From the Director

True Leaders Focus on Igniting the Fire from Within

Letha Keslar ARPM

It never ceases to amaze me what the power of the human will can accomplish. Being a long-time Indianapolis Colts fan, I have watched my fair share of “nailbiting” games. More times than not there is a large deficit at halftime, making many home fans a bit squeamish, but I feel there’s always hope. Then, typically, the Colts rally sometime in the second half reinforcing my optimism as they overcome the deficit. These games demonstrate the power of the will to win. It shows the power of a team of professionals striving for one objective, even when the odds were against them.

I tell this story because of its strong relevance to ARPM’s Annual Benchmarking and Best Practices Conference, recently held in Indianapolis. At the 17th consecutive event, over 550 industry executives came together to improve, create better business strategies and greater their chances of winning. The human will to advance knowledge, and discover innovative methods to further develop efficiencies was present at this conference like never before!

The games of life and business are much like football games – you win some, and you lose some. However, for extremely successful business professionals (those who win more than they lose), one important characteristic is extremely obvious. Successful people tend to invest in themselves and the people that surround them. Ray Griffin, an inspiring minister, once said, “You can either light a fire underneath people, or you can light a fire within them!” For those executives attending the conference with their teams, the strategy was clear.

Since the benchmarking conference, the ARPM office has received dozens of emails and phone calls from attendees describing how the event positively impacted them. In fact, many attendees have already implemented substantial changes to improve how they lead, manage and grow their competitive advantages in the marketplace. To hold one another accountable for taking positive actions, a group of ARPM members has started an email exchange updating each other on the actions they have taken to improve their own companies.

What readers must understand is that owners, presidents and general managers have predominately not driven these actions, but by staff level professionals who have been ignited from within to make a substantial difference in the companies that employ them. The power of the human will; truly makes anything possible!

If you have taken the time to read my short message, I challenge you to examine your leadership responsibilities and test yourself on your management method. Are you lighting the fire from within or just putting more wood to burn under the feet of your employees? u

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ARPM Officers and Board of Directors

President Travis Turek, Bruckman Rubber Corporation Vice President James Wideman, MBL (USA) Corporation Treasurer Marel Riley-Ryman, Southern Michigan Rubber Secretary Joe Keglewitsch, Ice Miller LLP

ARPM Board of Directors

Kirk Bowman, The Timken Company Charlie Braun, Custom Rubber Corp. Russ Burgert, Maplan Rubber Machinery Joe Colletti, Marsh Bellofram Randy Dobbs, Sperry & Rice Doug Gilg, Continental ContiTech Diya Garware Ibanez, Fulflex, Inc. Dave Jentzsch, Blair Rubber Seth Johnson, Zochem LLC Donovan Lonsway, BRP Jon Meigan, Lake Erie Rubber & Manufacturing Mike Rainey, HBD Industries Inc. Mike Recchio, Zeon Chemicals L.P. Brandon Robards, Ace Extrusion Mike Smith, Basic Rubber and Plastics Joe Walker, Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies

ARPM Team

Executive Director Troy Nix – tnix@arpminc.org Managing Director Letha Keslar – lkeslar@arpminc.org Marketing Director Marcella Kates – mkates@arpminc.org Analytics Tony Robinson – trobinson@arpminc.org Director of Publications Susan Denzio – sdenzio@arpminc.org Membership & Events Director Kaitlyn Krol – kkrol@arpminc.org