Get wait times on your smartphone for Seattle and Tacoma terminals.  The app is free to download from the Google Play and Apple Stores.  Users remain anonymous as there is no need to register.  Search for DrayQ in the Google Play and Apple App stores.

Momentum … a leader’s best friend.

There is no better feeling than having the big Mo behind you! It’s hard to get started, but once you have it, it’s hard to shut down. When we have momentum, we’re excited, confident and productive individually and as a team. Positive momentum gives you confidence.
In fact, wise leaders with momentum have a unique humble, yet confident strut in their walk. Ha! I say “wise leaders” because they know to stay humble and to honor the power of momentum because when it goes away, (and it will if it’s not fed) it’s hard work getting it back.

So, how do we build and sustain the three stages of momentum?

1. Starting Mo
It only takes one person to spark the power of momentum — one person with a positive attitude. One person who brings excitement to the team. One person who is willing to go the extra mile. You don’t have to be the department leader or the most charismatic person on the team.
Your one “must-have” leader trait to getting Mo started is BELIEF. Belief in what you’re doing, belief in whom you are grooming and leading, and belief in the future. Your belief will be contagious. Others will borrow it until they can muster up their own.

2. Moving Mo
Keeping the momentum going is the tricky part, because it’s tempting to get a little lazy in your efforts to keep building Mo after it’s rolling. We can get complacent as to how things are going, so we start to relax and become overly confident. We think, “My work here is done; now I can relax and go play.” Not so! Beware of that thinking.

Your one “must-have” leader trait to moving Mo is MOTIVATION. Motivating others to step up and lead, motivating the team with recognition and celebrations, and motivating by being “with” your team. Many leaders start to separate themselves into an authoritative position of leadership; looking down on their kingdom. Ouch, what a momentum killer! And smile, good gosh almighty, smile with your people!

3. Keeping Mo Alive
Don’t drift away from the key elements that make you successful. If you want momentum to be part of your culture, then stay focused on the behaviors and values that will multiply your momentum. Success can make a leader drift. Their attention is preoccupied by something else and motion starts to slide backwards.

Your one “must-have” leader trait to keeping Mo alive is INTUITION. Intuition to the conditions, intuition to ebb and flow as changes arise, and intuition to balance the old basics with new opportunities.

Mo is one of those things that is hard to put into words, but you know it when you see it. What does the Big Mo look like inside your organization? What stage are you in, and what kind of leader do you need to be?

About the Author:
Linda Sasser is the CEO of Impacting Leaders, a firm focused on helping companies with their leadership development and organizational effectiveness needs. Linda has over 25 years’ experience in developing businesses, leading teams, and directing sales programs, which include stewarding the John Maxwell corporate leadership development brand; leading efforts to achieve $2 billion in sales while serving as the vice president of sales and marketing at Express Employment Professionals; and owning and operating five Express Employment Professionals staffing franchises. Connect with Linda and Impacting Leaders on their website at www.impactingleaders.com, on Linda’s leadership blog at www.tablegroup.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/ILHappyHour or on Twitter at twitter.com/impactingleadrs.

As many of the TCT members are already aware, Pacific Lutheran University’s Center for Graduate and Continuing Education is launching a new Certificate in Maritime Management in 2016.  The four workshop series scheduled to run on four Saturdays in January and February covers an array of topics and data under The Shipping Business, Maritime Management, Maritime Law and Regulation, and Terminal and Vessel Operations.  The main objective of this new program is to meet an industry need, identified by Port of Tacoma leaders, of developing more knowledgeable middle managers across all sectors of the industry, but in particular for the Logistics and Shipping subsector.  The Washington State Maritime Cluster Economic Impact Study of 2013 revealed this subsector of the overall industry as one of the largest for number of employer establishments and jobs (viii, 31).

PLU is fortunate to have been able to recruit four industry professionals, mostly from the TCT membership, to teach the workshops.  Greg Shelton, who taught previously for the University of Washington’s maritime program, will be delivering the first workshop on the shipping business, which will be a general overview of shipping history, key concepts, trends, and governance.  Anna Sodorstrom from Washington United Terminals will cover a variety of management practices specific to the industry in the second workshop.  Steven Block, an attorney with Foster Pepper PLLC, will offer his expert knowledge on maritime law and regulation for the third workshop.  And TCT Board Member, Mark Miller, from MacMillan-Piper, Inc, will be drawing from his extensive background and knowledge to deliver the final workshop on terminal and vessel operations.  Mark will also be leading a tour of the Port of Tacoma as a part of this program.  I was able to get a glimpse of this tour with Mark before the Christmas holiday and it was an enlightening experience.  The tour will bring into sharp focus many of the lessons from the four workshops.

PLU anticipates offering the Certificate in Maritime Management twice a year.  We currently have fourteen registrants for the upcoming series of workshops, which is a nice class size for collaborative learning with the instructor and peer registrants.  If TCT members are interested in learning more about this new certificate program, they can either go to www.plu.edu/continuing-ed or contact me directly at the Center for Graduate and Continuing Education, 253-535-7231.

