Graduates, get out of your comfort zone and never compromise your integrity

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Article originally published in the Philadelphia Business Journal on May 20, 2019


As the former chairman of the board of Drexel University’s College of Medicine and as the current vice chairman of the board of Drexel, I have the honor each year of addressing the University’s College of Medicine graduates. I always try to share some advice that may help them navigate their careers.


At this year’s commencement, I shared the following message:

Graduates, you have just completed an enormous undertaking. As you seek solutions to the challenges you will face, I urge you to remember what you learned here about the power of teamwork, and the importance of interpersonal skills in accomplishing your goals.

Many of you will dedicate your lives to the practice of medicine, healing the sick. Others will become researchers, or work in other areas of the healthcare profession. You will be making a difference in the lives of others, working toward the betterment of the human condition.

The best advice I can share with you as you pursue your careers is to be open to new opportunities that come your way and embrace change – the only constant in life. In addition to taking advantage of opportunities that come your way, I encourage you to be proactive and create your own opportunities. You never know where these might take you.

I am a chemical engineering graduate from your University, who just happens to be the vice chairman of its board. Now, how does that happen? How does an engineer become the vice chairman of the board of his alma mater?

Shortly after becoming CEO of my company, I was honored to be asked to join the Drexel board of trustees. The following year, I was named chairman of the board’s finance committee. A number of years later I became chairman of Drexel’s College of Medicine, followed by being named vice chairman of the University’s board.

I can look back to the first day after my commencement and recall the steps along my career pathway. I took advantage of opportunities and accepted assignments outside of my comfort zone to learn and to broaden my knowledge and experience. I took risks. Sometimes I failed, but I never let that stop me from moving forward.

Failure happens. It is not the end of the world. Learn to mitigate risks. Winston Churchill once said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.” Get outside of your comfort zone. You never know where the future may take you.

Many of you will choose to advance the state of the art of your profession in areas that make a positive difference in people’s lives. Many of you will work to change the world and make it a better place. There is no higher calling.

Always take advantage of opportunities to do something new and different. And someday, you may have the honor of addressing graduates at their commencement ceremony, as I am doing today.

The story of Icarus, a character in Greek mythology, is a great metaphor for how one should manage their career. According to legend, Icarus flew too high, too close to the sun. The wax holding the wings to his back melted and he crashed into the sea.

Should Icarus have played it safe and flown lower, avoiding the risk presented by the sun?

Seth Godin, the author of “The Icarus Deception: How high will you fly?” writes, “It is far more dangerous to fly too low than too high, because it feels safe to fly low. We settle for low expectations and small dreams, and guarantee ourselves less than what we are capable of. By flying too low, we shortchange not only ourselves, but also those who depend on us, or might benefit from our work.”

During your career, be sure you don’t fly too low. Take risks and fly high, and if you crash, you will pick yourself up and fly again.

The following achievements and personal attributes will help you advance in your career:

  • your commitment to yourself and others to always strive for excellence,
  • how you differentiate yourself by doing new things, and proactively implement positive change in everything you do,
  • your interpersonal skills and how you lead others,
  • your good critical judgment and common sense,
  • your contacts and personal network, and
  • your ethics, your integrity and your professional and personal reputation among your colleagues, your patients and the public.

During your career, be sure to protect your good name, integrity and reputation. Once damaged, you never earn them back.

There is a passage in the West Point Cadet Prayer that reads, “Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong…” Remember this, especially when you run into situations that require difficult ethical decisions.

Good luck, and may the wind always be at your back.


Stan Silverman is founder and CEO of Silverman Leadership. He is a speaker, advisor and nationally syndicated writer on leadership, entrepreneurship and corporate governance. Silverman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and an MBA degree from Drexel University. He is also an alumnus of the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. He can be reached at Stan@SilvermanLeadership.com.

Why tone matters for leaders, even — especially — when bad stuff happens

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Article originally published in the Philadelphia Business Journal on May 13, 2019

Regardless of a leader’s tone at the top and the culture he or she nurtures within their organization, bad things can occur that run counter to the values espoused by that leader.

While I was CEO of PQ Corporation, during a heavy rainstorm, one of our plant managers discharged highly alkaline process water down a sewer to protect electrical equipment from damage due to rising rainwater levels. The plant didn’t have a permit to discharge the process water.

The Environmental Protection Agency noticed a spike in the pH of water in the sewer and traced the source back to our plant. When questioned by the EPA if the source of the high pH water was his plant, the plant manager said no. Had he told the truth, the plant would have most likely received a modest fine and a warning not to have the incident re-occur.

