A Class with Drucker - Headway | Work on yourself

140 ■ A CLASS WITH DRUCKER
As a pilot and former test pilot, he thought he would have much in
common <strong>with</strong> them. He was extremely disappointed to discover that
rather than the close relationship and rapport he anticipated as one pilot
to another, his pilots took the attitude that he was management, they were
labor. They considered themselves adversaries, not fellow members of
Eastern Airlines <strong>with</strong> common flying backgrounds working toward the
same goals in the same organization.
The Kind of Thing You’d Like to See
For a number of years I worked <strong>with</strong> a company called Vector Marketing.
Vector Marketing used almost entirely college students as their doorto-door
salespeople who sold some of the highest-quality kitchen knives
in the world under the brand name “CUTCO.” During World War II, one
division introduced the famous K-bar knife, the official knife of the
U.S. Marine Corps. As a university professor, I was a strong supporter
since I felt that the experience that these young students gained from
Vector taught them great lessons in leadership, business, hard work, and
a lot more.
Erick Laine is chairman of the board of Alcas, Inc., the company which
oversees manufacturing, marketing, and sales of CUTCO products worldwide.
But when Laine took over as CEO in 1982, sales were only $5 million.
Vector sales today are over $200 million worldwide. That’s a 4,000
percent increase in a field that older, established brands from Europe have
dominated on the high end.
When Erick became CEO of Alcas, his manufacturing arm was in disarray.
In a nine-year period prior to his becoming boss, there wasn’t a single
contract that was settled <strong>with</strong>out a strike. There were no less than 270
outstanding grievances on the books!
Now, in addition to integrity, Laine is tough. He was born in Finland, and
his parents taught him something that doesn’t translate easily into English.
The word in Finnish is “Sisu,” which means a sort of stubborn persistence
wrapped up <strong>with</strong> sheer guts. He knows what he is doing, and he is no
pushover. But he truly cares about his people and he insists on treating them
fairly. They aren’t only union members; they are part of the Alcas team.
So Laine met <strong>with</strong> his union in a spirit of openness and listened. And
when the union was right, he acknowledged it. And when he thought
they were full of bologna, he told them that, too. But then, a strange thing