Best wishes,

Geoff E. Foy, Ph.D.
Associate Provost

Written by Vincent Santiago

Historically, many members of the Transportation Club of Tacoma worked for larger, publically held enterprises and government entities. As our Club has grown, an increasing number people who own or work for small businesses have joined our membership ranks. I am one such member. I spent eleven years in the Marine Corps and nearly twenty years in the corporate world. Almost nine years ago, my wife, Celine, and I opened our own business. Because we are gluttons for punishment, we opened a second small business five years ago. My experience with our small businesses is quite different from the experience I had with the large organizations for which I previously worked.

Defining “small business” is probably a useful starting point. The US Small Business Administration defines a small business concern as one that is independently owned and operated, organized for profit, and not dominant in its field. Generally, the SBA characterizes small businesses as having fewer than 500 employees (for manufacturers) and less than $7.5 million in revenue. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act qualifies a small business for a tax credit if it has fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees with average annual wages below $50,000. All of these guidelines seem like pretty big businesses to Celine and me.

Small businesses have different cultures than do their larger counterparts. The entrepreneurial reputation associated with small businesses comes from the ability to act quickly, adapt, and work “outside the box.” This separates small businesses from large ones, where size alone imposes bureaucratic methods of control and slow communications through many layers of decision-makers. Small businesses tend to have closer and more constant contact with their employees, customers, and suppliers. On the other hand, small businesses’ capabilities and resources are typically limited compared to their larger counterparts. Capital for investment is scarce. Small businesses typically offer less in the way of benefits to their employees.

It is worth noting that these observations about small and large businesses are generalizations. There are big businesses that are as nimble as any small one. There are small businesses that a painfully slow to react to an opportunity when one is presented. The difference between the corporate world and small business ownership for us is that we no longer have staff experts (Accounting/Finance, Human Resources, Purchasing, Safety, Real Estate, Licensing, etc.) who advise us on what to do. We have to figure it out ourselves and hope we got it right! We believe that it why most small business owners put in so much time. You run the business during business hours and do the extra work at night and on weekends.

For Celine and me, the first distinction for our small businesses is that the money we risk on our ventures really is our own. I always tried to “treat the company’s money like my own” when I worked in the corporate world. This took on a completely new meaning when we leveraged our home to start our first business. We do not play “let’s bet the house” with our businesses. While we pay for a ton of insurance at a very significant cost, we always keep in mind that our home and savings are at risk if someone sues one of our businesses. We would most likely consume most of our personal assets simply defending ourselves if something bad were to happen. We are amazed when billion dollar corporations require us to subrogate our insurance to them in order to do business. We buy our insurance to protect ourselves and do not understand why large corporations expect us to subsidize their insurance when they have better coverage and lawyers than we do.

Another aspect of small business is what happens with profit. Celine and I are the shareholders, so we pay ourselves with what is left after everyone else is paid. We can choose between investing for retirement or reinvesting in the business. We favor reinvesting in business and favor investing in business relationships. One time, I took a customer on a fishing trip. While he was eating a sandwich that Celine made for him, this customer decided he might be paying us too much because we could take him fishing and feed him. I explained our alternatives with respect using our profit. I explained that, unlike him, we pay for 100% of our medical coverage, dental coverage, life insurance, and retirement. I told him that we valued his business enough to reinvest in it. As he took another bite out of Celine’s sandwich, I asked him how our medical/dental/insurance/retirement tasted. The business relationship has blossomed.

Another thing that really challenges small businesses is getting paid. We work with business entities that have significant resources. We sign contracts that place significant responsibility and liability on us. These contracts also state we will be paid in a specified amount of time. Most of our business partners are small businesses, and we typically pay our business partners more quickly than our customers pay us. We are often told that we are not paid in a timely manner because “our customers haven’t paid us.” We don’t sign contracts that say we will wait to get paid until someone else gets paid. We shed slow-paying customers relatively quickly, and some of them can’t understand why.

Finally, the most taxing activity for us is paying taxes. We never imagined how many government entities would have their hands in our pockets. Literally, we pay taxes every week. On January 15th, we sent out fourteen checks for taxes. Federal taxes, state taxes, local taxes. Payroll taxes, use taxes, licensing fees (aka…more taxes). And never forget to pay taxes. The affected government agency will threaten to shut your business down within days. A few years ago, a clerk at a state agency decided they we couldn’t possibly be owed a refund. So she simply reclassified our business and tripled our tax liability. The move was completely unfounded and would have broken our business. We paid $5,000 in attorneys’ fees to get this fixed, and we had no recourse to recoup the legal expense this enterprising state employee generated. A couple of years ago, I sat at a table with the owners of three other trucking companies. We agreed that the government believes that our primary responsibility is to pay taxes, not operate tractor-trailers safely on our roadways.

Despite these challenges, I could never go back to the corporate world. I have the best boss I have ever had in my entire professional career – my wife, Celine. We have been able to bring our son, Dominic, into our business. We have three wonderful veterans driving for us – Dave, Casey, and Ben. Jan and Gayle work wonders in the office. Some people think that you get to choose your customers when you have your own business. That is true to a degree. We have some wonderful customers and some challenging ones. What we are able to do is choose customers who benefit from our companies’ strengths. We have a great group of business partners, to whom we owe most of our success. What is most important to Celine and me is that we are still able to keep the promise we made when we started our first business from scratch almost nine years ago. We are able to share the blessings of our success with our employees, customers, and business partners. That will never change.