However, because the plant manager was not truthful when he responded to the EPA’s question, the company was charged with a violation of the federal Clean Water Act and subjected to harsh financial penalties. PQ’s environmental performance was then investigated by the EPA, which found that we were in compliance with environmental laws at all of our other plants.

The plant manager was terminated, and the board launched an investigation into my tone at the top and the culture within the organization, to determine if I was indirectly complicit in the plant manager’s actions. If the board found that the tone I set and the culture I nurtured as the CEO did not make it clear to all employees that they were to act ethically and obey local, state and federal laws, I could have been terminated.

Fortunately, my actions, remarks and written communications to employees over time demonstrated that I espoused a very strong ethical tone and culture. However, as CEO of the company, the illegal act by the plant manager occurred on my watch, so the board sanctioned me by significantly reducing my bonus that year, which was the right thing to do. What protected me from termination was tangible proof of my strong tone at the top and the organizational culture that I nurtured.

Leaders are often warned about over-emphasizing the achievement of a goal to an extent that it encourages people to commit unethical or illegal acts to achieve that goal, regardless of the purported tone or culture of the company. In the case of Wells Fargo, the bank’s public boiler plate ethics statement within the Community Banking Division was ignored.

In a Sept. 8, 2016 press release about the Wells Fargo scandal, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stated, “Spurred by sales targets and compensation incentives, employees boosted sales figures by covertly opening accounts and funding them by transferring funds from consumers’ authorized accounts without their knowledge or consent, often racking up fees or other charges. According to the bank’s own analysis, employees opened more than two million deposit and credit card accounts that may not have been authorized by consumers.”

Volkswagen was caught installing software in its diesel-powered cars designed to give false low readings during exhaust emission tests. From 2009 to 2015, VW equipped 11 million cars with this software. In a Sept. 21, 2015 statement reported by Reuters, the EPA said, “Only [due to the threat of withholding 2016 diesel model certification] … did VW admit it had designed and installed a defeat device.”

Former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn was criminally charged with defrauding customers and Volkswagen investors. Two lower-level executives have been sentenced to prison for their involvement in the fraud.

The scandals at both Wells Fargo and Volkswagen were caused by poor tone and corporate culture at various levels within their respective organizations, and cost both companies many billions of dollars in fines and lost business. Just as important, they lost the trust of their customers, which takes time to rebuild.

Leaders, the reputation of your company and your personal reputation depends on the tone and culture that you espouse, and how you respond after an unethical act occurs. Ensure that the people throughout all levels of your organization know your values and your expectations of them.

Audit mission-critical areas to ensure rules are being followed and innocent errors are caught. When bad things do occur, you want the incident to be viewed as an aberrant violation of your values and not a reflection of your tone at the top and the culture that you have nurtured.


Stan Silverman is founder and CEO of Silverman Leadership. He is a speaker, advisor and nationally syndicated writer on leadership, entrepreneurship and corporate governance. Silverman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and an MBA degree from Drexel University. He is also an alumnus of the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. He can be reached at Stan@SilvermanLeadership.com. Follow Silverman on LinkedIn here and on Twitter at @StanSilverman.

How the right people can help you become the preferred provider to your market

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Article originally published in the American City Business Journals on May 7, 2019

The Holy Grail of any company is to become the preferred provider of products and services to its market. That is, the company that customers and clients want to go to first before any other provider. Companies that have traveled the journey to become the preferred provider have delighted customers/clients, enjoy a higher market share and higher profitability compared with competitors.

How does a company become the preferred provider to its market? It starts with effective leadership at the top of the organization.

An effective leader has the following traits:

  • Communicates the vision and mission of the company focused on delivering a great customer/client experience, and shares with employees their role in achieving the vision and mission.
  • Sets the right tone at the top and nurtures the right culture based on ethical behavior, integrity and trust.
  • Sets expectations, holds people accountable for results and doesn’t micro-manage.
  • Empowers people and allows them to learn through failure.
  • Rewards performance and parts company with employees who do not perform or who do not fit the culture.
  • Allows employees to develop a sense of ownership in what they do.
  • Possesses high emotional intelligence.
  • Grows future leaders by encouraging them to get out of their comfort zone.
  • Has a strong commitment to continuous improvement.
  • Listens to employees and values their input.
  • Hires people with common sense and good critical judgement and allows employees to violate policy when it is in the best interests of the company to do so.
  • Recognizes the serious damage that a tyrant causes their direct reports and the company and will not tolerate this type of manager within their organization.

The adage “people are everything” is true. No company can become the preferred provider to its market without recognizing this. The traits listed above and below apply to both the leadership of the company and its employees.

