Tag: Bauer Leadership Center

“You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room, as there is no substitute for experience.” So began John Stroup when he kicked off the Defining Moments course in January, where he shared his defining moments and leadership philosophy with students at Olin Business School.

Mr. Stroup is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Belden, Inc., a Fortune 1000 industrial company based in the Saint Louis area. He is a successful business leader who has also repeatedly found himself to be both the youngest and the most senior manager in the room. Most recently, he was elected to Chairman of the Board. Prior to becoming the President and CEO of Belden Inc., he held a variety of marketing and senior management roles, including as Group Executive at Danaher Sensors and Controls.

Hearing John speak, it was clear that he is confident and competitive— traits he attributes to his upbringing and his love for sports. He walked us through his career timeline, beginning with his first job as an entrepreneurial paperboy up until becoming a CEO at age 39.

He centered his message on what he learned and carried forward throughout his career, which fell into four themes: People, Customers, Shareholders, and Self. Mr. Stroup illustrated the need to balance taking care of your people, customers, and shareholders simultaneously. He admitted that it is challenging, but it’s possible—especially if you take care of yourself.

Mr. Stroup speaks with students following the Defining Moments course.

The biggest takeaway from his message was his philosophy of constant feedback, saying everyone deserves their own “scoreboard” on how they’re doing. Creating standards and consistent communication is important in giving feedback because most people are competitive at some level. Developing a “scoreboard” is a great idea I can carry forward in my career to take care of people and customers. The question for each of us is: what would our scoreboards look like, and how are we doing?

Guest bloggers: Tony Nuber is a 2017 MBA Candidate in the Full-time MBA Program at Olin Business School. Marcianne Gagliardi is the Program Manager for the Bauer Leadership Center.

We are grateful to George Bauer, an emeritus trustee and alumnus of the university, and his wife, Carol Bauer’s generous gift to endow $5 million to establish the Bauer Leadership Center at Olin Business School in May 2016.

The George and Carol Bauer Leadership Center will help accelerate the university’s efforts to develop exceptional leaders. A defining characteristic of the new center will be its emphasis on cultivating leaders who measure success both in what they achieve for their organizations and how they impact their communities and society through the values that they demonstrate.

The center’s mission is Creating knowledge about best practices in values-centered leadership, educating and inspiring the next generation of values-centered leaders, and transforming how businesses think about and practice leadership.

The center believes one of the most effective ways to educate and inspire students about values-centered leadership is for students to hear directly from leaders who exemplify both business excellence and personal character.

“With this new center, we would like to find ways for young leaders to cultivate their own value systems and hopefully embrace them as they make decisions for their institutions as well as in their personal lives.” – George Bauer

Through the course “Defining Moments: Lessons in Leadership and Character from the Top,” the center invites exemplary leaders to talk about their leadership journey, the role that personal values and character plays in their career, and the key choice points that shaped the trajectory of their character and their career. Students are encouraged to develop a plan for how they will balance leadership impact with personal integrity throughout their careers.

Defining Moments speakers for 2017: