Dear Colleagues,

"A human being lives out not only his personal life as an individual, but also consciously or subconsciously, the lives of his epoch”, said Thomas Mann.
He went on to say, “if the times…do not provide opportunity, the situation will have a crippling affect”.

This timeless statement is worth examining. Your professional universe has clearly changed. And the question is, have you changed with it?  No doubt, as Mann alludes to, if the times do not provide the situation, it could be bad. Butttttttttt, this assumes, that Henely's poem Invicticus--"I am the master of my fate : I am the captain of my soul"--is not true.

The seas might be rough, and we have to live with what has been sent us. But a great captain consults the compass, charts and stars and steers the course. 

Our readers are wise enough to apply these thoughts to the right context.  

I recently had conversations with several management recruiters, and it was clear that the top supply chain people are in high demand. And that drives the question. What makes one a great captain, a top supply chain person.  Our think tank event on November 5th thru the 7th still has a few slots left, so you might want to join the discussion on the Changing Role of the Supply Chain Manager.

We are working on a big fat issue for you with great content and great case studies for our next issue. But just to keep in touch, we are sending out this interim issue. We have gotten so much feedback on our ‘great articles’, it was hard to pick the best short list. But here our some of our readers' favorites.

One final thought, when you see the struggle for governments, stability and democracy, you think about the value of our government.

Please Vote! No matter what ‘side’ you are on, we get the government we choose. It is not the lobbyist at the end of the day; it is our one vote at a time.