An effective leader attracts, hires and retains employees who:

  • Will act with high ethics, integrity and transparency, and can be trusted by their colleagues and customers/clients.
  • Are self-starters, who don’t need to be told what to do.
  • Take responsible risks and learn to de-risk their decisions.
  • Will meet their commitments.
  • Are people that customers/clients will want to do business with.
  • Will challenge paradigms and long-standing ways of doing things and does not accept “that’s the way it has always been done” as a reason to avoid change.

How do you find people with the traits outlined above? Use pre-employment testing and assessments as a guide to indicate traits. When interviewing candidates, involve other employees in the interview process. Ask the candidate how they have handled various challenging situations in the past, the mistakes they have made, and how they have learned from those mistakes. Perform in-depth reference checks with people beyond those on the list of references submitted by the candidate.

The best way to retain employees is to encourage them to feel part of something worthwhile, something they can feel proud of when they come to work each day. These employees are fully engaged in their work.

So, what is one of the prime cultural norms of companies on a journey to become the preferred provider to its market? Its employees have a shared purpose – to delight the customer/client in the use of their product/service, and if they are in business, help them be successful at what they do. Hire the right people to become the preferred provider. You will gain a significant competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Stan Silverman is founder and CEO of Silverman Leadership. He is a speaker, advisor and nationally syndicated writer on leadership, entrepreneurship and corporate governance. Silverman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and an MBA degree from Drexel University. He is also an alumnus of the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. He can be reached at Stan@SilvermanLeadership.com.

People quit bosses, not companies

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Article originally published in the Philadelphia Business Journal on April 29, 2019

Performance goes beyond the achievement of financial or other goals to which leaders are held accountable. I frequently hear complaints by employees, including those employees who report to CEOs, that their bosses lack fundamental leadership skills. Ensure you don’t lose your good employees because of the lack of leadership skills of the individual they report to.

I offer the following advice to all leaders to improve their leadership style:

Don’t micro-manage

A frequent complaint is that bosses micro-manage and tell direct reports how to accomplish a task, rather than state expectations, ensure the resources are available to get the job done, and cut the direct report lose to achieve results.

Steve Jobs, the former chairman and CEO of Apple once said, “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” Lee Iacocca, former automobile industry executive once said, “I hire people brighter than me and then I get out of their way.” Why don’t all leaders have the same philosophy as Jobs and Iacocca?

Acknowledge the work of a direct report

A number of individuals have shared with me that their work is not acknowledged when passed up through the organization. I personally experienced this when I was told that all work leaving our department had to have the name of the department’s manager on it, rather than a cover letter transmitting the work of a direct report. I knew that this was not the kind of manager I wanted to work for.

In another instance, I was told by the creator of an advertising campaign of an experience she had after she presented her work during a meeting with a client. The client loved the campaign. After the presentation, she was not invited to join her boss and the client at a lunch celebrating the campaign’s creation. Why was her boss tone-deaf and insensitive to how that made her feel? This is not the way to inspire and motivate direct reports.

Respect female colleagues as you would respect male colleagues

I have heard from many women that they are not as respected as men within the workplace. Many feel that this is not purposeful, but part of an ingrained cultural norm.

A company with an organizational culture that tolerates a hostile work environment or doesn’t respect both men and women sends signals to some current and potential employees that they are not welcome and valued. The recent #MeToo movement has shined a light on the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace and it hopefully signals the start of a cultural change.

All organizations should create a respectful environment and provide advancement opportunities regardless of gender to all employees based upon their skills and track record of accomplishments.

Don’t tolerate a direct report who is a tyrant to his or her direct reports

I used to work for a tyrant who did significant damage to morale. I nearly left the company but was promoted around him and became his peer within the company. I was promoted again and became his boss. I fired him. Had I left, the company would have been deprived of a future CEO.

I still wonder why the CEO of the company tolerated the tyrant. Don’t make this mistake if you have a tyrant working in your organization.

Perform 360-degree reviews of your direct reports

What is the best way to obtain a full picture of the effectiveness of a direct report? Obtain 360-degree feedback on their performance. Done properly in organizations where this process has become a cultural norm, this performance tool provides feedback to direct reports to help them be more effective.

Obtain input about your direct reports from people reporting to them, from peers and from senior individuals within the organization. This information can be used in the direct report’s performance review. In many cases, it is the best way to identify and communicate to the direct report their strengths and areas for improvement.

At my company, I introduced a 360-degree feedback system while president of our world-wide chemicals business. Not only did I receive and communicate 360-degree feedback to my direct reports, but I subjected myself to the same process, conducted by our company’s CEO.

