Lebermuth’s charismatic, transformational president

The date was Friday, June 22nd, and the company was having its summer party. The party was a nice break from the stress that the SQF audit brought. Attendance was high, in large part because the company closed at noon that day. In fact, almost everyone at the company was present to celebrate. Food and party games helped ensure that people had something to do. A food truck was serving burgers and fries, and the company provided soft drinks. Cornhole/bags were setup for people to play and HR Director Juli Mast was leading Bingo.

About 30 minutes into the party, the company president, Craig Sroda, took the microphone. Everyone gradually quieted down to hear what he had to say. Sroda thanked everyone for their hard work leading up to the SQF audit. He was very charismatic in his presentation, and it seemed like everyone was listening closely. Then he announced the big news: “We passed the SQF audit — we got a 99% — actually, we only missed one point.” I was shocked.

The reason why this is such a big deal is because we received a 67% on the last SQF audit. Yes, we raised our audit grade from a 67% to a near perfect. The weeks I spent preparing for the audit with data entries and sending emails suddenly seemed worth it. I am really proud of how well we did on the audit. I know it will help us attract new customers, especially ones in the flavor industry. The flavor industry is very particular about the certifications that vendors have. Passing the SQF audit with a 99% will speak volumes to prospective customers.

I personally think that Craig Sroda’s leadership was integral to the success on the SQF audit. New systems, like TraceGains, and new people, like Craig Sroda, brought about a lot of change over a short period of time. But Sroda’s charisma and encouraging comments about the Regulatory Department’s progress helped drive progress. The 67% on the previous audit felt like a failure, but Sroda remained sanguine. Sroda has written on his blog about his own belief that real leaders allow failure. I think this is fitting given how the company went from a 67% to a 99% under his leadership; he allowed small failures, and eventually helped us achieve a near perfect score.

The charisma he brings to the table reminds me a lot about readings we did related to transactional vs. transformational presidents. I would argue that Sroda’s charisma and leadership style resembles that of a transformational president. He is a transformational leader because he consistently prepared us for the SQF audit, which united the company around a common objective. All of his charismatic encouragement as we prepared for the audit helped keep us on task. Under his charismatic leadership, we succeeded and passed the SQF audit with flying colors.