so don’t apologize for being a small business owner. That’s your pride that differentiates you. That’s what’s so exciting about working for that small business owner. And it’s the same when I wrote the book. It’s like there’s all of us are out there making a difference. You know, maybe we don’t have a title that goes with it, but we’re making a difference that we leave things a little better and we found them. And so the book was written in EFT format. Now, of course, the book titled The Lug Nuts is a chapter. There’s a story there. I will let you I let you read. I find it. But, you know, in a. nutshells. Loose lug nuts cause all problems to me, a loose lug nut, I can tighten the lug that quickly and effectively, but the minute I get sidetrack and I don’t tighten the lug nuts, important things just go to urgent. And the mistake that people make is you can only handle so many urgent things. I don’t allow important things to become urgent. Take the lug nuts. So now in the town I know I all all address high school kids. I go with some of the college. I do some stuff at Seton Hall. People assume a no lose look that’s here, mister.

[00:50:27] Are we gonna lose lug nuts here? That’s good. I mean, you’ve got to leave people with that kind of.

[00:50:32] I mean, that’s how people. That’s how it sinks in for a while.

[00:50:34] Think about how many people get to get behind on something. It’s because someone sent him an email. That was a loose lug nut when they got the email. They don’t tighten it.

[00:50:42] Now, two days later, it stop everything. Yeah, I guess we all love that pin. Yeah, I guess so. That’s a good idea. Yeah. All right. See the marketing it.

[00:50:55] I was very creative in the space. I’ve got good creativity vibe. Yeah. You’re welcome. Any time. Easier to come.

[00:51:02] Ryder here. All right. So again, tighten lug nuts principles. Balanced leadership will include a link. Now I show notes where folks can find that book, but put a picture right through. Yeah, definitely. Great read. So let’s talk more. You mentioned this Joe Scarfe phone fella, and I’ve seen a couple of video clips of kind of how you use that throughout your career. And it’s really a simple concept, but very powerful. So talk more about how you’ve used that in your time.

[00:51:30] Well, as I said, it gave me the opportunity to challenge you in a positive way not to stop at that first right answer and look past it, because some of the group best plans, you know, struggle with the unintended consequences. And so it’s hard to see them all and you will never find them all. But if you push a person past that first right answer and it’s funny because people who know me, you know, they’ll come to a meeting, they were kind of meeting. They say, hey, you know, I already covered this with Joe.

[00:51:53] A Joe thinks it’s a good idea. Oh, that’s a good thing. That’s good for Joe. And that then I always, you know, especially a new new people for the first time. I’ll introduce him to Joe. They’ll say, well, tell me a little bit about Joe and we have time for that. Joe’s. Yeah. So Joe. So Joe’s to follow this guy who says he knows everybody. Right. So one day Joe’s town by talking to some of his people on a one guy system. Hey, man, you say you know everybody. But you know Derek Jeter, he because, of course, I know Derek Jeter. So I go to Yankee Stadium and there’s Derek Jeter. He and he’s he’s on the field. He looks at me, goes, hey, Joska, fallings here. So he walks over talking to Joe. So my friend says, hey, that’s pretty impressive. You know, Derek Jeter and he’s talking his head. You know, the president I’d states he goes at that time it was Obama. As you know, Obama. Of course I do. So I go to Washington, D.C. and they’re having a big press conference, Obama. He goes, hey, stop everything.

[00:52:41] Just go forward. Joe, come on up.

[00:52:44] Oh, Joe goes up. It’s on my finger. That’s pretty impressive. You know, President, you know Derek Jeter? You know the pope. We know people know the pope. His ultimate death will hold Matar’s. You know, cause I know the pope. So they fly to Rome. The pope’s having this big audience. And I frontages I don’t think he recognized goes look on a walk up the EFT. If you recognize me, will you believe me? No public. Oh, sure. So, sure enough, he walks up to pope, turns around. Oh, Miura on the me. Go volunteer. He gives him a big hug. Well, with that, there’s a big commotion in the crowd and my friend fainted. So Joe runs and goes. One app, one happy go lucky. I was impressed when you knew the pope. When the guy next to me said, Who’s that next? Joe Skyfall.