When I became the CEO of the company, I continued this process, with the chairman of our board who obtained 360-degree input on me from my direct reports. I found it to be one of the most valuable feedback mechanisms to help me improve my performance as a CEO. To undergo 360-degree reviews was my decision. It should not be mandated by the board but be a decision for the CEO.

It is said that people quit bosses, not companies. Boards, ensure your CEO is an effective leader. CEOs and other leaders within the organization, ensure the leaders below you are effective. If they are not effective, you are apt to lose your high performing employees, perhaps to a competitor. In today’s tough business environment, you can ill afford to lose them.


Stan Silverman is founder and CEO of Silverman Leadership. He is a speaker, advisor and nationally syndicated writer on leadership, entrepreneurship and corporate governance. Silverman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and an MBA degree from Drexel University. He is also an alumnus of the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. He can be reached at Stan@SilvermanLeadership.com.

Break paradigms to operate in challenging business environments

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Article originally published in the Philadelphia Business Journal on April 22, 2019

As the business environment changes, as the economics of industries change, as the nature of customers and clients change, companies also need to change and continuously improve on how they provide products and services.

In January 2018, I wrote an article about breaking traditional paradigms to move a business forward. This is an update of that article.

Breaking paradigms and thinking “out of the box” is crucial for achieving breakthrough results. As president of one of my company’s subsidiaries, I was taught this lesson by the CEO of our company, Paul Staley, who challenged the design of a micro-plant my business unit was trying to economically justify. The return on investment was initially below the hurdle rate for this type of project.

Strategically, we wanted to build the plant because it would open a new geography in a growing market for the company and protect that market from the entry of a competitor. However, we needed a higher return on investment to get the board’s approval. We didn’t want to justify the plant just on a strategic basis, but on an economic basis as well.

I told Staley that due to low initial revenues in the early years of the plant’s operation, the internal rate of return of the project was insufficient to present to the board. Staley asked that I review with him every aspect of the plant’s design.

This type of plant would normally be staffed by three people on a one-shift operation, led by a plant manager. Staley asked if it would be possible to design the plant to operate with a two-shift self-managed crew eliminating the need for a plant manager — one person on the first shift and one on the second shift, something that had never been done before.

My response was, “So, you want a more-efficient plant built at lower capital cost run by fewer people and with no management? These objectives are mutually exclusive!” Staley just smiled and said, “Break your paradigms. I know you and your team can do this.”

Working with our engineering and plant-operations team, we broke every paradigm we ever had about this type of plant. Through brainstorming, out-of-the-box thinking and open dialogue, we reoriented equipment and scaled down the capacity of the plant to lower the initial capital investment but left it expandable if and when the demand justified additional capacity. We raised the qualifications of the operators hired to run the plant, ensuring they had the capability to self-manage.

There was much skepticism within the company that the plant could run with a self-managing crew of only two people. For political reasons, I added the cost of a third person to the cash-flow projections. A third person was added a few years later after demand grew, requiring operation on the third shift.

After the plant design was revised and staffing reduced, the return on investment rose significantly, and we received board approval to build the plant. Because of its new design and the way it operated, it was the lowest cost plant of its type in the industry and became our company’s model for future plants.

A competitor chose not to enter the geography because of our plant’s low-cost operation; they couldn’t match its low costs. They refused to recognize that change was needed to successfully operate this type of plant in an initial low-volume business environment.

A few years later, we built a replica of the plant to serve another geographic market. We operated the plant at even lower cost with one individual on the day shift and a local retiree who filled in when the individual took vacation or a sick day.

How do you create a paradigm-breaking mindset? I believe you need a catalyst. For us, it was the need to economically justify a new plant that would initially operate in a low-volume market environment. In other situations involving an existing business for example, it might be insufficient revenues to support the traditional cost structure. Unless the business model radically changes, the business can no longer continue to operate and may need to be shut down.

The adage, “don’t tell me it can’t be done; find a way to do it” is applicable to these types of situations. As president of my company’s subsidiary, we broke existing paradigms and found a way to build a plant to achieve our market and financial objectives. With this philosophy and approach, many existing businesses can be saved and operated on an improved financial footing.

Stan Silverman is founder and CEO of Silverman Leadership. He is a speaker, advisor and nationally syndicated writer on leadership, entrepreneurship and corporate governance. Silverman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and an MBA degree from Drexel University. He is also an alumnus of the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. He can be reached at Stan@SilvermanLeadership.com.

To develop your company’s future leaders, push them outside their comfort zone

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Article originally published in the American City Business Journals on April 9, 2019

An important responsibility of every leader is to develop future leaders for their organization.

One of the most effective ways to do this is to push your direct reports outside of their comfort zone. Give them challenging assignments in areas that they have never faced to broaden their experience and see how they perform.

