Is the great run in containerboard over?

Will there be a railroad strike in the United States?

How will the great climate change steamroller affect my business in the future?

What will be the price of energy next year?

Where is inflation going?

These are just a few of the things on each of our plates as we finish out 2022. We have faced all of these at one time or another in the past 53 years that I have been in this business, many times all of them at once. How we personally navigate these determines our success as managers.

I have mentioned this before...I once worked for a CEO that made this statement when someone told him prices were soft and goals could not be made: "I didn't hire you to bring me excuses about what the rest of the world is doing, I hired you to make your numbers despite what the rest of the world is doing!"

Wise counsel.

There are managers that succeed year in and year out, despite conditions outside their control. They think outside the box, they are creative, and they don't become hampered by the word "can't."

And they do it all while maintaining high moral and ethical standards.

Resolve to be one of those managers in 2023.

Jim Thompson is CEO of Paperitalo Publications.