Every year since 1977, as the president of the Specialty Tools and Fasteners Distributors Association (STAFDA) completes their term, they receive a small statue depicting a peddler from the 1800’s. He is wearing a pack stuffed full of his goods and holds a cane to help him cross the wilderness. It was an amazing moment for me in 2005 when I received my Peddler statue. The tradition was started by Wayne Henderson of Dynamic Sales and his son Jim continues it today. While I was introduced to these peddlers at STAFDA conventions growing up in the family business, it was at Texas A&M as an Industrial Distribution student that I learned of their importance. My professor shared colorful stories of the early peddlers forging ahead in advance of the railroads creating supply routes for our burgeoning country and laying the foundation of modern distribution. Because of this heritage the rugged individualism shown by our early peddlers is a trait still expected in distribution professionals.
Many of our leaders, whether they occupy the top spot in a company or head a department (even if it’s a department of one), are handicapped by this expectation. The peddler of the 1800’s wasn’t able to harness the power of collaboration, build teams, or reach out to peers in his field for help. Instead, he was left to fight the fight on his own. And today that expectation of rugged individualism in our leaders has contributed to a feeling of isolation. Instead of being able to turn to others they’re often expected to discover the riddle, solve it, and implement the winning solution all on their own.