In June 2017, I wrote an article describing my experience taking a large French multinational chemical company to the U.S. International Trade Commission, accusing them of dumping product in the U.S. at below their home market price. I share an update of this article because it’s illustrative of how you can develop employees by getting them outside their comfort zone.

The benefits of stepping out of your comfort zone was a lesson I learned early in my career as my company’s business manager for anhydrous sodium metasilicate (ASM), which is used in a variety of metal cleaning and other industrial applications. It was also a lesson for the senior leadership of my company in the further development of a mid-level manager who eventually became CEO of the company

We faced import competition for ASM from Rhone Poulenc, a large French chemical and pharmaceutical company, at a price significantly below their home market price in France. We felt this was a violation of U.S. dumping regulations, designed to protect U.S. industry from unfair international trade practices.

ASM producers in the U.S., including my company, were losing market share. If found guilty of dumping, the remedy would be the assessment of dumping duties on imported ASM from Rhone Poulenc.

As the business manager of this product line, I received approval from my company’s CEO to file dumping charges against Rhone Poulenc with the U.S. International Trade Commission. I was 33 years old at the time, with no experience in these kinds of legal matters. However, my product manager and I knew the market well, which provided the foundation for building the case, and we both relished the challenge.

The attorney retained by our company’s general counsel insisted that my product manager and I be the public face of our company’s case. I soon learned what that meant.

I recall flying to Washington, D.C., for an evidentiary hearing in front of the ITC staff, asking our attorney at the airport just prior to boarding if he was ready to provide testimony for our company.

He said, “No — you are the one who is going to testify today.”

He said he didn’t tell me ahead of time because at this hearing, he didn’t want me to over-prepare, but just to respond to questioning.

It is hard for anyone to imagine the horror I felt not having written out in detail what I wanted to say. Talk about being outside of one’s comfort zone.

Fortunately, I knew the facts, which helped me state my company’s case despite my trepidations.

The hearing accomplished the substance and optics of what our attorney wanted — to pit a small, privately-owned, domestic company dedicated to serving the ASM market against a foreign company many times our size competing illegally through product pricing that met the criteria of dumping.

The preparation for the hearing in front of the ITC was very intense. Over a period of months, we responded to questions from the ITC investigative staff in preparation for the hearing in front of the ITC commissioners. The staff asked for significant details to ensure that the commissioners had the information needed to understand the dynamics of the market in order to determine if dumping was occurring and render a decision.

Our credibility and the trust we built with the investigative staff was an important factor in the case. Whenever we realized that we had provided information to the staff that was inaccurate, we immediately corrected it, even if it hurt our case.

The hearing in front of the ITC commissioners was held in a chamber very similar to that of the Supreme Court. Somewhat intimidating.

At the ITC hearing, my product manager and I were well-prepared to give testimony as the plaintiffs. A pivotal moment occurred when the Rhone Poulenc attorneys misrepresented a meeting their clients had with us, accusing us of improper marketplace behavior. As I was listening to their mischaracterizations, I whispered to our attorney that we had notes of that meeting which countered their testimony. He asked me to pull the notes, and as he read them, a smile crossed his face.

Our meeting notes, entered into evidence, undermined much of Rhone Poulenc’s credibility.

When the ITC commissioners announced their decision, they unanimously found in favor of my company and against Rhone Poulenc. They assessed the highest dumping duty on any chemical imported into the U.S. to date. My product manager and I felt as if we had won gold medals at the Olympics.

So, what did we learn from this experience? Whether you are dealing with customers or the investigative staff of a federal agency, you develop credibility with those you deal with by always being honest and factual. This will differentiate you from those that aren’t. Credibility builds trust and confidence, and this will favor you in borderline decisions.

We also learned to operate under pressure and to get out of our comfort zone. It was a rewarding experience.

Leaders, expose your employees to new, meaningful experiences. Get them out of their comfort zones. There is no better way for them to develop.

Stan Silverman is founder and CEO of Silverman Leadership. He is a speaker, advisor and nationally syndicated writer on leadership, entrepreneurship and corporate governance. Silverman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and an MBA degree from Drexel University. He is also an alumnus of the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. He can be reached at Stan@SilvermanLeadership.com.

Get out of your comfort zone to advance your career

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Article originally published in the Philadelphia Business Journal on April 1, 2019

In your professional career, have you ever wondered what the future may bring? Have you thought about how to manage your career, and whether you should develop a detailed career plan?

I am about to enter my fourth career as an author of a book with the working title, “Be different! The keys to business and professional success.” I recently signed a book deal with Business Expert Press who will publish my book. I never expected to have four careers!

