MOTIVATED SPEAKER: Givray commits to about a dozen speaking engagements per year. It’s “the reaction from those who hear” him, he said, that motivates him “to do more of it.”
SmithBucklin Corporation President and CEO Henry Givray can trace his interest in lead- ership—or “aspiring to positions of influence, responsibility, and impact,” as he calls it— all the way back to the sixth grade, when hewas captain of the safety patrol. He played bass guitarandled a rockbandin high schoolandcollegewherehebookedgigsand“learned
to make things happen through influence versus given author- ity.” And at Cornell University, where he earned both bache- lor’s and master’s degrees in engineering, Givray served as president of the Interfraternity Council—“kind of a big deal,” he said, because it represented 45 percent of the male student population. By the age of 27, he had become a managerat a small
74 pcma convene April 2012
company in an unrelated industry, and from there, he said, “It was an immediate connection, fascination, and keen interest around the requirements, challenges, and impact of business man- agement. I instantly knew that I wanted to pursue a career in executive management.”