NOVEL SOLUTIONS
A Roundabout Path to CEO
SHANNON WETZEL, SENIOR EDITOR F
red Cook, CEO of public relations agency GolinHarris, offers a host of tips on how to achieve the CEO level
and succeed there in his book, “Improvise: Un- conventional Career Advice From an Unlikely CEO,” from Agate Publishing. As indicated by the title, the advice offered is not what you would typically find through a college career center. Cook talks about how his various life experiences and failures prepared him to become the head of an award winning, global company, including working as a cabin boy on a tanker ship, promoting a girlfriend’s fledgling singing career, starting a chauffer service that ultimately failed, and substitute teaching. Cook is in PR, not metalcasting, but I’ve
seen a few of his points play out in the in- dustry. Many CEOs, owners and managers in the industry came up the ranks not because of their educational pedigree, but because of their curiosity, courage, intuition and improvisation. In his book, Cook recalls his audacity to,
on a lark, ask for a job from the captain on a Norwegian tanker despite the fact that he had no experience and, at the time, no job avail- able. He got the job, passage from Hawaii to Asia, and the adventure of a lifetime. “If you want to be a captain tomorrow, start
by asking one today,” Cook writes. His point is that its critical to make an impression. In visits to metalcasting facilities over the years, I’ve heard this happen time and again. A young engineer, quality control technician, or even grinder, approaches the boss with an idea, fol- lows through on the idea and begins advancing his career within the company. Many of the strategies Cook describes in
“Improvise” apply to working with customers, as well. In a chapter on listening, Cook writes. “[Our clients] give us elaborate written briefs, but when we repeat what we think they told us, we often discover they want something completely different.” Cook suggests, no matter how small the
task, to write it down and repeat it to the cus- tomer, to increase the chances you will get it right. Any metalcaster would benefit from that piece of advice.
44 | MODERN CASTING October 2014
“Problems are the key to a long, rewarding career because there are always so many of them.”
Metalcasters’ Translation: Being a problem solver at your metalcasting facility, whether you
are solving problems for a customer or your associates in production, makes you a valuable asset.
ABRIDGED
Relevance to Metalcasters Technical Diffi culty Self-Help Fluff Profi t Booster
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