The book is based on my experiences during my first three careers: as a corporate guy rising up through 11 positions at my company to the position of CEO; as a director on public company, private company, trade association, nonprofit and educational institution boards; and as a nationally syndicated columnist for the Philadelphia Business Journal and its 42 sister publications across the country, writing about leadership, entrepreneurship and corporate governance. I have been able to accomplish all this because of how I managed my career, always looking forward toward the next opportunity.

Each year, I address the graduates of the College of Medicine at Drexel University and share with them the following remarks:

“Be open to new opportunities that come your way and embrace change – the only constant in life. In addition to taking advantage of opportunities that come your way, I encourage you to be proactive and create your own opportunities. You never know where these might take you.

“I am a chemical engineering graduate from our University, who just happens to be the vice chairman of its board. Now, how does that happen? How does an engineer become the vice chairman of the board of his alma mater?

“I can look back to the first day after my commencement and recall the steps along my career pathway. I took advantage of opportunities and accepted assignments outside of my comfort zone to learn and to broaden my knowledge and experience. I took risks. Sometimes I failed, but I never let that stop me from moving forward.

“Tomorrow is the first day after your commencement. Take risks and step out of your comfort zone. Always take advantage of opportunities to do something new and different. And someday, you may have the honor of addressing graduates at their commencement ceremony, as I am doing today.”

I got out of my comfort zone when:

  • On behalf of my company, as a young business manager, I decided to file a lawsuit against a global French chemical company who was dumping product in the U.S. below their home market price, taking market share from my company.
  • I was promoted to the presidency of our Canadian subsidiary in Toronto and moved my family there, for what turned out to be a three-year assignment.
  • I was named to the position of CEO of my company, PQ Corporation, and needed to implement a significant change in organization and strategy to deal with a significant loss of earnings due to a forced price reduction at our largest customer, in addition to moving off a plateau of sales and earnings for the prior three years.
  • I accepted the request of the chairman of the board of Drexel University to assume the role of chairman of the board of the university’s College of Medicine, where I learned the business of medicine.
  • Without formal training as a writer, I decided to do something new and become a columnist, writing about how people can become better leaders, successful entrepreneurs and more effective board members, as well as help their company become the preferred provider of products and services to its market.

Many people have asked me if I had a detailed career plan in place – if I expected to achieve a specific position by a certain date. I did not. Since one can’t control the opportunities and the timing of what might come their way, I decided that putting in place a detailed career plan with dates would be a source of frustration. My career plan consisted of the journey that I felt would lead me to the destination.

After earning my B.S. in chemical engineering, I had a goal to earn an MBA, which I did while working as an engineer full time and going to school during the evening. Once I earned my degree, I had a goal of becoming a profit center leader – an individual who had full responsibility for the P&L of a business. I achieved this when I was promoted to the presidency of my company’s Canadian subsidiary. Once this goal was achieved, I aimed my sights on becoming the CEO of the company, which I achieved some years later.

I was more concerned with what I could learn on the journey and the results I could achieve that would qualify me for the next promotion, rather than following a career plan that would be out of date shortly after it was developed or modified.

I recommend to my readers – take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way and make your own opportunities. Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone. You never know where the future might take you.

Stan Silverman is founder and CEO of Silverman Leadership. He is a speaker, advisor and nationally syndicated writer on leadership, entrepreneurship and corporate governance. Silverman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and an MBA degree from Drexel University. He is also an alumnus of the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. He can be reached at Stan@SilvermanLeadership.com.

Boeing’s critical misstep in the wake of the Max 8 disasters

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Article originally published in the Philadelphia Business Journal on March 18, 2019

The crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10 has dominated the news. This was the second crash of Boeing Company’s new 737 Max 8 aircraft in six months. On March 13, President Donald Trump ordered the grounding of the Max 8 and 9 aircraft. With his order, the U.S. was the last country to ground these planes.

The Federal Aviation Administration claims they decided to ground the aircraft after learning that the flight trajectory of Ethiopian Airlines flight had “some similarities” to the Lion Air Flight 610 that crashed Oct. 29, 2018. After an examination of the plane’s black box, this was confirmed.

Dallas Morning News reporter Cary Aspinwall investigated pilot complaints of the 737 Max 8 logged on NASA’s federal data base. In an NPR article dated March 13, Aspinwall stated that prior to the Ethiopian Airlines crash, five pilots reported issues with the plane’s stall prevention system. Pilots also claimed they were not told that the system is different than previous 737 aircraft and were not properly trained on the new system.

Boeing reports that they are making changes to the anti-stall system software that should be ready for installation in the 737 Max 8/9 aircraft by the end of April. After the Ethiopian Airlines crash and knowing of pilot complaints, why did the FAA put passengers’ lives at risk from March 10 to March 13 before ordering these aircraft grounded?

