Last week, I attended a c-suite conversation featuring Don Godwin, the chief financial officer of Newport News Shipbuilding, the largest manufacturing employer in Virginia. The interview had an emphasis on leadership in the business world. He had some really great things to say, some of which revolved around what we’ve talked about in class. Though he didn’t use any textbook terms that we have gone over in class, he talked a lot about the importance of staying in touch with what was happening at the shipyard, where the overwhelming majority of employees at the company work. He talked about visiting the shipyard often to see how things were going, and that he much preferred the visits that the shipbuilders did not know he was coming. This was because he said he viewed himself as equal to them and did not want to see a show put on for him, rather wanted to see the shipbuilders working as they do normally. Not only do I think this statement said a lot about him as a person, but as an executive leader as well.
Godwin also spoke briefly about the importance of having different minded executives. He gave some details about what made him and the CEO very different, yet explained why those differences become so useful in collaboration and coming up with new ideas. This made me think about the importance of different types of leaders within organizations. Though an organization or movement usually has one face that represents the movement, there are so many more important and influential leaders that make huge impacts, but they just are not in the limelight. I overall found the discussion very interesting and I thought he had a lot of great things to say about business, ships, and leadership.
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