Senior members of the C-suite take note: distribution’s next-gen leaders are out there. You must know where to find them and how to support their growth. Seth Gordon, CEO of Glacier Supply Group, didn’t grow up in the HVAC distribution business. Still, he recognized an opportunity to innovate within the industry and work with a tangible product. Jason chats with Seth about his journey from finance to duct fittings, the importance of connecting with mentors, and the Glacier team’s wildly successful implementation of EOS, the Entrepreneurs Operating System.
Seth recalls the moment he realized that HVAC could provide him with a much-needed career challenge. He was dining with his father-in-law and asked about the family business, a veteran HVAC distributor in the Pacific Northwest. “He looks up at the ceiling and says, ‘See that stuff right there? See that spiral pipe? We sell that. All the equipment that pumps into that? We sell that, too.’”
Soon after that fateful meal, Seth was at Glacier, applying his tech acumen to their e-commerce site upgrade. The project provided insight into the company’s supply chain relationships, branch management, and customer service. “I never had any appreciation before working in a small business for how challenging and difficult, yet rewarding [it] can be,” he says, until he set his sights on restructuring the entire organization. Thankfully, Seth stumbled upon EOS––the straightforward yet powerful approach to defining focus, strategy, and team roles––which helped him manage the massive overhaul. “There’s so much clarity that goes in [to a complete restructure] that EOS helps create,” says Seth. “The early wins from [in] visibility and the clarity, especially around roles, was super helpful and allowed everybody to buy in very quickly.”
Seth credits his mentors in and out of Glacier for quelling his impostor syndrome. “It’s easy to be in a leadership role and think, Oh, maybe I don’t belong,” he says, noting that leadership can get lonely. That’s why he opted to take an active role in Blue Hawk cooperative. “It’s incredible to see the community that gets built and what happens when you really put yourself out there and just be vulnerable at those types of events.”
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Traction: Get A Grip On Your Business
Entrepreneurial Operating System
QUOTES
“Managing change, I think, is so difficult because it’s human nature, right? Like, we want things to be the way that they’ve always been.”
“We have to adapt, and that’s what makes businesses be able to last for generations.”
“I feel super spoiled as a leader because I get to stand on everyone’s shoulders.”
“Running a business can be a lonely place, and having mentors, advisors, good friends, like, people to lean on is super, super critical.”
CONNECT WITH JASON
CONNECT WITH SETH
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Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth, and achieve personal goals.
This episode was edited by The Creative Impostor Studios.
Special thanks to our sponsor for this episode: Moblico, helping businesses do more business on mobile devices.
