Nutshell Management

By Jeff Edwards

Many people contemplate writing a book.  I have decided to become part of a very small percentage that actually do, attempting to share many of the valuable experiences I have had the good fortune of accumulating over the course of my 40+ years in the specialty chemicals industry.

 

I believe I have some good stories to share, all of which have formed the person I have become. These experiences have shaped my approach to business and leadership and established my philosophical view on the right way to treat other people, whether they are your superiors, subordinates, co-workers, customers, suppliers, or otherwise. 

 

While all of my stories are relatively brief, I feel they offer up personal and professional insight that may help you avoid the missteps I have made, capitalize on some of the positive decisions I have made, and realize a more productive and efficient journey as you sail forth in your own career.  I am hopeful that by reading my stories you will be able to extract some wisdom from them that you can deploy when similarly challenged or when tasked with responsibility to lead and motivate others to greater levels of collective performance or individual achievement. 

 

In a nutshell, I see this book as a collection of lessons in career choices, leadership, partnerships, differentiation, inspiration, achievement, disappointment, and perseverance.  Thank you for joining me on decades of reflection.  

 

Jeff Edwards

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nauset Mountain, LLC
• Release date: May 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393269595

Jeff Edwards

Jeff Edwards has spent 40 years in the Specialty Chemical Industry in a variety of sales, marketing, technology, and senior business leadership roles.  With a B.S. Degree in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Master of Business Administration Degree from The University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Jeff has filled numerous strategic roles with several leading global specialty chemical companies during his career and currently has oversight responsibility for a group of privately held specialty surfactants and oleochemical companies.    Jeff Edwards Nauset Mountain, LLC [e-mail]

Book preview

Prologue

Many people contemplate writing a book.  I have decided to become part of a very small percentage that actually do, attempting to share many of the valuable experiences I have had the good fortune of accumulating over the course of my 40+ years in the specialty chemicals industry.

I believe I have some good stories to share, all of which have formed the person I have become. These experiences have shaped my approach to business and leadership and established my philosophical view on the right way to treat other people, whether they are your superiors, subordinates, co-workers, customers, suppliers, or otherwise. 

While all of my stories are relatively brief, I feel they offer up personal and professional insight that may help you avoid the missteps I have made, capitalize on some of the positive decisions I have made, and realize a more productive and efficient journey as you sail forth in your own career.  I am hopeful that by reading my stories you will be able to extract some wisdom from them that you can deploy when similarly challenged or when tasked with the responsibility to lead and motivate others to greater levels of collective performance or individual achievement. 

For me it all began in 1979, following my graduation from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering.  As my four years at RPI wound down, I received an offer of employment from The BF Goodrich Company, Specialty Polymers & Chemicals Division, at a starting annual salary of $20,100.  Off to Cleveland, OH, I went in July 1979, launching what has been a fantastic journey in the specialty chemicals industry.

Chapter 1

Don’t Bother Applying, You Won’t Get In

Iam a person of small stature.  This physical characteristic has never inhibited me from participating in whatever sport I considered myself capable of being competitive in.  My desire to succeed in the arena whether it was flat (grass or Har-Tru), mountainous (snow), or moving (ocean) has always been quite strong.  It didn’t matter if it was tennis, soccer, ski racing, sailing, or lacrosse. I wanted to be the best I could be, and if possible, better than anyone else on that day who I might go head to head with, even if my opponent was bigger, stronger, or faster.  In fact, being the underdog or even the weekend warrior drove me even harder to succeed.  This competitive drive paid dividends in the recreational sports arena and in my professional life as any outside influence that might keep me off the podium was an obstacle I intended to find a way around or punch through. Throwing in the towel has never been an option.

On the intellectual front, I always found comfort in math and science subjects and had a similar competitive drive to succeed in these fields. This came at the unfortunate expense of the literary subjects which became the sacrificial lamb as I continued to seek knowledge and experience in the technical fields.

When it was time to apply to college during my senior year in the fall of 1974 at Mamaroneck High School in Mamaroneck, NY, my list of schools focused on engineering and technology and included the following institutions:

Lehigh University

Lafayette College

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Rochester Institute of Technology

Syracuse University

Bucknell University

Franklin and Marshall College

With respect to this list, the advice I recall receiving from my high school guidance counselor was limited to Don’t bother applying to Rensselaer, you won’t get in.

Well that was all I needed to hear.  Tell me something that you have decided I am not capable of accomplishing.  Nothing motivates me more.  So I applied to all of the schools listed above and was accepted into all but the last two.  So where did I go for my undergraduate education? 

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, graduating with a B.S. Degree in Chemical Engineering in May 1979.  That is when my journey into specialty chemicals began. 

Chapter 2

Leaving For The Wrong Reasons

My first job out of RPI was with BF Goodrich Chemical, an operating division of a legendary tire company, The BF Goodrich Company, also known as The Other Guys.  I joined the Specialty Polymers and Chemicals Group of BFG Chemical along with several new employees and immediately entered their highly structured and effective sales training program headquartered in Independence, Ohio.  After six months of sales training in their division headquarters and technical training in their laboratories wearing lab coats and safety glasses in Avon Lake and Brecksville, Ohio, I was assigned to a sales territory that included the states of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and half of Tennessee. 

Off to Greenville, South Carolina I went, arriving on December 31, 1979, in my new Mazda RX-7, soon to be joined by a company car, an expense account, and the best sales and organizational mentor I could ever hope for in John Solomon.  John was my predecessor in the sales territory who had recently been promoted to a headquarters position in Ohio.  I traveled with John over a transition period in the fall of 1979, as he introduced me to all of his customers. John helped me polish my skills on advanced sales call planning, sales call follow up, report writing, territory travel optimization, setting and writing performance objectives, packing a