Commercial Integrator 2023 - 24

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP PSNI Supersummit 2023
alignment with a strategic geographical
model. These facts undergird the Alliance's
" Built for You " mantra, which nods not only
to its exclusivity but also to its commitment
to helping drive CSPs' success and client
enablement.
And driving success is much of what Supersummit
is ultimately about. Over three
days, it puts business leaders in the same
room and facilitates meaningful connections.
During every lunch, dinner, coffee
break and networking session, the Hyatt
Regency Dallas thrummed with energy,
members' eyes alight with new ideas and
fresh inspiration. Our industry grounds
itself in relationships, and it was easy to
see how Supersummit rejuvenated members
who, over the past three-plus years,
haven't always had a chance to commune
in person. But the interpersonal engagement
was only one piece of the puzzle;
Supersummit also featured revelatory
thought leadership that undoubtedly sent
Alliance members home with actionable
takeaways. We'll turn to that next.
A Global Perspective
In filling out its Supersummit speaker
roster, Miller and his team at the Alliance
bring together disciplines like economics,
futurism, sales-team optimization and
workforce management. What follows are
synopses of each speaker's presentation.
Afshin Molavi, a senior fellow at the Foreign
Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins
University School of Advanced International
Studies, delivered a geopolitical
and economic outlook that one could just
as accurately describe as a paean to the
benefits of globalism. He mentioned, for
example, that the U.S. boasts $2.5 trillion
in annual exports, which collectively support
nine million American jobs. When one
couples foreign direct investment in the
U.S. with exports, one arrives at about 20
million U.S. jobs that depend upon robust
global engagement. Molavi also underscored
the near-limitless upside available
to us if we, as a country, lean into global
opportunity. Collectively, Asia, Africa and
Latin America make up 85% of the world's
population, he said, and many of those
regions have a far younger population than
we do. (Indeed, in sub-Saharan Africa, the
24
Commercial Integrator JUNE 2023
PSNI Supersummit empowered end users from various verticals to opine on their needs,
their pain points and how integrators' service offerings could be more optimized.
median age is just 19.) For the Alliance,
which is decidedly worldwide in scope,
the potential is vast.
With regard to the economic outlook,
Molavi painted a nuanced picture -
neither as bad as we feared nor as rosy as
we'd like. He harked back to last September,
when he said economic analysts were
in a " revised downward " mood, a colloquial
way of saying that many were cutting
their growth forecasts. But, Molavi added,
by this past January, International Monetary
Fund (IMF) forecasts, while not stellar,
looked markedly better. " The good news
is, commodity prices are easing, " he said,
noting a similar trend in shipping rates and
heralding the beginning of supply-chain
normalization. Potential headwinds center
on China, whose slowing growth has
broader implications. " As goes China, so
goes the world, " Molavi said, pointing to
extensive economic integration between
the country and the United States. And
he forewarned that a possible new cold
war with the Xi Jinping-led nation would
present considerable economic risk.
'The Last 8%'
Dr. J.P. Pawliw-Fry, an expert in emotional
intelligence, leadership and peak performance,
delivered a keynote focusing on
how attendees' organizations can move
beyond being just good and reach the
" last 8% " to achieve greatness. Emphasizing
team culture as the critical factor
to unlocking exceptionally high performance,
he underscored that leaders'
actions when they face difficult moments
represent arguably the most pivotal time
for shaping team culture. According to
Dr. Pawliw-Fry, high-performing cultures
meld two elements: high connection and
high courage. " Connection, " of course,
refers to unity of purpose within teams and
mutual investment among team members.
" Courage " refers to embracing accountability
and being willing to make tough
decisions that, ultimately, will facilitate
teamwide success.
Lots of businesses describe themselves
as being " family-like, " but, according to Dr.
Pawliw-Fry, that can sometimes come at
the expense of having a courageous team
culture that embraces constructive criticism
and the imperative to correct. It's all too
easy for us to fall into our " predictable
default behavior " - in short, what we do
when we face a tough situation. For most of
us, we either (a) avoid it or (b) make a mess.
When a team's dynamic is too family-like,
leaders can simply turn a blind eye to
problem areas (i.e., " avoid it " ), ignoring
underperforming players or disruptive
associates. Thus, Dr. Pawliw-Fry says, it's essential
that we find ways to enact a " pattern
interrupt " - that is, a method of breaking
commercialintegrator.com
http://www.commercialintegrator.com
Commercial Integrator 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Commercial Integrator 2023
