AD CEO Leadership Interview

May 29, 2012

The following interview with Affiliated Distributors' Chairman and CEO, Bill Weisberg, was published today on TEDmag.com.

 

By Afton Spriggs

I recently had the opportunity to talk with Bill Weisberg, CEO of Affiliated Distributors (AD). He took the time to answer my questions about leadership and the future of the electrical industry in part one of the tedmag.com series, "Instant message: 10 questions with..." Weisberg is the first in a series of industry executives taking part in this Q&A piece.

 

Q: Describe your leadership style

A: I’d say my leadership style is collegial and encouraging and it’s evolved enormously since I started out as a young man in the industry. In the early days I was very focused on the goal and less on the people that would help achieve the goal. As I’ve matured in life, I’ve come to realize how it really is all about the people around you and the relationships. Therefore, pouring into those folks—the people you work with and the people you do business with—ultimately is more important than the specific goals you have in mind. Interestingly enough, this helps you achieve them even better than just focusing on the goal.

At the most basic level of leadership, people follow you because they have to. Ultimately, at the highest level, people follow you because of who you are and what you stand for. As I’ve matured and as our organization has evolved, it’s gone from being something that was just a business to something that’s a cause.

 

Q: What or who inspires you as a leader?

A: I’ve received inspiration from so many truly wonderful leaders in the industry. Some who recently passed, like Harold Kerman, Bob Lemman, Dick Hurd, for instance. And some who are still with us, like Charles Collat, Dominic Pileggi and Jim Risk. These leaders really embodied a passion for their people and their culture. I think what they all have in common is a tremendous amount of sensitivity to the people around them, a passion for what they do and strong convictions based on solid industry insight. They’re very inspiring people.

 

Q: What keeps you up at night?

A: I sleep really well! I have tremendous confidence in our industry and in the companies that are in our industry. If there’s anything that worries me the most it’s the climate within which we’re trying to do business. The political, economic and societal climate—those are big challenges and they require proactive leadership. There was a time, not many years ago, when it was sufficient to be a good leader of your own business. But today, you need to extend your influence into your community, your trade association and even into the governmental arenas. There’s no business that’s an island. Some of those macro challenges are significant.

 

Q: What advice would you give to someone just starting out in this industry?

A: I think there are two really important pieces of advice that I would give. One would be to make sure that they truly do treat their family as their first priority. It’s very common when you start your career to become obsessed and infatuated with your own advancement. It can be very gratifying and sometimes the recognition at home is not so tangible. And I’ve been there—I’ve done it wrong once and I’m trying to do it right the second time. So I think first and foremost, if you have to make a decision on something that your business really requires and something your family really requires, do what your family requires.

The second piece of advice I’d give is to communicate within the industry itself. Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and talk to a customer, a supplier or an associate. Don’t be afraid to meet people in person and talk about the tough stuff. I think we have a tendency to avoid difficult discussions, and that’s a mistake. This is an industry that rewards people who have honest conversations. Reaching out to folks, even in difficult situations, and having a candid, honest conversation goes a long way.

 

Q: What’s the best advice someone has ever given you?

A: To hire good people. People that know me best know that I’d never amount to anything if I didn’t have good people working for me. I’ve observed, in all my years, so many companies—great distributors and great suppliers—and what they all have in common is that they have more than one really talented person working there. They have a nucleus of management and talent that’s not limited to one or two people. The electrical distributor that builds a strong management team is the one that scales new heights year after year. And the electrical manufacturers that surround themselves with strong people in all their key spots are the ones that really have an impact and grow their business in our industry. Those manufacturers that have constant turnover pay a huge price for it. Distributors that try to keep all of the decisions in the CEO’s office, and don’t invest in good people, don’t get to the next level.

 

Q: What is the most shocking thing you’ve ever heard in a job interview?

A: I don’t know if I can think of something that shocking, but I’ll tell you what I look for when I’m interviewing someone. I look for a person who has passion and an alignment of values and principles. Our business is all about helping independent distributors and supporting suppliers that support independents, so it’s truly a cause. So when I’m interviewing I look for people with whom that cause resonates; I want to understand why they can relate to that and why that’s important to them.

 

Q: What would you consider your biggest success?

A: Definitely my children. I’m blessed to have eight children. I have three daughters who are young professionals that are just wonderful. I have five young children, nine-years-old and younger. Being fortunate enough to raise and enjoy those kids is far and away my biggest success.

From a business perspective, the thing I’m proudest of is the contribution we make to independents—to help keep strong independents independent. We do good things for really good people. We all spend so much time at work, so I think it’s important to feel gratified about what you do. These are great companies and they’d survive with or without us, but they’re companies that we’ve really helped get through hard times and helped them get to the next level. I’ve given talks in tough years that I know have helped give people some encouragement when they needed it. I feel good about some of the contributions we’ve made in those areas.

 

Q: What would you consider your biggest failure and what did you learn from it?

A: I’ve had a lot of failures. What every one of those failures has in common was the failure to listen to other people around me. I was too stubborn, too convinced that I had the answer. As I trace back over the course of my career to those business instances that were embarrassing and problematic, I can see clearly that had I just reached out to some folks and said, okay, tell me what you really think, they would have told me…and I didn’t do it. So, I’ve learned to ask. I’ve learned to bring people in to make sure that we’re proceeding with lots of discussion. That’s not to say that we’re not going to make mistakes—we will. And it’s also not to say that we’re going to talk about things forever, because there’s a time for talking and there’s a time for doing. But, I think I’ve learned to be more humble and less arrogant. I think that’s critical for sustainable success in this industry or any industry.

 

Q: Finish this sentence for me: If I wasn’t in the electrical industry, I’d be…

A: Unemployed, probably! I’ve been in the electrical industry a long time, so it’s hard to know what I would have done if I hadn’t gotten into it. I suspect that if I wasn’t working at Affiliated Distributors that I’d be looking for some way to make a difference in my community. Opportunities, either through non-profits or through ministry work, would be something that I would gravitate toward. I would find a part of our society that resonated with me most and I would serve it. Right now, my wife and I are very involved in foster care and doing things to prevent child trafficking. If I wasn’t working, I would be pouring myself into that, or something like it, full time.

 

Q: Where do you see the industry going in the next five years?

A: Five years isn’t that far away. I think there are going to be incremental changes. I think the industry is going to get younger. I believe that we’re going to see the next generation of leadership rising up into senior management positions within the next five to eight years. When you look around, you can see those transitions taking place in the corner offices. Already we see in our distributor community that the next generation is beginning to take on those managerial roles, and I think that’s a wonderful thing. We have one member that is a sixth generation company, and it’s a beautiful thing. A big part of what we’re working on is to make sure we engage, connect with and help those folks as they’re making their way into the industry.

I think good companies are going to get stronger in the next five years. I believe that you’re going to see a continued shift in business, where the stronger independents and some of the stronger chains are going to do better than those that are a little bit more passive. But, I don’t think there is going to be monumental change over the next five years.