LEADERSHIP
IL: What do you check rst thing in the morning? Before I get out of bed, even on weekends, I check my e-mail. If there’s something urgent, I can skip my morning coffee because my blood already starts to rush. Then I check my calendar to see if anything has been added or rearranged. I try to get into the of ce as soon as possible, which is easy because it’s a two-minute walk. Once there, I pop open my laptop and check on our operations performance for the previous day—quality, cost, and ef ciency. Then I look at any incoming opportunities and nd out what solutions our team is thinking of providing, to see if I can offer a different perspective on an even better solution. All that happens before 8 a.m. IL: What books would you recommend that others read? One is The Hard Things About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz. It’s a classic for anyone who’s on an entrepreneurial journey. Another is The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. These laws apply to different parts of your professional and personal life. IL: Beyond work, how do you like to spend your time? I’m a big movie buff. I can rewatch a movie six to 12 times if I really like it. And I try to stay active. Recently I’ve picked up pickleball, which is an intense, fun game where you can trash- talk your partners while you play. n Learn by Doing From his earliest days of knocking down walls, installing plumbing, and laying floors, Mark Ang discovered how crucial it is to learn the nuts and bolts of the business you’re running. “Before I was able to manage a construction project, I had to be a laborer within a project,” he says. “That helped me to understand that you don’t just manage the outcome; you manage the process.” A business process involves many people, with many different perspectives. As a leader, you need to understand those varied concerns so you can communicate effectively, Ang says. “For example, we recently brought on a new chief operating officer,” he says. “We told him that it’s important to do support days and account management days, to be in the trucks and the warehouses, and actually operate as part of the team that you manage.”
strategically set up the supply chain network to take advantage of the customer experience that our brands want, but at an economic level that is sustainable. How do we forward-place some of the product? How do we leverage more electric vehicles (EVs) to offset fuel surcharges? IL: Tell us about your plans to build an electric vehicle eet. By the end of 2023, we want 90% or more of our deliveries to be done by EVs. EVs will help us and the merchants we serve meet our sustainability goals, while also saving customers money by eliminating the 30% fuel surcharge. IL: What challenges do you face in converting to EVs? There are many constraints to consider—grid capacity, vehicle reliability, recharging time, and driver training. We also have to rethink how we route deliveries to account for things like range degradation. If a truck starts out loaded with 10,000 pounds, do you drive that load over a highway at 55 miles per hour or a city street at 25 miles per hour? Then, as you deliver items and shed weight, how does that impact your next sprint? How do winter or summer temperatures affect battery performance? We’re building routing software in house that accounts for all that. IL: What characteristics make you an effective leader? I’m always willing to roll up my sleeves when an issue arises. Whether it’s midnight or 6 a.m., and whatever is required, I’ll be there. That creates a culture at the top of our business where everyone is willing to help, based on the value of ‘one team, one dream.’ Also, I spend the time it takes to explain my decision-making process and make sure we get input from the people who are affected by a decision. IL: How do you nurture talent on your team? I’m very hands-off, shockingly so. We hire people who push the pace and challenge us to be better, and who know their areas better than I do. So I try to give them a ton of space. I stay vigilant and dive in when they need support, but I give them space to spread their wings and exercise their own decision-making.
June 2023 • Inbound Logistics 11
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