Part 2: Team Management and Motivation (Including Delegation): How to lead people, not just processes.
This is the second in a 10-part series on the critical skills every front-line leader in distribution needs to master. These articles are built around real-world experience; lessons learned the hard way from the warehouse floor to the front office. Whether you’re newly promoted or sharpening your leadership edge, this series is for you. Here’s the first in the series: Critical Skills for Front-Line Leaders in Distribution Part One | Distribution Strategy Group
When Friends Become Your Team: A 17-Year-Old’s Leadership Crash Course
When I was 17, my buddies helped me get a job at the Chicago Tribune. We worked Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights in a small warehouse, putting together the Sunday newspaper, all 5 pounds of it. A couple of months in, my boss got fired. His friend took over, then got fired a few weeks later. With no one else who could handle it, I volunteered. I’d been curious enough to learn what my boss did, so they gave me the job.
Suddenly, I was managing 30+ people, including friends who had gotten me the job just months before. My responsibility was assigning piece work, once someone finished their initial allotment, I’d inspect their work and pass out more if it was available and if their quality was good.
My friends immediately asked for preferential treatment. “Come on, give us more work,” they’d say. But I had to be fair and reward those who worked fast and accurately, regardless of our friendship. They initially pushed back, but they understood what I had to do. The hardest part wasn’t managing people twice my age but saying no to friends while having everyone’s eyes on me. If the work wasn’t completed, the paper couldn’t be delivered, and in the late 1980s, most people got the Chicago Tribune delivered to their house since there was no internet to go to!
That experience taught me the first rule of leading former peers: fairness over favoritism, every single time.
The Biggest Mistake New Leaders Make with Former Peers
Most new leaders try to continue doing things the same way as before they got promoted. But here’s the reality: if you have a group of 15 peers, you’re naturally going to be closer to some than others. What’s critical when you become their leader is not making some feel like others are treated more favorably because of your previous friendship or relationship.
You must go out of your way to treat them all with kindness, respect, and fairness. Additionally, you can’t allow yourself to be harder on those who were closer to you to overcompensate for the others, that’s not fair either. It’s a difficult line to walk, but to get the respect of the whole team, you must do it.
The Process: Those First Crucial Conversations
The most important thing is to have 1:1 discussion with each person to help them understand your new role and how that role affects your relationship moving forward. Be vulnerable. Indicate this is new and that you will make mistakes, but you have everyone’s best interest at heart.
Here’s what these conversations should include:
- Acknowledge the relationship changes directly.
- Set clear expectations about fairness and consistency.
- Ask for their support in the transition.
- Be honest about your learning curve.
- Establish new boundaries while maintaining respect.
Leading People Is a Skill—Not an Accident
Most front-line leaders in distribution get promoted because they’re good at the job. They hit the numbers, show up, and know the operation inside and out. But leadership isn’t about being the best individual contributor anymore. Once you’re in charge, you’re judged not by what you do but by what your team can do, and that shift in mindset is where many new leaders fail.
When I was in the Marine Corps stationed at Parris Island, I worked in the supply department for Weapons Training Battalion. The supply chief was a staff sergeant who eventually transferred out, and I was given the position of supply chief as a corporal. I had to lead a sergeant who ran the warehouse and outranked me, along with some of my former peers. That was a wake-up call. Leading wasn’t about knowing everything or having all the stripes. It was about communication, mutual respect, and clarity of roles. And does that shift from peer to leader? It changes the relationship fast.
Self-Awareness Comes First
If you want to manage people well, start by managing yourself. Leadership begins with recognizing your own gaps, especially those related to your ego. Early in my career, there were times when I was asked something I didn’t know the answer to, but instead of admitting it, I made something up. I didn’t want to look weak. I wanted to sound in control. But the truth always catches up to you. And when it does, you don’t just look wrong, you lose trust.
It’s a lesson I learned the hard way: being honest and saying “I don’t know” earns you far more respect than pretending. Your team doesn’t expect you to know everything, but they do expect you to be real. People crave genuine leadership, not the large-language-model version of a boss that fills in the blanks.
Motivation: See People as People, Not Just Labor
One of the most effective ways to develop leadership skills is to volunteer. In a volunteer setting, you can’t rely on authority or money to motivate. You must inspire, coach, and connect with people who are there because they want to be, not because they must be. It shifts your entire mindset. You start to see people as individuals with goals, strengths, and needs, not just bodies on a shift.
That same mindset belongs on your warehouse floor. The sooner you stop seeing your team to an end and start seeing them as people working toward a shared goal, the faster you’ll earn their respect.
Delegation: The Hardest Skill to Learn
Delegation is one of the hardest things for new leaders to get right. You got promoted because you knew how to get things done. So, your instinct is to keep doing it. But leadership means letting go and trusting others to take ownership.
When I got promoted to sergeant, I was responsible for field day inspections at Weapons Training Battalion. One week, I had something else on my plate, so I asked a corporal to handle it. However, he didn’t feel comfortable asking his peers to clean, and as a result, it didn’t get done. The next day, the first sergeant walked through and saw a mess. I took the hit. That’s part of delegation, too: when you hand something off, you’re still accountable. My first sergeant taught me, you can delegate authority, but you cannot delegate responsibility.
That experience didn’t stop me from delegating, but it taught me to follow up and follow through on my commitments. Make sure the task is understood. Make sure your people have the tools. And then check the work. Delegation isn’t abdication. It’s a skill built on trust, clarity, and feedback.
Final Thought: Don’t Lead Alone
Leadership doesn’t mean having all the answers. It doesn’t mean doing everything yourself. It means building a team that performs even when you’re not watching. That starts with humility, grows with trust, and succeeds through clear communication. Leading people is hard, but it’s a skill you can learn. Start by showing up honestly, giving your team room to grow, and never losing sight of the fact that people, not processes, make the difference.
Next up in the series: Effective Communication
With over 25 years of leadership in supply chain, logistics and global distribution strategy, Will Quinn is a recognized authority in warehousing and distribution operations. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, he spent 12 years mastering discipline, adaptability and leadership — qualities that have fueled his success in managing high-impact distribution networks for companies like Grainger, Coca-Cola, MSC Industrial Supply, WEG Electric and Cintas. As a former global distribution strategist at Infor, he spent four years helping businesses bridge the gap between cutting-edge technology and real-world distribution challenges. Will holds a Master of Science in Supply Chain Management from Elmhurst University.