[00:53:20] I can’t believe it.

[00:53:23] So Joska phones the man. I mean, he’s the you know, right now is all we need. He talks to people. So he learned a lot. Joe Hurley.

[00:53:30] So is the man that we used to have a little bit of fun with Joe and that sort of set the tempo that, you know, worked. Look, we’re gonna work hard. We’re gonna have some fun, but we’re going to challenge each other in a positive way to be the very best we can be. And you learn from your. You learn from your mistakes. Make them, you know, a small business. You’re gonna make a mistake. Make him small. Make him fast. Move on. You know, and I think that that’s. And if you can challenge yourself in a fun way, like with Joe’s Carphone or whatever your style is, I’m everyone’s gonna have their own style. But what you’re trying to do is to in a positive way, reinforce. I appreciate you bringing that idea. Sounds like a good idea. Now, how do I challenge you not to stop that first right answer without making you feel like, wow, he doesn’t think it’s a good idea or maybe doesn’t think it’s going to work? No, no, no. I’m I’m happy that you’re you’ve come up with this idea. What’s what see, how do we challenge ourselves to maybe look past that first right idea? I love that.

[00:54:23] Yeah. All right. So as we’re come move into the final segment of the interview here with Rocky, Roman, Nela Rocky, want to bronn things back out and get your take on, you know, the trends or challenges or innovations or you name it, that that’s on your radar more than others.

[00:54:38] But one of those I really want you to speak to, because it is a big trend in the Logistics space as all the M&A activity is taking place. And as someone that’s been there on both sides of the table, as you have in a nutshell, what’s one or two things that whether you’re buying or selling in Lu? The Logistics space that you think folks need to have, you know, front and center.

[00:55:02] Well, I think the first thing is to have a strategy. Because if you think about it, I mean, it’s you know, I think we watch too many of these TV shows, you know, flip it or whatever it is and buy them. And it’s it’s in the easy money. Yeah. In the M&A space. And I mean, because it’s because the biggest thing I think that that hurts in M&A deal. Look, the the the math side’s always going to work out. Right. Because you mean a sense of when when you when you position the deal. Some pretty smart people sat around. They figured out mathematically this should work. Now, the execution piece is what really kind of hinders and M&A deal really work. And so and it really comes down to people because they think about it. You know, you’re doing a deal either for, you know, acquire talent that you don’t have, a customer base that you don’t have today. But but actually, you’re hogan-howe access to a market skills, you know. You know, speed the market kind of idea. But if you think about it, all centers around the people and your ability to understand the people. So I think you have to have a strategy. Why am I buying this piece of business and does it fill out my portfolio or is it now starting something new that we haven’t been in before, which is now going to drain the rest of the organization? I mean, think about you.

[00:56:14] Look, it’s all over the news. I mean, think about AT&T buys Direct TV so that they can a quarter go upstream and acquire content. And now they’re talking about a over 30 billion dollar acquisition at the Navy shore. They want anymore and are hoping that maybe Dish buys it. You know, listen, you know, you listen to the investor calls and you think yourself like, what’s going on here? I mean, so why did you buy? What’s your strategy? And if you’re going to move upstream to go handle content, then you now you now you think about who you’re competing at. You compete against Disney and their content, your Amazon Prime and the Amazon shows that you’re buying. Right. So it changes. So I think the first step in a good M&A strategy is what is my strategy? What do I want to look like in the next three to five years? And what are the components that I need to build out that portfolio?

