ARPM Leaders Reflect on the Bigger Picture: The Building Leaders of Character Program

By Lindsey Munson, editor, Inside Rubber

Positioned on the west bank of the Hudson River, West Point is where the United States Military Academy and Thayer Leadership come together, combining the military elite with corporate America to experience the nation’s most prestigious leadership training program. Founded in 1802 by President Thomas Jefferson, West Point has seen many remarkable graduates, such as George A. Custer, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower, William Seawell and Buzz Aldrin, among other notables. In business, West Point graduates have served as chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, CEO of Johnson & Johnson, CFO of Twitter, CEO of Proctor & Gamble, among others.

According to the military academy’s website, “Colonel Sylvanus Thayer, the ‘Father of the Military Academy,’ served as Superintendent from 1817 to 1833. He upgraded academic standards, instilled military discipline and emphasized honorable conduct.” Thayer was the 33rd graduate of West Point and was noted for reforming the curriculum of an institution that lacked the structure it is famous for today.

Thayer Leadership at West Point is built on proven methods from the United States Army, blended with real experiential learning and academic instruction. The legacy and significance of the military leadership lessons and traditions have guided and empowered leaders to not just lead but to see the bigger picture, enacting change in their businesses from top to bottom, stimulating and cultivating productivity, and decisively responding with purpose and pride.

Nicki Hershberger, a senior technical advisor at Akron Rubber Development Laboratories, began her journey when she saw an ad for the program and instantly was intrigued. “As a manager, you always have to be looking for new ways to improve and motivate your employees,” she said. ARDL is an independent testing laboratory with around 100 employees and has both ISO and A2LA accreditations. Knowing her role in the company and being a key leader, Hershberger walked into the program with, “… feelings of excitement!”

Regan McHale, a second-generation president of Eagle Elastomer, a family-owned company that specializes in fluoroelastomer extruded products, entered the program by invitation from the Association for Rubber Products Manufacturers (ARPM).

The Program: Building Character One Week at a Time

Business leaders require stability and structure to successfully lead teams, and ARPM teamed up with Thayer Leadership’s Building Leaders of Character program to enhance the leadership abilities of rubber industry professionals. With years of research and Thayer Leadership’s belief that “Character is foundational to your ability to lead,” the two organizations unleashed a program built on engagement among industry peers, mentorship from top training experts and empowerment through the teachings and coursework.

ARPM’s managing director Letha Keslar was part of the development and construction of the leadership program. She shared, “Upon working with Thayer Leadership Development Group (TLDG), we knew that we found what our members were looking for... a customized leadership program that specifically was designed to positively impact and give usable leadership tools to manufacturing leaders of the ARPM network. The experience included such items as how leaders effectively and efficiently communicate to all levels of the organization; how teams accomplish missions in Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) environments; and how building and maintaining organizational culture is essential to not only winning battles, but wars – and how those lessons apply directly to the complex business world the industry operates in daily.”

According to Thayer Leadership at West Point, “True leaders – the ones who courageously enact change, master opposition, foster productivity and respond decisively –demonstrate leadership daily. It’s not enough to just know about leadership. At Thayer Leadership, we span the gap between knowing about leadership in theory and acting like a leader when it counts.”

The Building Leaders of Character Program Level 1.0 is a 14week program of 18 virtual sessions, ranging from 45 to 90 minutes, that immerses participants and drives interactions designed exclusively for ARPM industry professionals. As leaders, it is difficult, if not almost impossible, to step away from business demands for a few hours or even a day, so it is imperative to have the full support of the company behind those who enter the program. “I was lucky that my organization understands the value of continuing education,” Hershberger said.

Led by retired General Officers and faculty who pull in the leadership lessons they learned from West Point and the US Army, the program is an in-depth, intense experience. Sessions are comprised of applied academic classroom modules through online video, live interactive experiences, mentoring with expert faculty, networking among other rubber executives and participants, self-study and inspirational speakers.

Keslar joined the ranks of the program before the pandemic for the two-day training at WestPoint and participated in the online 18-week course. “During the opening on day one, Lieutenant General (Ret.) Ken Hunzeker said, ‘My only job beginning on the first day of any new command was to find and train my replacement,’ as succession planning is the number one priority in any military unit,” Keslar recalled. “I found this profound, to hear that a military commander’s focus was on the continuous development of leaders two echelons below his level, not the next level below, which is the common business standard.”

As a seasoned leader, McHale found several takeaways and key moments throughout the program, but his biggest takeaway was the lesson of the tactical pause. “I use it today, the concept of the tactical pause,” he explained. “It’s used by the military to ‘pause’ when an operation or plan is