Hello, my name's KC Meleski. I'm the President of CME Corp. and I serve as the Treasurer on the HIDA Board of Directors.
Who Or What Has Shaped Your Approach To Leadership The Most?
When I think about something that's shaped my approach to leadership…I reflect back on when I was a sales rep and I became a sales manager; that was a difficult change for me. One of the things that I did was, I sought guidance outside of my organization for help with that change.
I was fortunate enough that the company invested in me and sent me to Harvard Business School for some executive education courses. That was profoundly beneficial to me and to the broader organization: what I learned from other leaders from around different industries all around the world.
And we've carried that on: We invest in teammates and professional development for them outside of the organization. I think when you're a distributor, your people are your product. And so investing in your people is investing in the product that you're delivering to your customers.
What’s One Lesson You’ve Learned About Building Strong Partnerships Across The Organization?
One of the lessons that I've learned about building strong partnerships across the industry is the importance of treating everyone as a customer. I think that within distribution, a lot of times, distribution representatives are working with a purchasing agent that maybe doesn't always treat them well in their own mind. And then they think, okay, you know what, I'm buying from these manufacturers. So, this is how this purchasing agent treats me; I'm going to treat the people I'm buying from in a similar way.
I think that's a huge mistake. I think treating (as a distributor), your manufacturers, as a customer can be profoundly impactful on your business.
And I think it extends beyond treating manufacturers as customers. I think it goes to treating your teammates as customers. I think treating your family and friends as customers, treating your barber, your gardener as customers can be really impactful on you.