Leaders in Joe R. Davis’s position might feel growing pains.
The $5 million printing company he started in Houston in 1985 has sprouted into 70 locations across 27 states as well as into Toronto and Prague. In fiscal 2009, which ended in March, the company struck record revenue of $1.15 billion.
But Davis, chairman and CEO of Consolidated Graphics Inc. (NYSE: CGX), knows he can’t handle every aspect of a rapidly growing organization. In order to keep the company strong as it expands, he needs to develop future leaders.
“Developing these young people, [giving] them the opportunity, is the most rewarding — as well as sometimes the most challenging — thing we’ve had to face,” Davis says.
So he developed the Leadership Development Program to speed college grads through an accelerated path to management.
The company’s Web site touts, “The program succeeds because it is not a cookie-cutter structure. It’s an organic process that is very much tailored to the individual’s goals.”
And succeed it has.
Since its start in 1991, the award-winning program has added 278 graduates to the work force of 5,500 — and 87 of those came in January alone. And yes, we said award-winning: Consolidated Graphics scored multiple honors from the National Association of Colleges and Employers for best practices in educational programming in 2005 and information resources for students in 2007.
Davis has learned plenty about training and developing future leaders but just as much about finding those future leaders to develop.
“You can sit down and talk to them. You can make suggestions to them,” Davis says. “But in the end, it’s up to the individual to perform as you expect.”
