Grainger reported third-quarter profit of $426 million, up from $297 million a year ago, on revenue of $3.94 billion, up 17%. Daily sales in the company's High-Touch Solutions NA segment rose by 19% as volume and prices increased.

Applied Industrial Technologies earned $76.9 million in its fiscal first quarter, up from $53 million a year ago, on sales of $1.1 billion, up from $891.7 million. The company said it has renamed its Fluid Power and Flow Control segment as Engineered Solutions to "reflect the evolution in the segment's business profile, scope of products and solutions, and value proposition."

Nordstrom, Mondelez and other companies are attracting warehouse and supply chain employees with their use of robotics and automation in logistics. Such investments appeal to employees' desire to make an impact and add value to a business, according to executives.

Having the right mindset can help a sales leader make the most of their talents, "light[ing] a fire in her team instead of lighting a fire under them," John Henley of The Center for Sales Strategy writes. For example, one leader has shifted to a positive accountability mindset because it forces them to blend their three main strengths: command, positivity and relationships.

Salespeople can take the stress out of announcing price increases or product shortages by proactively letting customers know what's going on and suggesting product substitutions, writes Barrett Thompson of Zilliant. Sales teams should also use consistent metrics to identify "who is genuinely a good customer" and be willing to enforce quantity commitments to best manage limited inventory, Thompson writes.

Using stories that relay a lesson, show a transformation and inspire your audience to think differently or change in some way is a powerful skill leaders should develop, says Patti Sanchez, chief strategy officer at Duarte. "The point of your story is not to communicate that you triumphed over adversity, but to communicate how by using the same principles or techniques [listeners] can be successful, too," Sanchez says.

There are four types of employees that companies can rely on to spur innovation, according to data collected by researchers Andy Wu of Harvard Business School, Goran Calic of McMaster University and Min Basadur of Basadur Applied Innovation. Generators come up with ideas from their own experience, conceptualizers tend to rely on abstract analysis, optimizers are good with solutions and implementers know how to carry out new ideas, the researchers write.

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