[00:57:01] And then obviously, then there’s the do I build or buy? And then I think if you’re gonna buy, then I think the understanding of the people side of it. How do I think that one of the you know, the real strengths of all the U.P.S. acquisitions were the integration of the people that we you know, we worked so hard to make sure they felt like they were part of something special. Now, it’s it’s impossible that everyone will feel that way. But you people have to understand what you do stems from an honest heart. It was our goal that they felt good about it.

[00:57:32] And one of the things that you try to do is, you know, not let them forget about where they came from. Mike, I worked for the, you know, Menlow for 20 years. And now all of a sudden I’m getting integrated into U.P.S.. Now I’m supposed to act like I never work for Menlow. No, of course not. That’s not right. That’s not fair or overnight picking an acquisition. And I think what you want them to do is understand, you know, where they came from and how do I feel good about where I’m going and how do I feel part of this new organization. And if you can do that, then you really start to get your acquisition and you get the people start to feel good about, you know, okay. I mean, I’m not happy that yesterday I was here and today I’m here. But how do you you know, how do you get to your point before? How do you get those franchisees to feel proud about the fact that the brand now on the outside of the store is a U.P.S. store versus what they purchased origin.

[00:58:19] Right. And I think it takes time. You got to work at it. But I think the people side sometimes gets lost in the integration or the acquisition because it’s a math problem at first and then there’s a speed and then then you’re filling out a portfolio that you think is so important.

[00:58:34] But there’s so many large M&A acquisitions that you look back today and you think. I mean, now if you’re a company size ATDC, you could probably you know, you could probably handle the direct TV thing not going the way you want. But, you know, Kenya, can a small company do that? Probably not. Yeah. And so I think that that’s that’s where I think so. I think a have a good strategy. Understand what you want to look like in the next three to five years, you know. And I think that. How do you build it out? My quick example to you, though, would be besides the AT&T. So you led off with, you know, the great news and you talked about, you know, Dollar Tree, Dollar Store and all that stuff. Think about this.

[00:59:13] I think I was at the hundred five hundred seven year anniversary. Don’t quote me. Exactly. But you know what? You know, they said to the CEO of Woolworths, why are you closing the five and dime? And he said, nobody wants five and dime anymore. Nobody buys five a dime. I don’t know. Could you have another Dollar Tree or Dollar Store? Jerai, Dollar General and Under-five. So one thing that nobody wanted a Woolworths. You lost your way. Right. Right. You know, on one hundred seven year anniversary or thereabouts, when they said to the CEO of at the time of year, you know, why do you get rid of the catalog? Nobody buys a catalog anymore. What can you get another Pottery Barn catalog in your mail or catalogs? Right. And the other thing is, who’s who Sears and Roebuck today? Amazon. Yeah. I mean, you go buy anything member you could buy. Sears Roebuck Cab, like you buy anything at Amazon right now.

[00:59:59] What a travesty. I continually go back to this that the company who could ship you a house. Yeah. By mail order. Right. I don’t know. A lot of people know that the Craftsman brand is because they shipped craftsman houses. Yeah. People write that that they could not make the conversion from a catalog to to the internet, which is essentially an online cattle. Absolutely right. Is an absolute travesty. And that is that is how many companies do lose their way. They don’t. They don’t see the market changing. The AT&T Direct TV is a great example of that. They didn’t see Netflix coming. They didn’t see Amazon kind of coming. They didn’t see the impending, in my opinion, death of traditional network television and the transition to streaming and other types of media. And they got caught kind of between and and they didn’t know what to do.