The FAA should have taken the lead in grounding these aircraft after the second crash. It’s embarrassing that the U.S. was the last country to do so. Why didn’t Boeing itself tell carriers to ground the planes until changes to the anti-stall system software were made? Immediately doing so would have enhanced Boeing’s reputation for putting passenger safety first.

On March 13, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg made a phone call to Trump, reportedly telling him the 737 Max 8/9 aircraft were safe. He was trying to head off grounding of the planes by the FAA. If the planes were safe, why were the software changes to the anti-stall system needed?

Boeing should have taken a lesson from Johnson & Johnson who in 1982, exercised its own initiative and recalled Tylenol from the market due to product tampering with cyanide. Seven people died as a result of ingesting the cyanide-laced Tylenol.

J&J’s action is still considered the gold standard of crisis management and an example of a corporation and its CEO being out in front taking responsibility for its product. It was the ethical thing to do. Instead, after the second crash, Boeing kept on insisting that the 737 Max aircraft were safe to fly. You always want to control your own destiny. If you don’t, another party will control it for you, perhaps in a way not to your liking.

If Boeing management was reluctant to ground these aircraft after the second crash, why didn’t the board of Boeing convince management that safety is paramount, and it was in the best interest of passengers and the company to ground the planes before being ordered by the FAA to do so?

Common sense and good critical judgement state that when there is even a low risk of a catastrophe, one doesn’t take the risk, regardless of the economic consequence. That was the view of other countries when they grounded their fleets of 737 Max 8/9s. Why not the FAA or Boeing?

It’s hard to imagine the magnitude of further reputational damage and loss of life as well as the additional liability of Boeing if a third 737 Max 8/9 crash occurred before the software was updated.

There is a passage in the West Point Cadet Prayer that reads, “Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong.” Leaders, remember this, especially when you run into situations that require difficult operational and ethical decisions. You and your company will be judged on what you decide.


Stan Silverman is founder and CEO of Silverman Leadership. He is a speaker, advisor and nationally syndicated writer on leadership, entrepreneurship and corporate governance. Silverman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and an MBA degree from Drexel University. He is also an alumnus of the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. He can be reached at Stan@SilvermanLeadership.com. Follow Silverman on LinkedIn here and on Twitter, @StanSilverman.

SEPTA needs to provide a better customer experience

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Article originally published in the Philadelphia Business Journal on March 11, 2019

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority did not provide its regional rail commuters a great passenger experience last Monday, March 4, after the Philadelphia region experienced three to five inches of snowfall the previous evening. SEPTA assumed that commuters would elect to stay home rather than take the train to work, and therefore decided to run their rail system on a Saturday schedule with reduced train service.

As a rider on SEPTA’s Doylestown rail line who usually boards an early morning train at Ambler Station to center city Philadelphia, I checked the real-time schedule app on my iPhone and was disappointed to find that the first train departing Ambler would be at 7:01 a.m., followed by the next departure at 8:01 a.m. On a regular weekday schedule, four trains depart Ambler to Philadelphia before 6:57 a.m. and nine trains depart before 8 a.m., so capacity during the morning commute was significantly reduced. I chose to drive to center city Philadelphia that morning.

Many trains ran late and at full capacity, by-passing stations, leaving commuters waiting on station platforms in very cold weather, some having to wait up to an hour for the next train. SEPTA announced they were adding additional trains for the evening commute, but the system still lacked the needed capacity.

In a 3CBSPhilly news report headlined, “SEPTA faces bitter criticism for implementing Saturday schedule due to winter storm,” a SEPTA representative spoke in a matter-of-fact manner about running on a Saturday rather than a normal weekday schedule.

The snowfall did not deter people from going to work. One would have thought that SEPTA management would have anticipated that many commuters would opt to ride the regional rail system to their destination rather than drive and run a normal weekday schedule. SEPTA should have demonstrated that its regional rail system could meet the challenge and provide safe and reliable transportation, boosting its reputation. SEPTA missed an opportunity.

SEPTA has competition. People can elect to drive to work. Why doesn’t SEPTA have a competitive mindset? Is it because it’s a governmental agency, not held to similar customer experience standards by the marketplace as for-profit businesses?

SEPTA should want to demonstrate it excels in reliability even after a snow storm. It certainly failed to do so last Monday.

Stan Silverman is founder and CEO of Silverman Leadership. He is a speaker, advisor and nationally syndicated writer on leadership, entrepreneurship and corporate governance. Silverman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and an MBA degree from Drexel University. He is also an alumnus of the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. He can be reached at Stan@SilvermanLeadership.com. Follow Silverman on LinkedIn here and on Twitter, @StanSilverman.

