Case Study — Fort Wayne Metals
ABOUT
With over 1500 employees, Fort Wayne Metals is a leading manufacturer of precision wire-based materials and components for the world’s most demanding applications, including medical and aerospace needs. Their portfolio of services includes mechanical custom assembly, custom alloy development, research and development, coating and laser ablation.
CHORUS made us look at the overall business in a more holistic fashion than what we had done before.
Scott Glaze
CEO, Fort Wayne Metals
Challenge
Fort Wayne Metals is a successful and fast-growing company. With increasing global competition and technological advancements worldwide stimulating more demand for their products, they wanted to find ways to further capitalize on their strong market position. CEO Scott Glaze and his team had formulated a strategy to be proactive in protecting existing markets while addressing new markets internationally.
The company had already established a strong, people-centric culture. However, according to Glaze, “Many of our younger leaders were adept with the current business but had not yet been through the fire enough times to establish how to work under pressure effectively. That’s why I sought out a partner who could help us with executive team development, aligned with the new strategy.”
According to Mike Evans, CHORUS CEO, “Scott is a long-term thinker who constantly looks for an edge. He liked our holistic approach to combining strategic planning, team development and even succession planning.”
Solution
The Strategic Planning and Team Development engagement began with an initial group of 21 leaders. They went through the comprehensive CHORUS methodology, including financial review, surveys, interviews, leadership assessments and analysis, all culminating in a team planning retreat. The team learned where their natural strengths were, as well as collective gaps that needed to be filled. One of those skills was thinking strategically under pressure while expanding into unfamiliar markets.
The team advanced through the engagement to become a more strategically-aligned team, and were soon put to the test as they implemented a new ERP solution to further scale the company and successfully worked through a series of challenges, ultimately proving they were able to step back and think more critically as a team.
Kim Shoppell, Chief Commercial Officer, added, “CHORUS really helped us with both strategic planning and leadership development, which really go hand in hand. This synchronized approach gives us an opportunity to take what can be a really successful plan and use good leadership skills to make sure that we’re communicating it well in the organization.”
We needed to be introspective on how we needed to be better as leaders so that we could equip our future organization to be greater, and CHORUS definitely helped unlock that.
Jeremy Rohrs
President and COO, Fort Wayne Metals
We needed to be introspective on how we needed to be better as leaders so that we could equip our future organization to be greater, and CHORUS definitely helped unlock that.
Jeremy Rohrs
President and COO, Fort Wayne Metals
Highlights of the Engagement Included:
- Executed on the growth plan
- Successfully worked through significant business challenge
- Successful succession handoff
- Further strengthened foundation for strategic growth driven by next generation leaders
CHORUS Services:
- Assessments
- Strategic Planning
- Leadership Development
- Team Development
- Executive Coaching
- Succession Planning
Results
CHORUS has helped Fort Wayne Metals leaders envision their next level best as individuals, as a team, and as an enterprise. Serving as a strategic partner for over nine years, CHORUS has worked with over 40 of Fort Wayne Metal’s leaders so far. They have helped the enterprise advance strategically and increase their leadership pipeline and capacity.
CHORUS really helped us with both strategic planning and leadership development, which really go hand in hand.
Kim Shoppell
Chief Commercial Officer, Fort Wayne Metals
Glaze added, “All of this great work eventually helped us in succession planning as well. For example, our COO was able to finish well and pass the baton to new president and COO Jeremy Rohrs, who was one of those original 21 young leaders that CHORUS started developing years ago.”
According to Rohrs, “We needed to be introspective on how we needed to be better as leaders so that we could equip our future organization to be greater, and CHORUS definitely helped unlock that. The common language with their Hallmarks of Excellence® definitely was part of that play.”
Next Steps
Fort Wayne Metals continues to enjoy success worldwide, and relies on CHORUS advisors to further strengthen the foundation for strategic growth driven by next generation leaders.