[01:00:53] Well, you know, the other cautionary tale, I think this is just an editorial that may not necessarily represent the of the station, but what if you think about it and then and then everybody gets caught up in the frenzy of me, too. So think about it for a second. You know, you have Comcast cable company buys, NBC, you know. Then you got Verizons. Right. NGOs and buys. You know, they buy all The Huffington Post. They bought Yahoo! A. You know, AOL, all that stuff. Right. So they start to get in this. Me, too. Oh, we you know, we’re we’re we’re providers now. We have to go upstream. We have to own content. You know, there are TV gets bought by AT&T. So next thing you know is you’re like, what’s going on here? You know, it’s. And they all start that, you know, Disney, you know, buys ABC. And at some point, you know, ESPN, they start to wonder like like, do you start to lose your way a little bit? You start to like, who are you? You know, and I think companies have to answer three questions. And I think people do as well. Who am I? What do I stand for and what when I compromise? Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:01:53] And you have to adapt. Yeah. Also, I mean, look, I don’t know who was first, but I do remember that FedEx bought Kinko’s and and around the Sandeep is actually opposite. We bought M.B.A. Yeah. Well I don’t it again. I didn’t know who was first. Yeah. But it also comes down to not just having that vision, but executing well. And you talked about it. The the people aspect of it is the best part of executing. Here’s the biggest part of executing well, because I don’t even know if any of those FedEx Kinko’s stores or whatever the heck they’re called even exist anymore. But I know where all of the u._p._s stores were. Right. So, I mean, that that aspect of of M&A is really critical. And I think the thing that you’ve pointed out is that that the aspect of of M&A that really makes it successful has to be beyond strategy. It has to be in in integrating the people and the processes that. Right. That makes the company work and.

[01:02:49] Well, and being flexible, too. What’s the role that this this acquisition plays in the overall kind of organization? It. Is it you know, because I think what happens is, is that, you know, people get caught up in this concept, a near neighbor. It’s like, well, it’s a near neighbor. So why don’t we go do that? And if you think about it, you know, next thing you know is not even in the neighborhood, there is not even the same state anymore.

[01:03:09] It’s like how did how did we get over here from there? The other thing is it’s a big distraction as an organization.

[01:03:15] Because what happens is people wonder, where am I going to fit into this whole thing? I mean, because the the if you think about it from a pure M&A side, you’re gonna go through the synergy side of it. So, you know, I don’t need to you. So who stays? Who believe so and who. Who are the people that leave? It’s the best people. And the best people leave when they’re not quite sure. Where do I fit? Right. How is this going to go? And so it’s it’s the ability to communicate and it’s ability. Give people a vision and what you trying to accomplish. But it’s hard to have a vision if you’re not really quite sure why you bought the company other than, hey, it was a good deal. It’s other guys did it.

[01:03:48] Right. Right. I mean, you could have an M&A show flip flop. That’s the way to have those ones in-house because I mean, there’s probably more that a flop than really have been successful because, you know, you know, and you think about companies. I mean, if five years or 10 years ago, whatever, we would’ve said, you think anybody would have an AOL account, everybody. Nobody has an AOL count any more.

[01:04:06] Like, how did that happen? Right. You know, you think about some of those companies and you think, how did how did that company get to that spot so quickly and then not have the ability to stay in that spot?

[01:04:17] You know, the metoo dynamic is alive and well. That’s the first time I’ve heard that put from an M&A standpoint. So well put. Let’s talk about you a lot. As you mentioned, a lot of different keynotes. In fact, the E.M.T. Event that was here in Atlanta in June, I think you’re one of the keynotes where we first kind of rubbing elbows. What currently as you look out over the next six months, twelve months, what’s on your your schedule? What’s what are you looking forward to the most from a keynote standpoint?

[01:04:48] Well, I think what’s exciting is the different, you know, kind of venues I’m going to but also the different organizations. And so I just got signed for. Napa Auto Parts. It’s this global convention. So it’s in Vegas and there’ll be a lot of fun because you’re meeting people from around the world. I’ve noticed that I’ve been doing a lot with associations and because I’m also going to do breakout sessions. So what’ll happen is I’ll do the keynote, but then all I’ll do one or two breakout sessions and in these associations, because they’re like, you know, I’ve done apalling two years in a row, which is which is a wonderful organization. What happens is that they run these great with a call with what, you know, kind of leaders. And they’re trying to understand, like who’s going to take over these small organizations. And so it’s been fun, too. You know, I’ll go in a day early and I’ll work with their emerging leaders group and they’ll be 35, 40 people from different 35, 40 different companies. And they’re there. They’ve been identified as the potential emerging leader inside those organizations. And so it’s fun to sit and talk to them and maybe build a three or four hour workshop for them on what are those key attributes of a good leader, you know, ability communicate, you know, the ability have those difficult conversations, valued ethics and those kinds of things.

