In celebration of Father’s Day, I’m going to do something a little different. As an incredibly proud father of six children and grandfather of 20 grandchildren, I want to shine a light on one of them.
A few weeks ago, I received a text from my grandson, Tripp, who is 17. He wanted to ask me a few questions because he was writing his end-of-year history project on me! He told me that they were supposed to “pick someone that we think should be recognized by the nation for their impact on the world” and he immediately thought of me.
I’m sure other parents/grandparents can understand how touched and humbled I was. But I was also impressed that such a young man could see the impact of what we are trying to do here at Barry-Wehmiller.
一度, when I texted him to ask how the paper was going, he wrote back: “The paper is going well. I just hope that I can write it well enough that it shows what you stand for and what everyone needs to learn should be their priority in dealing with people. The world has too much hate and not enough people brave enough to learn how to care.”
他分享了, 作为一个小孩子, although he’d often hear the family talking about the “领袖ship stuff” we were doing, 他只知道我是个搞笑的人, 慈爱的祖父. 几年前, the headmaster at his school invited me and Tripp and a few others to a lunch to discuss their interest in incorporating Barry-Wehmiller’s 领袖ship program into his school’s curriculum.
“This was the first time that I had sat down and really listened to his message and it just kind of hit me. He wasn’t just my goofy grandfather anymore, but an inspiration and example of the man I hope to be one day as well.特里普说. “Someone who is more focused on the feelings of the people around him than his own, and treating everyone in a way that reminds them that they are important and that they matter.”
作为父亲或祖父, there isn’t more you could ask for — not only that your child or grandchild is proud of your work but understands the need for more caring in the world, 尤其是在工作中.
所以这周的帖子, this proud father and grandfather would like to share Tripp’s essay with you so that you may see Truly Human 领导 through the eyes of our future.
" Que Paso Amigo "
对我来说，鲍勃·查普曼, 我更熟悉他叫鲍比, is just my goofy grandfather responsible for a huge chunk of childhood memories. For other people, he is known as “鲍勃·查普曼, 首席执行官 of St. 路易, MO的Barry-Wehmiller, a $3 billion global manufacturing business with more than 12,000 team members and over 100 companies world wide.” But that just scratches the surface of the amazing grandfather, 领袖, 我知道他是一个好朋友. Bob inherited his father’s bottle washer business, due to his dad’s untimely death from a heart attack in 1975. 立即, 我的第一个想法是, I must build something good from this business that killed my dad.” A large burden to put upon himself at the young age of 30. 现在他要过80岁了, $20 million revenue company with outdated machinery and a struggling financial situation, into a thriving company in order to keep the promise he made to himself. Bob attended Indiana University to earn his BS in accounting and then continued his academic career at Michigan University to achieve a masters degree in business administration. His only work experience at this point was with Price Waterhouse, a public accounting firm. 对大多数处于他这种处境的人来说, running a struggling company would have been a very daunting task, but he remained optimistic and encouraged to turn his father’s company around.
Bob’s first 50 years as 首席执行官 of Barry-Wehmiller, he resembled a traditional businessman focusing primarily on saving the company his father once purchased for just $30,000. It was known that “my priorities were to save the company from bankruptcy and give it a future. A real challenge given the state of the business, 竞争格局, and old technology I had to work with.” From the knowledge and techniques that he learned from his studies in college, Bob
succeeded in turning his father’s company around financially. 让一个曾经挣扎的St. 路易公司, into a $3 billion revenue company that has over 100 locations in 28 different countries and over 12,000名员工. 这还不够. Accomplishing this was a amazing achievement, but his promise was that he must “build something good from the business that killed my father”, 还有鲍勃, all he had done with the company was financial. 没有什么“好”的东西.
One day my grandfather was attending a wedding of a close friend’s daughter, which ended up being one of the most influential moments in his business career. The wedding opened his eyes to the fact that “people are not functions or machines, 而是某人的宝贝孩子.” As a father of six, this changed his entire outlook on his role as a 领袖. “领导是一种特权, and it takes courage to care for the people you have been given the privilege to lead.” With this, Bob founded a 领袖ship program known as “Truly Human 领导”. The main idea of this program is to encourage the change from “management” to “领袖ship”. From “using” people for economic gain to “embracing” the need to care about all of the people that you have the privilege to lead. Updating their mission statement to “We measure success by the way that we touch the lives of people.” This changed a lot of how Barry-Wehmiller operated and went about the acquisition of new companies. 在大多数情况下, 如果首席执行官收购了一家新公司, they will fire and replace employees to better suit their own needs. Barry-Wehmiller takes a much different approach. “When Barry-Wehmiller acquires a struggling company, chairman and 首席执行官 鲍勃·查普曼 almost never fires anybody. Instead, he comes in and says, “You are safe here. We’re going to train you on 领袖ship and culture, and we’re going to be patient.” He’s not expecting returns in the first quarter or even the first year. 然而,, 可靠地, if he gives his Truly Human 领导 principles three to five years to take hold, the acquired companies turn around to be more profitable than they had ever been before — with the same people.” Proving that his real intentions are not in making an immediate profit, but in the betterment of the people he has the “privilege” to lead.
As far as Bob’s efforts have gone already, his plans for the future are simple. Bob believes that “Life is a journey. That everyday we are learning how to be better stewards of the lives entrusted to us. It is about people, purpose, and performance. It all begins with our fundamental responsibility to those in our care, then we have to perform for those who have put their trust in us.”8 A simple concept that he hopes will continue to develop and be adopted by companies and 领袖s everywhere. He hopes for a future in which work can be fun, and where everyone can work for a company that cares about them. When asked what matters most to you as a 首席执行官, 鲍勃的回答是, “That I create a culture where “Everybody Matters”. That my employees return home each and every day safe, 健康的, and fulfilled… knowing that who they are and what they do matter.”9 This is a very rare occurrence in many modern day companies. In fact “Research shows that 88% of American workers believe that the organizations they work for do not care about them as individuals; that three out of four workers are disengaged from the work that they do. A sad statistic given that the number one source of happiness among Americans is not wealth or health, 这是个好工作.”10 This is the the main reasoning behind all of what 鲍勃·查普曼 stands for. His main goal is to try to make a difference in the world by providing the future with the skills needed to be a “Truly Human Leader”, 以及真正关心他人的技能, even if it means sacrificing his personal profit for the betterment of the future of his company and the world. The New York Times states “the primary value exchange between employees and their employers has been time for money, 仅此而已. 鲍勃·查普曼提出了更深层次的, richer value exchange: We will invest in you not just as a worker but also as a human being. You’ll get better at both, and so will we.”
I believe that 鲍勃·查普曼’s efforts towards creating a future in which “Everybody Matters” is the beginning of a better world. A journey that has changed the lives of so many, and will continue to bring joy and meaning to people’s lives everywhere. As Bobby’s grandson I am incredibly fortunate to have such an amazing role model that I have and will look up to my entire life. I can only hope to make as big an impact on the world as he has, and I am excited to follow his lead in prioritizing the needs of others before my own. I want to become a “Truly Human Leader” and follow the example that has been set before me. Bobby, thank you for everything you have done for me and our family. I will always look up to you and work to make you proud. Not only are you the the most “truly human 领袖” I have ever known, but one of my best friends in the entire world. You always tell me “I can’t be “with” you forever, but I can be in your head and heart forever”. A statement that will be forever true to me and all the people whose lives you have changed for the better. On behalf of everyone you have positively affected, Thank you for all that you do for us to make this world a better place.