Carolinas explores 'adaptive leadership' in Charlotte

More than 350 retail and consumer products executives attended the Carolinas regional networking event April 21, 2010 at the Great Wolf Lodge outside Charlotte.

The luncheon was attended by representatives of Acosta Sales & Marketing, BI-LO LLC, Catalina Marketing, The Clorox Company, Colgate-Palmolive, ConAgra Foods, Delhaize America, Family Dollar Stores, Food Lion, The Hershey Company, the Kellogg Company, Kraft Foods, Lance Inc., Lindys Homemade, Pepsi Beverages Company, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Sara Lee Corporation, SC Johnson & Son, SellEthics Marketing Group and White Wave, among others. Eleven students and professors from the University of North Carolina and the Wake Forest School of Business also attended.

A panel of industry executive discussed "Adaptive Leadership: Taking Risks in these Dynamic Times.” The panel was moderated by Joan Toth, executive director of the Network of Executive Women, and featured Jeff Boser, senior vice president, U.S. region sales, for the Kellogg Company; Colleen Flaherty, vice president, sales planning for the beverage business of Kraft Foods North America; Dorlisa Flur, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer at Family Dollar; and Meg Ham, president of Bottom Dollar Food.

Adapting to change

The panel agreed that flexibility was key to adaptive leadership. Flaherty said, "I live and breathe it (adaptive leadership) as a style. I like to lead from the middle,” she said. "I believe in extremely fluid leadership – my job is to remove obstacles.” Ham said she believed in "coordinating the experts and letting them do their jobs.” Boser said, "You must take risks if you are truly going to be successful.” He cited a recent reorganization of Kellogg sales into one $8 billion organization as a risk that paid off.

One adaptive challenge everyone has faced is the recession. Ham said the recession had prompted a shift "from the old ways of merchandising” and an increased effort to "provide comfort to customers.” Boser noted that interest in cookbooks and couponing had increased in recent months. Flaherty said, "Some companies lost track of the shopper. Every retailer needs to have an ‘ownable’ difference’” to succeed. Flur said the market had seen "a shift from wants and needs to needs and needs.”

When asked what advice they had for individuals working in change-adverse organizations, Flaherty said managers should ask, "Who can I influence above me? What is my sphere of influence at the top?” She said it’s important to "develop relationships and create ‘wins.’ You need support from all sides.” Flur agreed and said, "You have to get allies and look to colleagues to translate to others.”

The event kicked off with a lively networking reception. Stacey Couch, regional co-chair for programming and senior category manager for BI-LO, welcomed the crowd and introduced Cathy Green, Network board member and president of the Food Lion Family (Food Lion, Bloom, Harveys and Reids). Green gave an update on the state of the Network, including a look at NEW’s scholarship program and newonline.org website and a reminder about the upcoming NEW Leadership Summit 2010, Sept. 27-28 in Charlotte. The grocery executive also asked the men in the audience to stand, saying these are executives "who get it.” Green said until she got to NEW she didn’t appreciate the gender issue. "It was a blind spot that has turned into an opportunity to grow.” The luncheon also included an ice-breaking exercise led by Andrea Harper of ConAgra Foods.