[01:06:01] And so that’s been a lot of fun for me. So I enjoy that. I mean, I would say that I do between 25, you know, somewhere between 15 and 20 in that range. And the reason why is not 40 or 50 years. I enjoy going for more than the 45 minutes. Why like a day and I’ll be there for the day, day and a half kind of thing. So because of that, you all tend to do one in a week versus some of the other keynote speakers. And there’s some great ones out there. I mean, I I’ll I’ll listen to the Keno because you can learn something. So I mean, the goal is in the keynote for me is to create that aha moment that people, you know, can walk out or walk away in six months from now. Something comes up inside their organization like, oh, wait a second. You know, we talked a little bit about this case a different way for me to look at it. So I think that’s so that’s a fun for me.

[01:06:46] Yeah, I love that. I think I think being able to transition from that space on the stage to that intimate track, if you want to call it that, is that’s a real gift. I mean, not everyone can do that. I’ve seen some people who give keynotes and often it’s the same keynote with insert market dynamic quote here. Right. Right. Insert name of of, you know, company putting on the show. They’re that kind of thing. And while it’s really valuable, it’s different. It’s a different value to be able to sit down face to face with people and communicate that. That’s great.

[01:07:20] Well, I think to when especially when you’re doing the association. Those are all small business owners that are in there. And so for them to be away from their business for two or three days, I mean, that’s a big sacrifice for that. And so I think that’s what’s mean. So I’m very you know, after spending so much time with the u._p._s store owners and knowing them, as, you know, entrepreneurs and business owners, you know, you think to yourself, hey, if I’m going to get up there and give these people a keynote speaker, I want to make sure that I’m being respectful of their time as well and that, you know, that’s a great story Iraqi told. So. You know, we all laugh. But I mean, I’m away from my business. I need something to go back in and improve things. So I’m very conscious of the fact that especially these small business owners, these association meetings, that they’re. That’s a huge sacrifice for them to be away from their business.

[01:08:07] Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, I agree with that. All right. So how can we wrap up here with Rockey Romanelli? What’s the best way that folks can reach out if they’ve heard something they’ve like, they won’t compare notes with you. They won’t learn more about 360, you name it. What’s the best we want to meet? Joska phone.

[01:08:22] Hey, Joe. So.

[01:08:26] So we have a wet my web site is a W W W is a number three. And then the word 60 SIRC Y Magmas services dot com. So if you are my marketing manager originally I would never want a guy named 360.

[01:08:38] Magers Armor’s, is this like you got a spell check three or four times and I’ll let you know when you go online to start a business. He that’s taken. That’s taken. It’s taken.

[01:08:47] And the 360 comes from our consulting side, where we look at things from a holistic point of view. It’s like the complete circle kind of circle of life, you know, no idea where. It’s not just one part of the business. It’s the whole it’s the whole. And so. So that’s where 360 comes from. But 360 Mag Masters dot com, very interactive Web site. I answer the questions myself. So if you send in, I’ll get people contact me. So there on my web, my email is Rocky R0, S.K. Y Roman Nela R O M and E L L A G-mail dot com. Feel free to email me. Not a problem at all. The book is on Amazon. They do a great job fulfilling. I get a lot of requests. Interestingly enough, I didn’t realize that people have such great value or enjoy books that are signed by authors. So I’ll get a request for signed books and they’ll email me and I’ll work out with them. And, you know, I I did what I did want to 45 people. They gave their books to all the people in their organization. So I said, all right, I mean, a name wall. Forty five people. So I wrote something. So I like to personalize the book. Yeah. I mean, nothing. Just drive me crazy.

