For 50 years, Bob Chapman was CEO of Barry-Wehmiller until his retirement in 2025. Bob’s approach to organizational culture is unique and inspiring. He believes the workplace should be a source of dignity that enables every team member to flourish. This approach is the subject of Bob’s book “Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Treating Your People Like Family” and the ethos behind Barry-Wehmiller’s success.
In this interview, Bob and host Don MacPherson discuss what it looks like to have leaders throughout an organization care for their people like members of their own family. They discuss the advantages of creating a culture where people are willing to sacrifice for one another and how to create that culture throughout a multinational organization with thousands of team members.
The interview continues with a conversation about managing poor performance, surviving economic downturns, and Bob shares his thoughts on the ways he believes artificial intelligence will change and enhance organizations around the world.
Recently recognized as a 2025 Top 50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc., Bob Chapman became the senior executive of Barry-Wehmiller in 1975 at age 30 - a position he held until 2025. In 2022, Chapman was named the Tharseō CEO of the Year by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). He’s been ranked as the #3 CEO in the world in an Inc. article, and a Top 10 Social Capital CEO by International Business Times.
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For 50 years, Bob Chapman was CEO of Barry-Wehmiller until his retirement in 2025. Bob’s approach to organizational culture is unique and inspiring. He believes the workplace should be a source of dignity that enables every team member to flourish. This approach is the subject of Bob’s book “Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Treating Your People Like Family” and the ethos behind Barry-Wehmiller’s success.
In this interview, Bob and host Don MacPherson discuss what it looks like to have leaders throughout an organization care for their people like members of their own family. They discuss the advantages of creating a culture where people are willing to sacrifice for one another and how to create that culture throughout a multinational organization with thousands of team members.
The interview continues with a conversation about managing poor performance, surviving economic downturns, and Bob shares his thoughts on the ways he believes artificial intelligence will change and enhance organizations around the world.
Recently recognized as a 2025 Top 50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc., Bob Chapman became the senior executive of Barry-Wehmiller in 1975 at age 30 - a position he held until 2025. In 2022, Chapman was named the Tharseō CEO of the Year by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). He’s been ranked as the #3 CEO in the world in an Inc. article, and a Top 10 Social Capital CEO by International Business Times.
Maj. Gen. Kenneth Ekman | Leading Through High Pressure
12 Geniuses Podcast
44 minutes 40 seconds
1 year ago
Maj. Gen. Kenneth Ekman | Leading Through High Pressure
Major General Kenneth Ekman is a command pilot with thousands of flying hours. Many of those hours have been in high-pressure, combat situations. In his role as the Department of Defense West Africa Coordination Element Lead, U.S. Africa Command, Maj. Gen. Ekman has had to deal with a variety of other high-pressure situations, including the drawdown of U.S. forces in Niger.
In this interview, Maj. Gen. Ekman discusses three topics in detail - leadership, managing pressure, and the future of Africa. He describes the leadership model he believes yields the best results for teams, how to prepare a team to execute a mission, the concept of “disagree and commit,” and managing change as a leader. Referencing his experience as a command pilot, Maj. Gen. Ekman talks about the methods he has used for managing stress and high-pressure situations, building trust when the stakes are life and death, and how he has developed resilience over the course of his career. The conversation ends with Maj. Gen. Ekman detailing why Africa is important to the United States and how their shifting demographics, along with their abundance of natural resources, will make Africa a more important global influence throughout the rest of the 21st century.
Maj. Gen. Kenneth P. Ekman is the Department of Defense West Africa Coordination Element Lead, U.S. Africa Command, Stuttgart Möhringen, Germany. In this capacity, he coordinates with African militaries, the U.S. interagency, and allies to build unity of effort, maximize the effectiveness of operations, activities and investments, and ensure alignment with U.S. whole of government efforts to advance posture initiatives and campaign objectives in West Africa.
12 Geniuses Podcast
For 50 years, Bob Chapman was CEO of Barry-Wehmiller until his retirement in 2025. Bob’s approach to organizational culture is unique and inspiring. He believes the workplace should be a source of dignity that enables every team member to flourish. This approach is the subject of Bob’s book “Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Treating Your People Like Family” and the ethos behind Barry-Wehmiller’s success.
In this interview, Bob and host Don MacPherson discuss what it looks like to have leaders throughout an organization care for their people like members of their own family. They discuss the advantages of creating a culture where people are willing to sacrifice for one another and how to create that culture throughout a multinational organization with thousands of team members.
The interview continues with a conversation about managing poor performance, surviving economic downturns, and Bob shares his thoughts on the ways he believes artificial intelligence will change and enhance organizations around the world.
Recently recognized as a 2025 Top 50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc., Bob Chapman became the senior executive of Barry-Wehmiller in 1975 at age 30 - a position he held until 2025. In 2022, Chapman was named the Tharseō CEO of the Year by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). He’s been ranked as the #3 CEO in the world in an Inc. article, and a Top 10 Social Capital CEO by International Business Times.
