Small Details, Big Impact: Zac's Leadership

What motivated you to take on the role of Squad Leader at Mercury, and what do you enjoy most about your position?

The thing that has given me the most professional satisfaction so far in my career, regardless of job title or company, is watching the growth and development of a team as they continue to push new boundaries. My first task with Mercury was to hire, train, and develop my team to have them ready to operate within three months – my biggest passions. It was exactly the type of challenge I was looking for and shaping our future team is the highlight of my role.

Can you describe your primary responsibilities in managing time-sensitive and temperature-controlled shipments?

My primary responsibilities as a Squad Leader are ensuring the client is happy, shipments are moving, and that my team has every resource available to do their job. On a tactical level this involves understanding and eliminating any current barriers to our shipments, identifying possible friction points in the future, and putting a plan in place to prevent possible service issues. I tell my team almost every day to “work small, think big,” to emphasize the importance of details and processes. I verify that the guides are focused on the little things and help extrapolate their observations and scale to the rest of the team.

What are the biggest challenges you face in ensuring the success of your operations team, and how do you address them?

One of the bigger challenges I face is knowing when to step in and escalate a situation to the client or when to let something run its course. The world of logistics is full of wrong scans, incorrect updates, and bad weather. An overreaction with no clarity and poor information is oftentimes a worse customer experience than a 24-hour delay. Conversely, if you wait too long to inform the client of possible bad news, you may waste too much time and not leave any additional options.

The two keys to addressing this are persistence with the carriers and presenting facts to the customer. We must be relentless with our follow-ups and deliberate with our line of questioning to ensure we have all the relevant information before we talk to the client. The best way I’ve found is to ask yourself, “Would I be happy with this answer if it were my lab results in this box?” If the answer is “no”, then change your approach or reword your questions. Efficient communication can save days on transit time and give back hours to our clients so they can focus on their research and lab work.

Can you share an example of a particularly successful project or shipment you managed recently?

The international logistics landscape has been chaotic over the last few months and we were able to help a client navigate through it on a very tight timeline. To summarize, a client reached out on the Monday morning before a very significant tariff went into effect and wanted to know if it was possible to get a pallet out of the USA before this happened. After some research, we let them know that if we could get on a flight before Wednesday at midnight they would be in the clear.

They came back an hour later to tell us to book it, but now they needed THREE pallets with additional Specialty Cold Chain boxes as well. By working with our overseas team and internal Customs Consultant we successfully had these packages pre-cleared with the destination country’s customs department and out of US airspace by 9pm on Wednesday. Our customer saved over $50k in additional tariffs.

How do you ensure that your team stays motivated and focused on their goals?

Constant feedback, regular 1 on 1s, and most importantly, making sure they see the impact their day-to-day work has on our company results. It’s easy to lose sight of the trees in the forest; I make sure they see it.

How do you handle unexpected issues or delays that arise during the shipping process?

Slow down – almost everything can wait 5 minutes. It’s always fast to get the right that first time and not have to fix mistakes later.

Gather info – what are the facts, assumptions, and decision points.

Prioritize – put your tasks in three buckets: complete now, complete next, complete later.

Summarize – inform the client of the pertinent facts, actions you’ve taken, options for moving forward, and when we need to act by.

Execute – avoid overplanning or adding another item to your ‘to-do list’; do everything you can now, not later.

What skills do you believe are essential for someone in your role as a Squad Leader?

You are the key link between the day-to-day operations, tactical decisions, and strategic planning. The ability to clearly articulate your intent, expectations, and concerns is paramount. We deal with a wide range of stakeholders that all speak different corporate languages, and we have to be able to connect with them all. 

What is your approach to training and developing new team members in your squad?

Set realistic expectations, give prompt feedback, and make sure they understand how their work fits into the bigger picture. It also helps to ‘turn the chair around’ and explain situations from our customer’s POV. Context can be just as important as content.

What do you find most rewarding about working at Mercury?

Our clients are doing some outstanding work that is quite literally saving lives. It is fulfilling knowing that we are helping play a part in that. Internally, we have some very intelligent people here at Mercury. Due to our size and how fast we attack problems, I get to interact and work through issues with them daily. It’s amazing how much I continue to learn just through exposure.

How do you measure the success of your team's performance in handling shipments?

Outside of the standard metrics (on-time delivery, call rates, etc.), I like to look at three things:

1. Service Issues – missed customer promise
2. Service Disruptions – change from initial plan, but no major delays
3. Did we answer the customer’s question OR did we solve their problem? There is a big difference between the two.

What are your professional aspirations for the future, and how do you see your role evolving at Mercury?

I told my (now) manager, Jim Turk, during my interview that my short-term goal with Mercury was to take his job. That hasn’t changed. I truly believe that we are set up to build something great here and I am so excited to grow with this team. I want to take the lessons learned over the past 18 months, combine it with our current capabilities, and forecast our biggest gaps so we can proactively close them.

We’ve been around for 40 years because of our customer service; I want to do everything I can to set us up for 40 more years with 40x the clients.