[01:09:52] Get a signed book and it’s like some guy. Yeah. You could tell it was it was a. That guy must have want to be a doctor and now he’s unfortunately write a book, so he’s gonna write like a doctor.

[01:10:01] Oh, but so anyway, so I’ll I’ll sign books and so you can interact with me on the Web site that will work out the arrangements. But, you know, if that you know. I think I think that’s pretty cool that people would want to give that book to someone that today is like the ultimate, you know, kind of okay. It’s a good book. And you know, I want to give this as a Christmas gift or a holiday gift or whatever. So I think that that that’s been a lot of fun as well. And then the last thing is so on my Web site, if any of you are fans of legendary coach John Wooden. So I’m a big Lu. And in 2000, I spent four hours with Coach Wooden in his condo. Wow. And so on my Web site is the interview, the one hour interview with Rowlie and Coach Wooden. If you go to Coach’s Corner, you’ll see the coach would an interview. And I love Coach Wooden, gentlemen. And he was great. I mean, that could be another segment. My my our coach wouldn’t the stories we talked about that day. But coach wouldn’t know. So you have all the keynote speakers, right. And so I said the coach wanted that day. I said, coach, you know, what would you like for your feet? Because what happened was I was going to u._p._s. I was at the going to u._p._s U.P.S. yearly management conference for the senior leaders. And I was with a small group that was putting together a presentation of leaders and leadership and operational excellence. And so I had seen when I was in Southern California at the time with u._p._s.

[01:11:20] And now the other thing, I moved like nine times at U.P.S. for pitcher Rocky Romanenko, living in Des Moines, Iowa, a first. You know, the number one question I got asked for a know witness protection program.

[01:11:30] Oh, no, that’s not true. Yeah, I could see that in Phenix now and in.

[01:11:36] People like, how did you get here? Rod. And then what time I’m out of me, I go, I can’t. It’s not the personal business I saw in a movie. What’s going on? No, I moved across the county. Great.

[01:11:44] I love living in Iowa. We have the Maureen. It was a great place to live. Met some of the finest people lying but in my U.P.S. career. But so I was living in Southern California at the time. And so I said, you know, I just saw Coach Wooden speak at the opera. Then it was called the showerhead pond. And so they said, well, good luck. So I literally called the athletic department at UCLA and said, look, I saw coach wouldn’t speak. I had this opportunity to, you know, to be part of a presentation inside my company. You think coach wouldn’t be willing to talk to me? He said, well, look, I think he would. Here’s his phone number, but I’ll. OK. OK. You know, he’s well retired at this point. So and the guy says, me, he’s assistant director. Because look, before you call him Sunnyman next day or send me a letter, tell him what you want to do and then, you know, then call him. About a week later, it’s going to go into his voicemail. It’s going to go into his answer machine and he’ll call you back.

[01:12:34] So, sure enough, said a nice letter, is what we’re looking to do like this? Talk with you for a little bit. Well, here’s the topic. You know, kinda like when you show running the show kind of idea. Send it to him. Wait about a week, call him up. Sure enough. Goes in, as you know, answer machine. And then coach when rock from now I said his e-mail, you know, I hope packet. Could you please give me a call back? So about a week and a half goes by and haven’t heard anything. So that course. And u._p._s. Okay. You know, we’ve got about a month before the show. You gonna have to you know, if you don’t hear from Coach 1, we’re gonna go a different direction. So I call one more time. It’s like I think Coach 1 a rocky moment now. And I know he has the Pyramus success. Right? Right. So I said coach words Rob Cook. Well, now I get all the hard work enthusiasm. going through the pyramid. I said, Coach, I got four kids. I really need your help.