How to Win Business in a Competitive Marketplace

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Article originally published in the American City Business Journals on March 5, 2019

All business leaders face the issue of how to win business in a competitive marketplace. Price the product or service too low, and you are leaving money on the table. Price it too high, and the customer or client will go to a competitor.

While I was national sales manager of PQ Corporation, a producer of both commodity and specialty chemical products, they constantly faced competitive pricing decisions to retain current customers’ business was well as win the business of new customers.

Many of PQ’s customers and the customers of our competitors were supplied under the terms of sales contracts that were one or more years in duration. Before the end of their supply contract, many of these customers would put their business out for bid for the next contract term.

In the competitive marketplace, this was an opportunity for us to win a future customer’s business currently supplied by a competitor, and an opportunity for a competitor to win the business supplied by our company.

We worked hard to differentiate ourselves on customer and technical service, as did our competition. Price, however, played a large factor in whether we won or lost the business.

So, as a business leader, how do you increase the probability that you will win in the competitive marketplace?

Work to be the preferred provider

At PQ, we were always on the journey to be the preferred provider by providing a great customer experience. We wanted to be the company that every customer would preferentially buy from. Our goal was to help our customers be successful in their businesses by being a great supplier.

Our products always met specifications, our plants were responsive to emergency deliveries and our sales and customer service people worked to resolve any issues with the account.

Build strong customer relationships 

The larger and more strategic the customer, the more we called on them and developed relationships with the leadership hierarchy within the customer’s organization.

Our sales representatives “owned” the customer relationship — they were the ones who kept in frequent touch with the customer to understand trends in their business and any issues they faced with the use of our products. They brought in our knowledgeable technical service people to trouble-shoot and resolve issues.

The regional sales manager as well as the national sales manager would develop relationships up through the customer’s organization. After I was appointed the CEO of PQ, I developed a relationship with my counterpart —the CEO, or if more appropriate, the group president of the business purchasing our product.

Get the “last phone call” 

If a competitor out-bid us for a customer, we needed to know about it before the competitor was awarded the business. We wanted the opportunity to convince the customer of the value we brought to the supply relationship beyond just the product price, and if necessary, meet the competitive price. That is the value of developing a strong customer relationship — to get the last phone call before the business is awarded.

When I was president of PQ’s Canadian subsidiary, we were working on a 10-year contract to supply a pulp and paper mill in Whitecourt, Alberta, with product used in pulp bleaching. Our plan was to build a production plant adjacent to the customer to ensure a reliable supply of product.

One afternoon, the business manager responsible for negotiating the supply contract with the customer came into my office in Toronto and told me he just learned that we had competition for the business — a U.S.-based supplier.

This customer was strategic for us. The plant we would build to supply their pulp and paper mill would be strategically placed to supply other pulp mills throughout Alberta. We didn’t want this opportunity to go to a competitor.

I asked our business manager to make an appointment with the customer’s CEO. I wanted to meet with him to close the deal.

We arrived in Whitecourt the next day and sat across from the CEO and his team. We presented how our company was in the best position to supply not only their product requirements but also their technical service needs, and how our multiple plants in Canada would be there as backup to provide product to their pulp and paper plant.

We didn’t need to cut the price we originally offered — all we needed to do was freeze the price for three years, something the U.S. competitor wouldn’t do. At the end of the meeting, the CEO and I looked each other in the eye, stood up and shook hands across the table. I knew we had a deal.

Without the relationship previously established by our business manager and the non-monetary value we could deliver to the customer, in addition to being able to freeze the price for three years, I am not sure we would have prevailed in winning the business.

Be dedicated to continuous improvement

In PQ’s commodity chemical business, where our products and those of our competitors were the same chemically, price was an important competitive differentiator. A strong commitment to continuous process improvement to drive costs down was critical to the ability to compete.

In our specialty chemical business, where our products and those of the competition were differentiated based on product cost/performance, this metric must continually improve at a pace greater than that of competition. Continuous improvement can be incremental or step-wise, with large improvements based on innovation and a change in paradigms. This permits greater pricing flexibility than a competitor, whose improvements may lag, and is key to long term competitive success.

When going up against a competitor, you want them to think, “Oh no. Not those guys.” That’s how good you want to be. That’s how you win business in a competitive marketplace.

Stan Silverman is founder and CEO of Silverman Leadership. He is a speaker, advisor and nationally syndicated writer on leadership, entrepreneurship and corporate governance. Silverman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and an MBA degree from Drexel University. He is also an alumnus of the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. He can be reached at Stan@SilvermanLeadership.com.