Welcome to the sixth installment of our Next Level Leadership series! Here, we interview TAB members about issues facing industry leaders in today's business world. The members with whom we speak have risen to various challenges, proving themselves to be true Next Level Leaders.

Today we share our interview with Chuck Roberts, President and CEO of Ames, a leading supplier of elastomeric design solutions to international, high-tech customers who require molded components, protective coatings and dispensed gaskets that meet high-quality standards. After taking over as President/CEO in 2004, Chuck has helped implement team building strategies to develop a stronger culture of workers dedicated to common goals. Since its inception in 1949, Ames has committed itself to the importance of teaming, from leadership to language: employees have been called "Teammates" since 1986, and as Chuck says, "We always consider ourselves 'the Ames family'."

When was Ames founded? When did you take over as President/CEO?

Ames was founded in 1949.

I’ve been with Ames since 1976, so I have more than 35 years with the company holding positions in areas of the company over that time.  I became President and CEO in July 2004.

Did you have any prior training in team building?

Yes.  Ames has approximately 200 employees.  We always consider ourselves “the Ames family”.  We’ve considered ourselves a team since 1949.

In 1986 we entered into a new era of Quality at Ames, beginning our Total Quality journey.  In preparing for this journey we delivered much more training to the Ames Team.  Part of the training was focused on team building.

While we did a lot of teaming prior to embarking on our Total Quality journey, the Total Quality Process forced us to look at the need for more and deeper training.  We needed to help our Teammates learn how to be better team members and Teammates by showing them how to interact in a team setting, helping them improve their inter-personal skills. [For example], how to ask good questions, or if a team member is dominating a meeting how to shut that Teammate down. On the flip side of that coin, if a teammate is quiet and not contributing, how to draw them into the meeting by asking them questions.

How did you come to develop your style of coaching and motivating employees?

All of us who are part of the teaming process go through the same training and for those of us who were more involved in the training process, we became good at the techniques and become good at facilitation.  You learn those teaming skills through practice and facilitation.

Coaching and mentoring are different from teaming, but are core to building a team at any level. The more coaching I do with my direct reports, the better they understand the company vision and mission and what is required of them.  They in turn are better prepared meet with and coach and mentor their subordinates, build continuity of our vision and mission throughout the company.

At Ames, you use the term “teammates” instead of “coworkers”, “associates”, or “employees”. Why is that?

Common today are the words “associates” or “partners” when referring to a company’s employees.

We adopted the use of Teammates in 1986.  Our president at that time was a graduate of Northwestern [University], and played football for them.  He understood the importance of teams and working together for a common goal.  He wasn’t comfortable with employee or associate that were in common use at that time.  He really felt we were a family and with his likening what we do to that of a football team, he believed we were truly Teammates and that has stuck for 25 years.

We have been and are the Ames family and as I see it the Ames Team and Teammates fits very nicely together with the unity of the Ames family.  When I’m communicating with the team, I always refer to them as the Ames Team, or Teammates.  It’s an important part of the past, present and future language and culture.

The “Teammate Pledge Card”

Each year we give all Ames Teammate an Ames Pledge Card.  The Pledge Card contains key pieces of information about the company such as our Vision, Mission, and Quality Policy.  Teammates can use the information used on the card to assist in answering questions during an audit or in referring to goals and objectives. 

The card also contains a Teammate Pledge which begins:  “As an Ames Teammate I recognize that I am committed to the Vision, Mission, and Goals and Objectives of the company, I share in and constantly practice the company’s values, I strive for customer satisfaction in everything I do, I have a stake in the company success, I believe the company’s success is my success. …”

At the end of each year, I go around and ask all Teammates to sign the Pledge Card which I sign also.  The Pledge Cards are collected and entered into a drawing where the winners (15 or so Teammates) receive a $100 gift card.

Ames follows Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma practices – does this affect your approach to Teammate motivation and/or team building?

We are reinventing Ames and in support of the new Ames creating a new culture based on execution, urgency, and accountability, the elements that will be key to our  future success in this ever-changing international business environment..

To create a new culture we need to better educate and engage our entire Team.  Today, our training has some elements of Lean and Six Sigma.  However, what is included today in these areas and others is not sufficient and why we are actively revising all our training materials.

Does Ames recognize it Teammates for their contribution to the company’s success?

Yes, we offer both individual and team awards.  These awards range from a simple written acknowledge of a Teammates effort - an “attaboy” to various levels of financial reward.

What do you like most about being a member of The Alternative Board and/or personal coaching?

It’s the input, the thoughts and perspectives of fellow TAB members, of how they see my business.  Sometime I’m too deep in the trees, not able to see the forest, and my fellow TAB members quickly see that and are able to offer an outside perspective, helping me regain the right level of focus and making all the difference.

I am a big fan of reading and education.  I enjoy reading books and then passing the education onto my Teammates and fellow TAB members.  Helping and receiving help from fellow TAB members is very rewarding and reinforces the concept of peer groups.