[01:13:17] So I hang up right about an hour later, my daughter, I’m in the car, my daughter calls originary.

[01:13:21] She goes, Dad, some old guy called Sheer coach Wooden. So I pull over. Oh, it’s not right. I call back.

[01:13:27] I coach when Rocky Road when I goes, I know, I know you need my help. I said, yeah. Yeah. Could you help me? Goes, Yeah. What are you doing next week? I said whatever you want me to do because I. Can you come to the condo and wife was at your house. I Galindo with a recording crew and we spent four hours together in this condo in his to call me Miss Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown’s here. Come on. It’s in the drawer with him. Hey, coach winds as a load here. Great. Just the gentleman. And so we were our so they want our video of that. But the raps on your side. Yeah. Yeah. Coach on the coach’s court, you’ll see the video. But but so I said them so. You know, coach, you know, whatever your fee is, he looked at me, he goes fee said you asked me to help you. I’m Malcolm for a fee. I said no. Coach really. If there’s anything you want goes. So I’ll tell you what, would you be willing to donate $5000 to the Jimmy V Foundation? And I said, you know, coach, we’ll we’ll we’ll do more than that. And so from that, you know, that that touched me so much that he would I mean it.

[01:14:22] Look, here he is like the winningest coach at that time, college. You know, men’s side basketball now. Coach and now its course. The guy in Connecticut who’s winning his coach. But it’s unbelievable. And he said, no, no. Just send money to the Jimmy V Foundation. So in 2019, for every book sold, tighten the lug nuts, we donate a dollar to the Jimmy V Foundation. Wow. And of course, the legendary speech he gave. Don’t give up. And it just just it just touched me that, you know, Coach Wooden, you know, was so humble in his approach. And and the first thing he could think of was, hey, could we donate to the V Foundation and in Jimmy V? Memory, and I’d love for you to be able to do that and so whenever I can. You know, all of us have been touched and fought to watch someone in our family who’s, you know, I struggle with cancer paths with cancer. And so I think to me it’s just a good cause. It’s kind of a way give back soon to a two thousand nineteen for every book sold.

[01:15:12] So I also order fast. Want I wanna write a big check to the Jimmy Foundation’s Early Show. But Coach, when it was Gates. That’s the other thing if you’ll love that the interview is great. Such and you’ll see. I mean he’s sitting there. I mean it’s in it’s in his house. He’s a synagogue.

[01:15:28] And I mean, we’re going back and forth. Wow. We should put a link to that. We’ll put a link to that in the show. No. Yeah. And and for your book. So do they have to buy a particular place for you to get for?

[01:15:37] You know, what happens is. Because I’m self-published. You know, I get a a monthly, you know, of all the books sold and ideas, whether it’s Amazon or Barnes and Noble, I bokor Kindle it. And I once, you know, I’ll see all the total sales and then I’ll just add a check to the variety. The greater you got videotape to coach Wooden teaching, you had a slam dunk, a basketball.

[01:15:56] Oh yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. That’s a great if you find that. Well let me know. I’m sure. Sure.

[01:16:02] Well what a pleasure. Really enjoy it. We’re just really scratching the surface of the iceberg with with an hour and some change with Iraqi. Would love to have you come back to our listeners. Check out the book. We’ll include a couple links that we’ve talked about to the podcast episode here today. But Rocky Romanelli, CEO and founder of 360 Management Services, former CEO of Unitech Global Services and former president at. Thanks for your time. Pleasure. It’s my pleasure. Thank you very much. All right. So, as always, we’re going to wrap up Lightning Round with the summary yet. But Greg, what a great way to kick things back off after the holiday cleared out. An aggressive schedule coming up. And Rocky, you give us you bring passionate energy, energy. You feel it. I think on the front end. Then there you were talking about how rocky you like communicates on a different level. Yeah, I’m kind of see how you like to get involved and that is very good. Gets your juices going. Yeah. You know, I mean. All right. So let’s talk about some events. We’re gonna be at this SCMP Atlanta roundtable January 15th where we’re gonna be talking NASCAR track. You’ve heard an abstract organization. One of their leaders are coming out, Greg. And are we talking about how some of the regulations that came to pass in twenty nineteen, what it means for your transportation business?

