Joseph Dzierzawski, or “Joe D” as he’s known in the steel industry,didn’t have the typical first job experience that most kids right outcollege have. He didn’t have the benefit of an experience where he’dbe able to test the waters in a somewhat challenging job as hebecame acclimated to the working world.
Instead, Dzierzawski was a production supervisor at a steel company just outside of Detroit and was in charge of 35 union guys.
“I was a young guy with no hands-on experience and running aproduction facility,” he says.
“I was 23 at the time, little experience, and it was an uphillbattle,” he says.
Fortunately for Dzierzawski, he had a little bit of credibilitybecause he grew up outside of Detroit, and he had a good understanding of people and different personalities.
“You’ve got to stay strong,” he says. “You have to use common sense, and once you demonstrate that you aren’t going toback down, slowly but surely, you gain the respect of othersand you are accepted as one of them.”
Today, Dzierzawski is the president and CEO of SMS DemagLLC, the North American operation of parent company SMSDemag AG of Germany. Dzierzawski manages more than 200employees and his unit posted about $130 million in revenue in2008.
The days at his first job are long behind Dzierzawski, but hestill carries lessons with him today that he learned back then.
“It comes down to understanding people, and people are different,” he says. “There are varying personalities, and you can’ttreat everyone alike. As much as you wish you could treateveryone alike, everyone has a different personality. It’sdemonstrating that you understand those people and theirissues and their values and, at the same time, demonstratingthat you are in a leadership position, but you also have thesame struggles as they do.
“I think if you can come out and demonstrate that humantouch, it strengthens the trust that your employees have inyou.”
Here’s how Dzierzawski connects with his employees todrive growth at SMS Demag.