[01:17:28] Vetlanta CSC MP dawg. Right. Open to the public. Yep. And then in Vegas, baby. Reverse Logistics Association.

[01:17:37] The last Italian-American that we insulted was Tony Sheer, the founder or the leader of that organization. Great guy, by the way. I mean, this cat worked at Philip UPS and I love his approach to reversal Logistics anyway. Won’t go into that detail, but in there. Done it in Vegas. Yeah, in Vegas. February 4th. The 6th. RLA. Dot org. That’s right. Right.

[01:18:04] And broadcast throughout the broadcast and throughout three days. They’re looking forward to a slew of interviews from that board members of some of the keynotes and then many others.

[01:18:14] And then moting up in a Botox show, 35000 of our closest friends on March 9th to the 12th. We’re broadcasting throughout or streaming, which probably called streaming, whatever. Throughout that entire show. And also in tied to that or is the Atlanta Supply chain Awards. So on the 10th Tuesday, from 10, right, 30 to 130, the 20 20 Vetlanta Supply chain Awards, Christian phisher, president and CEO of Georgia-Pacific. I think he knows Joh’s Carphone. Yeah. So, you know, keynote for that. And then SHANN Cooper is going to be our emcee.

[01:18:53] I don’t know if you’ve ever met SHANN, but it’s interesting and and delightful. Speaker Yes.

[01:19:00] So outstanding. Supply chain background. Yeah. Led Lockheed Martin here senior executive and then went on to be chief transformation officer at West Rock. Oh, wow. And so to get Christian and Channe one two punch at the 2010 Atlanta Supply chain Awards on March 10th. We’re really excited about that. And so Motus showed up dot.com and free free to attend thoughtabout.

[01:19:23] That’s why they get 35000 people thought of peanut butter and jelly. Yeah, that’s right.

[01:19:30] And if you want something besides peanut butter and jelly, you go to Atlanta, Supply chain Awards dot com. That’s right. Sign up and get yourself a good meal. Probably chicken or fish.

[01:19:40] Yeah.

[01:19:41] Final event A.M.E. Atlanta 2020. Lean’s Summit, May 4th to the 7th. We’ll be there on the front end of that event. And that’s if you’re not for me with Amy. It’s the Association for Manufacturing Excellence.

[01:19:54] They’ve got members across the country. They all. Gather here focused on only methodologies, mean, lean, best practices, you name it. Here in Atlanta and we’ll be there on the front end of that on May 4th. Amy Ward is the link, of course, on all of these will include links to learn more about each of these events on the show notes as well. OK. Big thanks. Once again. Rocky Romello, CEO and founder of 360 Management Services. Really appreciate your time. Author of Tighten the Lug Nuts Right Principles of Balanced Leadership. And that’s really important. We kind of glaze over that balance, but balance that that balanced approach is so important for effective, successful leadership these days include the link for where you can find the book and that is going to be a rat. Greg, what do we miss today?

[01:20:44] I can’t imagine what we missed. There were no accidents outside the window while we were doing.

[01:20:47] So that’s it. That’s a good sign. It’s going to be a good day. Good day. Great day.

[01:20:52] Great conversation. Thanks again, Rocky to our audience. Be sure to check out other upcoming events, replays for interviews, other resources at Supply Chain Now Radio dot com. Find us an Apple podcast, SoundCloud, YouTube, wherever else you find your podcast. Be sure to subscribe. Still missing thing on behalf of the entire team here. Scott Luton. Wishing me one full week ahead and we will see you next time on Supply Chain Now Radio X or about.